Dazed have described GAIKA, Brixton-born musician, as “electronic music’s answer to Basquiat”. This comparison is unsurprising. GAIKA, who released his first mixtape in September 2015, scatters his music with innovative artistry, fused with a potent political message.
Last week, GAIKA released his second mixtape, entitled Security. Security will give you an erratic heartbeat. Listening to it is more like being strapped into a virtual reality experience than listening to a mixtape. His music will reverberate and echo through your skull like the words of a great poem.
In terms of meaning, Security is, pretty straightforwardly, an exploration of insecurity. GAIKA confronts the listener with the phenomenology of paralyzing insecurity. Who benefits from an insecure nation? Two of my favourite tracks, ‘GKZ’ and ‘White Picket Fences’ exemplify this theme.
‘GKZ’ is foreboding, to the point of being overwhelming. As GAIKA restates that “you must turn up” the desperation in his voice is clear. Partying is portrayed as a duty: the individual must assimilate or be ostracised. GAIKA taps into the pressure of conformity. The prophetic warning that “there will be blood” exacerbates this, creating an atmosphere of menacing unease.
In these penetrating chants, GAIKA exposes the darkness of juvenile hedonism. GAIKA creates a portrait of young people who seek violence, who expect cult-like conformity, and who live for intoxication. A volatile tempo haunts the track.
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‘White Picket Fences’ is comparatively mellow, in juxtaposition to the gravity of the political dissection that GAIKA undertakes on this closing track. Another motto, “keep people scared and they’ll do what you say”, buzzes through this track with poignant effect. ‘White Picket Fences’ is the ultimate critique of the comfortable suburban lifestyle, wracked with consumerism. The white picket fence, a cornerstone of the American dream, is a form of political control. If people feel insecure, they will lust after false promises of security – expensive homes, commodities, an unattainable lifestyle.
GAIKA comments in a recent interview that his music is inherently political “when you go out of your house in London and you see two or three homeless people by a cash point, and people like me are getting killed by the police”.
GAIKA’s solution to the political climate is clear: engage with politics. His call to “use it or lose it, switch your brain on a bit” reflects his fear, expressed in ‘Knuckleduster’, of “the living dead”. Politics is interested in you, regardless of your interest in it.
It is a point of interest that GAIKA’S attack on consumerism is targeted at white picket fences, for the notion of a white picket fence is quintessentially American. British hip hop and grime blew up in 2015, catching the USA’s attention in the process (Drake is now signed to Boy Better Know).
GAIKA demonstrates the potential that British musicians have to be thoughtful, reflective, and speak to a fundamental feeling of political alienation. In confronting the listener with feelings and ideas which resonate deeply, GAIKA’s appeal is universal.
Words by Lily Blake