- Having been born in Brixton in the '80s, Gaika is an interesting product of Caribbean heritage and Brixton’s cultural distinction. All of that that new-wave rocksteady, dancehall and deep house; all of those inherently punk manifestations of solidarity and defiance in the face of institutional discrimination are in his roots. Since 2015, the multidisciplinary artist has released two short albums, Machine and an earlier this year Security. Both have garnered considerable interest and acclaim for their gripping hybridisation of genre and socio-political orientation. Now, five months on, he’s gifted us with Spaghetto.

Gaika's artistic vitality is in his mix of socio-political awareness and progressive urban sounds. This is his ghettofuturism. Melding dancehall, trap, grime and techno with his keen observations on social action and reaction. Naturally, all his releases are steeped in those bleak UK textures, harsh in their industrialised rigidity, ominous in how they linger. Spaghetto continues to challenge you with the fears and insecurities of social ills as with his previous creations. The advancement comes in the refinement of his style. 3D is an imaginative techno configuration of dancehall and VSOP is the tortured anti-hero of triphop - truly interesting mutations which avoid sounding contrived.

Gaika is unquestionably realising his vision of ghettofuturism. With respect for history and addressing the plight of those within concrete jungles, he is fashioning strangely elegant expressions of ugly truths and hard won successions of culture. This is street haute couture.

- NJR.