BEHIND THE BEATS

Having cut his teeth mixing at just 11-years-old in the halcyon days of North London's house and broken beat movement, DJ Naughty's comprehensive introduction to music at a young age has given him an endless quota of inspiration to draw from. 

Going to school with the likes of Majestic & MSM he quotes

"We were proper music nerds, we knew how to use DAWs from school days and different musical instruments as well as DJing."

This early technical knowledge mixed with an unyielding curiosity for the bubbling and diverse music scenes developing all around him led Naughty, real name Nathan Fostel, to go out and find where it was all happening. At 16 he began working at Planet Phat Records in Islington, a great opportunity for a musically inclined teenager to hear about all the club nights, promoters and artists that his local area had to offer. During this time, in 2002, Naughty met Bushkin from UK garage legends Heartless Crew who took him on his first trip to Ayia Napa, and even more importantly paved the way for Naughty to land his first ever radio show on one of London's biggest ever pirate stations, Y2K.

DJ Naughty has been a UK Funky trailblazer since its birth, having been one of the pioneers of the genre and remixing for the likes of Jasmine Sullivan, Sean Kingston, Taio Cruz as well as doing collaborations with Busy Signal & Bunji Garlin

PIGMNT is an electronic musician, DJ, and producer from West London, recognised for his distinctive blend of UK Funky, Gqom, and Amapiano. His debut single, "Fiya" (2022), was released on Native Moves. Other releases include, "Bubbly" (2023), released on the UK Funky label Sweet Shop, alongside DJ Polo, Razzler Man & Scratchclart.

His music has gained recognition and received support from DJs such as Scratchclart, Ikonika, NKC, DJ Polo, k2rah, Shy One, Sir Salem, Mak 10, and more. His tracks have found their way to platforms, including Rinse FM, Club Djembe, BBC Radio One, and BBC Radio 6.

Whether Pigmnt is supporting other artists, delivering a radio guest mix, or performing live, his focus remains on keeping his sets and music funky, soulful, and full of energy.

Scotti Dee, a distinguished DJ and producer from East London. 

He's an integral member of the HouSupa label collective and the underground Afrohouse subgenres scene in London.

With a solid foundation in audio engineering, mixing, and mastering. 

Featured in Mixmag and recognised by NKC as one of the hardest-working DJs in the London Afro House circuit.

His unique sound is a captivating blend of soulful house, UK funky, amapiano, and the diverse spectrum of London’s Black dance music genres. Notable releases like “Lost in Abyss” and “Shake” featuring Donaeo showcase his ability to push the boundaries of these musical styles, while his collaborations with influential labels such as Hyperdub, HouSupa, Drumtrax, and Playersonly further solidified his impact on the scene.

Since making his mark in 2019, Scotti Dee has become a vibrant force within the UK underground club landscape. 

During the pandemic, he capitalised on this momentum by creating innovative events like Awoken, Habitual, Funky Nation, and House Nation, all of which have consistently filled venues to capacity and left audiences eagerly anticipating the next unforgettable experience.

Smoove Kriminal's journey in music originally started back in 1999 / 2000 as a young teenager, playing and collecting UK Garage records which quickly transitioned into spinning Grime with UKG growing darker. Around that time, he was on pirate stations like Flava FM, Raw Flex and later went on to host a show on Dejavu FM in 2009. Although Smoove Kriminal had been producing alongside DJ'ing, it was around this later period when he finally decided to test the waters with his music; sending it out to other DJ's to play on radio and at events. 

The white label release the Represent EP became his first official EP, with the lead track Represent receiving great feedback from DJ's who were playing UK Funky at the time; later making its way onto Oneman's compilation Rinse 11. The Represent EP was followed by a few other UK Funky EP's before eventually being housed with his other music under the Night Kreep Entertainment label and brand in 2011. Smoove Kriminal continued forward with label releases like the Under The Influence EP / compilation which was a testament to the UK Funky and Tribal sound at the time, and featured remixes from Carnao Beats, DJ Seany B (Sean Bartana), LR Groove, Razzler Man, to name a few. 


Fast forward a few years and the Night Kreep label would later go on to drop a UK Funky compilation in 2020, filled with previously unreleased gems from producers such as 86 Baby (Murdz 86), Charles Caliber, Fully Kurrupted (DJ Tomo / OWIG) and more. Today, Smoove Kriminal focuses producing on releasing underground, electronic music on his own imprint, he dropped his Fury EP in the summer of 2023. The gritty, UK Funky three tracker was his first release back after some time off and after some further gathering of bearings, he dropped his first official single 'Shuto Expressway' in January 2024, this marked something a little different in his catalogue, catering towards the current Amapiano, Afro house sound but with elements of Funky. 


You can catch Smoove Kriminals monthly show on Mode London, where he focuses on fresh-out-the-lab music with Afrocentric roots, playing genres like Amapiano, UK Funky and Tribal House, plus featuring special guests with similar musical tastes and background, but will also venture down the ‘strictly vinyl’ route, as he's still very much an avid record collector. 

My music can be found on most DSP's but https://smoovekriminal.bandcamp.com is the preferred and DJ friendly outlet 


Social media handles: @SmooveKriminal across all platforms except Tik Tok which is @SmooveKriminal_NKE 

YUN is a multi-genre music producer based in South London, UK.

Known for diverse chill beats and flips YÚN looks to give a ‘fresh vibe’ to modern Hip-Hop, R&B and many other genre’s. Known for his versatility, many describes YÚN’s music as captivating, introspective and cinematic. As a producer he likes to draw on emotive sonic sounds.

Constantly experimenting he conveys his passion for consistently stepping outside of boundaries. Taking inspiration from jazz, blues, orchestra and various forms of electronic music, a story is brought to all pieces he delivers.

Under the stage name ‘CLOUD’ YÚN’s musical journey started with DJ’ing back when was 17 performing in small parties and events. Later proceeding to performing guest mixes for various Electronic Music channels on youtube, and flying the ranks on

mixcloud with multiple mix series and topping many or their local charts.

After a while, YÚN was introduced to music production in 2017 by his friend OGLxc. He began sharing his production on Soundcloud, delivering various electronic and Lo-Fi pieces.

Later YÚN would go to live in Shenzhen China, where he produced his first Lo-fi EP ‘Oak Park’, aswell as adopting the stage name YÚN (mandarin for Cloud) in relation to his time there.

After returning the UK, YÚN focused on working with other artist and producer in various genres.Looking to add fresh new feel to the UK HipHop, R’n’B and electronic scene.   

Since 2017 YÚN discography mainly consist of Electronic and Lo-fi Inspired tracks. His most recent EP ‘AMERICANO consist of a mixture of House, Garage and Electronic tracks, balancing a mixture of upbeat and relaxed vibes.

Tracks such as W.Y.W.I and Americano, give a please shot of energy, with other tracks such as Breaks, giving a smooth, chill touch to the EP!