Fireside Chat

Ikonika

Hyperdub, London

Sara Abdel-Hamid from South West London grew up listening to hardcore and post punk while her elder sisters obsessed about hip hop. So for her, Dilla and Dillinger Escape Plan were next door neighbors from the get-go. After getting a start in production via hip hop, the dubstep bug bit her hard in 2006. Her musical tastes, ranging from Pretty Girls Make Graves to Burial, are reflected in her music: not in any kind of forced fusion of sounds, but in productions that move from the sweetly melodic to atonal clang effortlessly. This approach made her a natural addition to the Hyperdub roster, with Kode9 first inviting her to release a twelve inch on the label before he coaxed her into thinking about what an Ikonika album might sound like. The results are as odd and iconic as anyone might have wished for. Expect Ikonika to keep pushing things forward (and sideways) in the years to come, and get a glimpse of her unblinkered worldview in this Fireside Chat.