Manchester producer and rapper Iceboy Violet on the first and last records they bought, plus a go-to album
FIRST
Ludacris
‘Chicken-N-Beer’
(Def Jam Recordings, 2003)
“I was 13 years old. It was one of my first times in Manchester, and I was taken shopping by my cool aunty. I beelined to HMV for CDs, and I made some questionable choices, but this one really stuck. Luda was irreverent, skillful and didn’t take himself too seriously. I counted all the swear words on ‘Screwed Up’, learned that a pussy could pop on ‘P-Poppin’ and had one of my earliest brushes with UK MCing on ‘Southern Hospitality (Remix)’.”
LAST
Jim Legxacy
‘Homeless N*Gga Pop Music (Hnpm)’
((!), 2023)
“One album above all has been on heavy rotation these last few months, and it’s Jim Legxacy’s ‘Homeless N*gga Pop Music’ mix tape. A masterclass in refining a sound, emotional potency and experimentalism, all packaged in irresistible chunks of pop production and naked lyricism. An incredibly mature project from someone still so young and with so much potential. I’m so excited by the rap coming out of the UK right now and this album has only multiplied that.”
ALWAYS
Arca
‘&&&&&’
(Self-Released, 2013)
“Bridging the gap between the hip hop I had grown up on and the more experimental palettes I was about to grow into, ‘&&&&&’ became so deeply influential to what I love about music. These are dense, emotionally rich, short songs that tease you, capture you, then let you go before you realise what’s happened. Loops that pull you in with details that keep you still discovering its tiny corners 10 years on. ‘&&&&&’ feels infinite.”
