“This riddim came out of a synaesthetic vision — I didn’t sit down to write it, it was written,” says IC6.
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“This isn’t a type beat, and not just for the akhhiis — it’s a full-bodied instrumental riddim made to blaze at protests, bang out in the whip, drop on big rig sound system, or play straight from your phone.”
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“Drill may have started on the blocks in London, rooted in a long lineage of 140 bpm traditions — but as a global export, it’s fractured a hundredfold and found new life in the medinas, slums, favelas, townships, hoods, and ghettos. May this music uplift all oppressed people worldwide.”
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Raised in North London with North African heritage, IC6 draws from UK Drill while threading diasporic rhythms from North and West Africa and the Middle East. As both a producer and live performer, he creates future-facing music grounded in personal and cultural memory.
First Release from Upcoming Askari Vol. 1
North London via North Africa — London, UK [July 11th, 2025]
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North London producer IC6 announces MUQTAB, the first single from the upcoming project Askari Vol. 1, out July 11 on all major platforms. MUQTAB is built on North African percussion, gritty UK Drill drums, and thick sub-bass, the track also weaves in distorted found sounds from social media reporting emerging out of Gaza. Muqtab—Arabic for “written” or “predestined”—explores themes of liberation, legacy, and resilience.
The track features an electronic Zurna solo by Skanda Sabbagh, cutting through layers of heavy 808s and hard-hitting beats. The visualiser, directed by Ramzey Sabbagh, stars award-winning Tunisian dancers SD_SAIF O and DINE SD, filmed inside an abandoned blacksmith factory in Tunis that once belonged to IC6’s grandfather. The industrial setting mirrors the stripped-down tension and generational memory within the music.
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