808INK

Rejecting prevailing currents within contemporary music, South London rap duo 808INK forged an independent lane of unconventional rap paired with distinctive visual worlds. The story originates with producer 808charmer, a onetime live session drummer whose credits include M.I.A. and Tinie Tempah, who first noticed rapper Mumblez Black Ink during a video-shoot performance. Captivated by the rapper’s unconventional cadence and brooding subject matter, 808charmer sprinted after him to propose a partnership, later completing the lineup with visual artist and director Pure Anubi$. Their opening mixtape, 2013’s Artistic Piece, crystallized this singular approach by merging complementary imagery with wide-ranging beats and lyrics that skipped logical connections. Two years afterward came their first proper album, 2015’s Billy’s Home, which secured an underground foothold partly through the melodic single “Suede Jaw.” Despite favorable reviews, the group stayed largely under the radar, routinely cited on year-end Ones to Watch lists without matching the commercial traction of more mainstream peers. Across the follow-up projects Hungry in 2016 and When I’m About, You’ll Know in 2018, their sound grew increasingly detached from London’s rap climate, prompting them to rename the city Lundun as a deliberate marker of separation from second-wave grime and U.K. drill.