NEWS
Resident Advisor mix & interview
The South Norwood sub sensei has anchored the movement for over 20 years now: first through the legendary DMZ, then DEEP MEDi, which he's run alongside Steph MEDi since 2006. A little like what Blue Beat was to Trojan, or Upsetter to Black Ark, the foundations DMZ laid down have been expanded by a label whose commitment to authentic, punchy, lineal sound system music has cultivated a hawklike fandom. (Six years of frothy debate and gentle ribbing in the run-up to the label's 100th release paints a picture of steep expectations.)
But Mala's banner 2025 hasn't relied on the heads alone. Going off group chat exit polls, his fissuring basslines and barrel-chested vocals were the most buzzed-about at many events this summer. Even when he wasn't performing, the anthems that he and Coki pressed up two decades ago were usually the highlight of somebody else's set anyway.
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Anti War Dub wins #2 of The Best Electronic Tracks of the 21st cenntury
Originally started in 2004, "Anti War Dub" wasn't finished for another nine months. Released two years later, the track pre-dates dubstep's mainstream explosion and international proliferation. Yet, nearly two decades on, its message remains fiercely necessary. The opening three-note bassline and melody is its beating heart—a few seconds of audio guaranteed to send goosebumps through any dubstepper. It's testament to Mala's melodic genius that the track is so instantly recognisable, a skill that permeates much of his early output (few producers can write tunes as good as "Changes," "Alicia" or "In Luv," much less in the span of a year).
But it's Spen G's vocals—originally recorded by Coki in Jamaica—that hit the hardest today, in an era defined by the genocide of the Palestinian people and swells of far-right mobilisation that eerily mirror the dystopian world of the film Children of Men, which helped springboard the track to wider prominence. "I don't wanna see no more bloodshed / I don't wanna see no more violence." In this moment, "Anti War Dub" reminds us not to take those words for granted
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Mala x Magugu - Militant Don (video)
Mala, returns on DEEP MEDi MUSIK with "the pidgin rap don" Magugu with a release that has been circulating as a mystery dub in different spaces around the world, for at least a year: whether Mala himself at Houghton, Skream in Ibiza, Sir Spyro shelling down club spaces or Four Tet laying bass weight on 80,000 ravers at HARD Fest in Hollywood.
Video: A TAB Media Visual
BTS & 2nd Cam Op: Courtney Knowles
Drummer: Daniel West
Mala x Magugu - Militant Don (vinyl)
A : Militant Don
B1 : Instrumental
B2 : Acapella
Music : Mala
Vocals : Magugu
Mastered : Joker
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