Download: Inkke – “Drum Hunt”

If names like Mixpak, LuckyMe and Big Dada hold on weight with you, then it’s likely that you’re a fan, or have at least come across Inkke over the past twelve months. The Glasgow-based producer has been making the tastemaker rounds, contributing individual tracks and mixes to a number of influential sects. As part of the interminably creative Astral Black squad, Inkke has come to be known, alongside DJ Milktray, as something of a youthful innovator in the grime field; equally likely to let loose a fearless 8 bar rendition as he is to approach the genre from a 100% left-field position. Earlier this month, Inkke posted a .Zip of edits around social media, garnering widespread curiosity and acclaim for reworks of 50 Cent, Nelly, Helix and others. Today, Astral Black is releasing Inkke’s debut EP, the Memphis-inspired Faded With Da Kittens. Drawing from much the same sound palette as Spaceghostpurrp and Tommy Kruise, Inkke has devised a beat tape that flips the Memphis script on its head as much as it offers a referential view of 90s horror-core and the 808. “Drum Hunt” offers the best example of this, a slow, chugging factory-made affair with winding, sycophantic female vocals offering the only melodic content. It’s a far stretch as a rap beat, but still retains the violent, skewed essence of the Memphis canon. Faded With Da Kittens is out now in digital and cassette form now, both of which can be found at Astral Black’s Bandcamp.