In honour of Kahn being announced as a headliner for Juan Forte:Cinco, we thought it would only be right that we made this weeks ‘What The Dub’ post on the boundary pushing Deep Medi Musik Label.
Often described as “Music that you can feel” Deep Medi was founded in 2006 by DMZ co-founder and all-round bossman Mala. The label is known for introducing various new Dubstep artists into the “mainstream” scene whilst also providing a platform for already established producers such as Skream, Cyrus, Benny ill and more. Not only did the imprint introduce new faces but it also did so internationally, talents such as Truth, Bukez Finest and Goth Trad all helped the label broaden its reach whilst also allowing diverse, new sounds into the genre. Mala himself stated that one of the main reasons as to why the label was created was because of the vast amount of music that was being sent to him that was all unreleased.
Mala wouldn’t appear himself until the fourth release with ‘Changes’ with his DMZ companions Loefah and Coki just before with 'Disko Rekah' and 'All of a Sudden' as Medi 003.
To accompany the label was the formation of Deep Medi Musik nights, an event to showcase all label signed talent. They recently celebrated a decade since the formation of the label with Deep Medi 10 on the 1st of October 2016 at Electric Brixton, with all events being dark and always staying true to modern day sound system culture, expect exclusives and heavyweight dub plates!
The first release on the label came from an unfamiliar name, with only one previous release under his belt (‘Panik Room’ on Hotflush recordings, which dropped the same year), Kromestar’s Kalawanji was released in 2006 and immediately shot the label into the limelight. With a powerful Cessman vocal sample floating on top of a lethal, punching, melodic bassline. Even 10 years on the tune still requires you to put your lighters up when attending any Juan Forté event, however, nostalgia doesn't come cheap, copies can easily go for more than £300 on Discogs nowadays.
August 2015 spawned the release of VOLUME 1, consisting of 6 tracks in total it was the first time Kahn, Commodo and Gantz had worked together. Having made its rounds as an unidentified dubplate for a whole year before its release it caught the scene by surprise, and eventually paved the way for others alike such as the recently released Ghettonomics EP consisting of Sleeper, Thelem and Mesck which came out on Crucial Recordings.
As tradition every time an artist new to the label gets signed, his or her first release on it has a "Medi head" portrait of the artist drawn by Tunnidge who has notable releases such as Geddoen and Dark Skies on the label.
Comment your favourite Deep Medi releases below!
Stay Meditating
Juan Love x
