If you’ve been paying attention to social media in the past 12 months, you may well have come across 20-year-old production prodigy Ryder. The beat maker’s self-proclaimed ‘skeptacore’ aesthetic re-calibrated grime tropes from new angles, achieving viral status several times over.
Moving beyond this, his new ‘RYDERHOOD’ EP allows him considerable breadth. Working with some top tier MC talent – East Londoner CIEL, XL aligned Luton force BXNS – it’s a punchy introduction to an incredible studio force who is scarcely out of his teens.
Ryder comments…
“The concept behind RYDERHOOD is trying to find new ways to bring artists into my world of production, but not in a way of them changing their own style, but more so finding ways to highlight unseen parts of their ability through a change in production.”
Clash caught up with Ryder to chat through some of his grime and UK rap influences…
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deed0t – ‘4 Door’
Only found out about deed0t early this year, after a friend showed me his music on FaceTime. ‘4 Door’, ‘Real Friends Freestyle’ and ‘Everyone Bleeds’ have been blasting on my speakers every since. Definitely a hidden gem, haven’t heard nothing like him.
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Skepta – ‘Blacklisted’
This one’s simple. My favourite Skepta record, from my favourite Skepta album. The undisputed king.
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MXNO – ‘NEWERA’
I guess it’s a new era. Out of all the artists I listen to, and have had the pleasure of working with, he has a rare ability to capture the raw energy of a recording and actually keep it through to the final mix.
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BexBlu – ‘whitespliff_’
Smooth and soulful… I’m a massive fan of BexBlu; the sonics, the musicality, the movement in the records, it’s mad. It’d be sick to see what he could do with someone like Westside Gunn or Conway across the pond.
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Chiedu Oraka – ‘Rhythm Of My Pain’
Chiedu is a Hull legend. It’s inspiring to see someone from my city doing big things while staying true to where they come from. “I ain’t forgot where I came from, I’m too passionate.” Enough said.
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nathan. – Unorthodox (w/ Adz)
By far the most influential producer in the UK right now, Nathan’s come up has been crazy to witness first hand. For near enough a decade, I’ve said he’s the most original and underrated producer going.
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Joe James – ‘Rude Girl’
I remember hearing this tune on SoundCloud back in 2017. I must’ve been 12 or 13. I used to rinse it on the way to and from school every day. This record had a massive impact on my first few years producing.
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Ryder Picks Out His Grime, UK Rap Inspirations – clashmusic.com
