Offie Mag

Underground Hip Hop producer Junior London has released a weighty mixtape of instrumentals featuring vocals from Mic Ty.

Not much is known about Junior London, a producer from the UK capital who lets a hand-drawn alien represent them on their artwork and social media channels. Novella 515 is a versatile beat tape that brings vocal samples and recorded raps into play, allowing the beatmaker to transcend the tropes of 'beats to chill to' with heavy drums, narrative and tempo shifts, and skit-like interludes.

See Me Shine, the first track after the radio searching-like intro, sees Mic Ty ride a triumphant beat where the hook feels like a moment of composure before the choppy, heavily layered instrumental perks up over and over again for short, sharp verses.

The tape feels more like a pristine condition breaks record found in the expensive section of the Hip Hop crate of a record store than it does a 2023 Soundcloud link. There's a real appreciation for classic Hip Hop in it's sound, yet a sense of humour in vocals, artwork and ambience between tracks that makes it feel contemporary.

File this next to Budgie as opposed to putting it inside an endless playlist of one-minute piano loops with anime cover art. Novella 515 flies by, signed off by Mic Ty giving high praise to Junior London on the outro.

Looking for more instrumental music? Check out our BEATS playlist, curated by the likes of Guohan and Eahwee.