Kahn

Comfortably colouring outside the lines, Kahn's misfit take on soundsystem music refuses to play to conventions of any genre. Since his early output in the 2010s he's injected dubstep, grime and more with a maverick streak driven by a powerful current of low-end pressure. Upholding the promise of modern bassweight club music as a vehicle for fiercely original expression, he cultivated a sound through formative years in Bristol that foregrounds auteurist flair inside and out of the dance. As a solo artist, he initially broke through on seminal labels such as Punch Drunk, Black Box and Idle Hands before striking up a lasting relationship with Mala's foundational Deep Medi Musik. In tandem, he partnered with long-time ally Neek, creating the buy-on-sight Bandulu Records label and garnering a feverish response to landmark curveballs like 'Percy' and 'Backchat'. Throughout these formative years Kahn and his peers were dedicated to upholding the values of soundsystem culture; creating specials cut to dubplate, working with MCs like Flowdan and Sgt. Pokes and focusing on community over careerism to nurture their own corner of the culture. As a founding member of Young Echo, he sought to coalesce a crew of kindred outliers maintaining Bristol's storied, deeply rooted sonic otherness, and in turn found a camaraderie that allowed him to stay true to a sound left of dubstep's centre. Tracks like 'Dread', 'Abattoir' and ‘Fierce’ all deliver on the demands of the dance, but Kahn's accomplished production instincts are matched by a broader musical outlook that references goth and post- punk as much as dancehall and dub. It's no surprise to find him placed alongside similarly wayward souls like Commodo and Gantz — as a trio they delivered a collaborative album to Deep Medi in 2015. Meanwhile his partnership with Neek yielded 'Lupus Et Ursus' in 2023 — an album that proudly channels their 140 chops into a more nuanced tapestry of vocal cuts and atmospheric instrumentals, like a rugged reimagining of trip hop's original wild side. With 'Past Life', released in 2026, Kahn delivered a solo album that distilled his broad sweep of inspirations into a widescreen vision of deadly beatdowns and noirish atmospheres. For all his outsider traits, Kahn's credentials as a DJ are in no doubt. His reputation has taken him across the planet performing at world- renowned festivals and underground parties run by diehard bass devotees alike. Logically tooled up with exclusives from within his many-sided community, his sets celebrate the ultimate end goal for this music as an experience to be felt in front of a stack, the subs blowing a breeze through the crowd and each drop sending out a fresh shockwave. The layered dimensions to his craft as a producer allow for a range of experiences, from MC-charged, fist-shaking shockouts to heads-down meditations. Vibe dependent, you may even get both. Consistently exploring new approaches and never constrained by formula, Kahn operates with the freedom to head in any direction and make it his own. The fun part is keeping up with him.