HERITAGE: Ilford's 808 Melo Breaks Down How He Took UK Drill International With The Late Pop Smoke's "Dior", 2020.

HERITAGE: Ilford's 808 Melo Breaks Down How He Took UK Drill International With The Late Pop Smoke's "Dior", 2020.


August 06, 2021

UK drill, as we all know, is a genre vilified in the tabloids and stifled by overbearing authorities. Though its fortunes have changed somewhat now (it's now been allowed to soundtrack Asda's latest back to school campaign), the late 2010s were a difficult time for the genre.

So when it was exported back to the US, specifically Brooklyn and certain other corners of New York, it felt vindicating to say the least. Leading that charge across the Atlantic was producer 808 Melo whose polished, almost cinematic drill sound was lent to BK rapper Pop Smoke and imitated by countless others (something we touched on back in 2019)

Sadly, Pop Smoke's life was cut far too short and all we can do now is wonder what path his creative evolution might have taken. Those who worked with him speak fondly of his inventiveness and his enthusiasm for sonic exploration. In this interview with Genius, Melo breaks down he first connected with the Pop Smoke and the surprising story behind the origins of their most famous work together, "Dior".



Photography: Oscar Eckel


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