Conrad Kira – ‘Rictus’ (EP stream) (premiere)

South London rapper and producer Conrad Kira prides himself on being an outsider. A denizen of abandoned industrial buildings, where he creates massive sub-bass-driven beats that mirror the dystopian decay of the city, he combines harsh, bracing arrangements and biting, poetic social commentary. And indeed, his new EP Rictus has a similar effect of American masters Run the Jewels, a fresh new voice on the UK hip hop landscape.

Influenced not only by London pirate radio but Kraftwerk and Tupac, Kira thrives on musical diversity. “I’ve always been the Black Sheep,” he says. “I’m not part of any ‘scene’. I’m wearing a baseball cap one day and a cloak the next. Get me to DJ at a party and you’ll hear Wiley back to back with Enya I can’t help it.”

Rictus is out now.