After instantly connecting at a songwriting camp, KITSCHKRIEG and Dré Six made the occasional song here and there, with no specific plan in mind. What started as a more sporadic collaboration soon spawned into a meaningful meeting of worlds on their full-length project, London’s Calling.
London’s Dré Six is no stranger to collaboration. He has been embraced by industry heavyweights, and released tracks with Skepta, One Acen, and Ghost Killer Track. Likewise, Berlin-based producer duo KITSCHKRIEG (or trio, counting creative director and photographer awhodat), have crafted instrumentals for household names like Future and Mariah The Scientist, as well as up-and-coming talent like Anycia and Nemzzz. Now, the two join forces on their joint album, London’s Calling, also featuring British MCs Lenzo Str8Drop, 163Margs, and Morrisson.
In some ways, the two artistic forces are an unexpected pairing. KITSCHKRIEG are best known for their genre-bending take on minimalist hip-hop-electronica, whilst Dré typically glides across acoustic guitar, his melodies flitting between indie, trap, and R&B. The album expertly encapsulates this fusion, finding common ground between the underground scenes of the two capitals.
Throughout, the storytelling is rooted firmly in modern city life. On the standout title track, KITSCHKRIEG supply a slowed jersey club beat, and Dré and 163Margs discuss the irresistible siren call of London living: “I think my new passport needs stampin’… Just arrived, can you imagine that I’m getting blues? I should be trapping.” On Drake-esque four-to-the- floor house tune, “Feel Good”, Dré reflects on hustling and escapism: “Feel good, she just wanna party, wanna feel good/ Feel good, I just sold them molly, now they feel good.” Production standouts are “Mad About You”, built around a warped handpan melody and “Think Twice”, which expertly blends electronic sound selection with a reggae bounce.
It’s a project that, despite its German engineering, is decidedly UK-flavoured, owing not only to Dré’s lyricism but also to the mix of once-disparate genres. The ‘UK sound’ is a term that gets thrown around a lot by press, labels and tastemakers alike, often without much intention or direction. Chances are, whether an artist is an indie darling or a rising star of UKG, they’ve probably had the phrase brought up by an interviewer or tacked alongside their name in a magazine feature, simply because they’re from the UK. But the ‘UK sound’ is something more specific. I’d argue that it’s not a birthright of all artists born within these borders; it’s an acknowledgement of the intersection and interplay that makes our music so beautiful. Just as the nation itself is a melting pot of people – with different cultures colliding, merging, and exchanging – the UK sound is a constantly expanding sonic landscape. Just when you think you’ve reached the horizon, there’s more.
On London’s Calling, KITSCHKRIEG and Dré capture this expansiveness perfectly, speaking not only to the creativity of UK artists themselves, but also to the influence of their versatility, particularly in Europe. The project takes us on a journey through dancehall, drill, R&B, house, reggae, EDM, and more; an eclectic array, but these once-disparate flavours mingle effortlessly across 11 tracks, resisting definition.
I speak to the trio over Zoom, each calling in from different corners of the globe. Even virtually, their chemistry is palpable; they speak fondly of the process of building London’s Calling and nod in eager agreement as the others speak. Despite being a driver of the UK sound himself, Dré marvels at the ingenuity within the scene. “The stuff that’s coming out of the UK and London now, I would have never expected it 10-15 years ago. People are trying a load of different things. 15 years ago I wouldn’t really have listened to a black artist making indie pop.”
KITSCHKRIEG’s Fizzle agrees. “That’s a pretty good description of how it feels from the outside. There’s always new stuff happening in the UK. Things merge into different forms and create new genres. It’s always so inspiring. Very natural and innovative.” London-born vernacular features heavily across the album, including on Morrisson and Kenzo Str8Drop’s contributions, with the spattering of slang- ‘mandem’, ‘P’s’, and ‘nyash’ – reaffirming the undeniable cultural relevance of the UK, as well as its roots in the West Indies.
Despite this, the UK tends to fall behind in conversations about global influence, with America typically positioned as the musical centrepoint of the world. A key driver of cultural capital is, of course, multiculturalism, which the UK is no stranger to.
Fizzle marvels at the diversity in the UK. “Growing up in Germany, it always felt like the UK had a richer mixture of different cultures. In Germany, immigration percentages are way lower, and you don’t really have a big group from, let’s say, the West Indies playing such a large influential role.”
According to Fizzle’s counterpart Fiji, the key difference between the richness of UK culture, compared to the United States, comes down to the degree of intermingling between groups: “The multiculturalism in the UK feels different than in the US, where there is more separation between different subcultures. Here, maybe there’s more actual melting going on.”
Fizzle adds, “It seems to happen on a smaller radius here, so there’s more intersection. In the US, every city has its own distinct sound. They don’t mix as much. Cultural identities are a little more set in stone.” The consensus is clear: “The most creative shit comes from the UK. No doubt about it.”
Typically genres apart, KITSCHKRIEG and Dré most obviously find common ground in their shared sparse monochrome aesthetic. Their black-and-white visual worlds leave breathing room for Dré’s exploration of contemporary identity, the urban world, hedonism, love, and more. They also found that the usual KITSCHKRIEG style fit well with Dré’s songwriting owing to their mutual tendency towards melancholy. When I inquire into this, Fizzle laughs and quips, “We’re sad people. I don’t think it’s a real conscious decision”. He references the contrast between the more serious undertones and uplifting structure of a lot of Jamaican music, which he grew up on. As a lyricist, Dré’s focus on the grey is more intentional: “I try to portray life as honestly as possible. Not every day is happy. Especially how a lot of people grow up in London; today might just be another day to get through.” He strives to create music that resonates: “Sombre music hits different when you’re feeling down.”
While these similarities might make for a seemingly straightforward collaboration, ease was not the goal. KITSCHKRIEG prioritised innovation: “It needed to be something different,” Fiji says. “We wanted to stay away and respect what Dré’s doing, and not just take loops and put drums or whatever on top. So, we made this ground rule on day one: no guitar.” In their words, they invited Dré to be a guest in their world.
Although he currently sits neatly in the acoustic space, these weren’t uncharted waters for Dré who came of age on a diet of 50 Cent, Chipmunk and Skepta, and tinkered with grime and melodic rap earlier on in his career. Having not worked on anything with drums or a beat since 2021, this was an opportunity for experimentation for the artist, who said that more percussive and detailed production inspires different melodies and sounds.
With Dré residing in his hometown of London, and KITSCHKRIEG hours away in Berlin, the making of the project was piecemeal in nature: intense weeks of daily recording and writing in Berlin, more sporadic meetings in London, and back-and-forth remote sessions, too. Initially, KITSCHKRIEG focused on solidifying a sound for the project, before Dré hopped on a plane to Berlin. ‘It was a really open process,” Fizzle remembers. “We were building on stuff that Dré had, stuff that we had. Some of it is completely new. Fiji emphasises the ease of the process: “Some albums are easy, others a pain in the ass. This one felt natural. There was very little discussion about the details”.
Despite being made piece-by-piece and blending numerous genres, the album is strikingly coherent, a beautiful fusion of different and disparate places. Its influences, whilst broad, are expertly-handled by KITSCHKRIEG and Dré; they intermingle in a celebration of diasporic sound, of the UK, and, inevitably, of Berlin too. It’s music that indulges curiosity towards and appreciation of the world and people around us. KITSCHKRIEG put it best: “It’s a really dope and unique project. It’s brave and different. I want people to hear it, not for commercial success and all that shit, but so people can experience it.”
Listen to the full album…
Words – Portia Brajkovic
