London born and raised Deijuvhs has been on his grind in the city’s underbelly for years now.  He notably founded Lamesfest in 2016, an anarchic weekender of rap, punk and moshpits in a Clapton warehouse that has grown into one of London’s most exciting recurring events.

Lamesfest’s goal is to provide a platform for young artists who are often overlooked by the gatekeepers of the London live scene.  The result is refreshing, and playful.  ‘Forever Hoodpunk’ keeps that same energy and eclecticism, demonstrating the fearlessness fermenting in the London underground through its constant genre-bending and Deijuvhs’ consistently inventive approach to music making.

Every song has a twist of the unexpected. The flawless afrobeats inspired hook of ‘Code Vein’ carries us to the club but Deiju’s punk vocals on the verse take us to the dark alleyways outside it. He barks, ‘Big man ting, don’t piss me off/Ima put you in the dirt.’ But as the chorus continues, ‘I don’t want a lonely heart/ so I keep that shit frozen’, we hear vulnerability concealed beneath the aggression. The drill 808s disperse to reveal a breakdown which takes us to the mournful, saccharine melodies of the cleanest emo track.

Whine or mosh, you decide.

It’s a fine balance to strike, tapping into popular taste without compromising on artistic identity. Deijuvhs handles it with a deftness, a lightness of touch, which can be felt throughout, even when at its most experimental and chaotic. 

Production plays a key role, with much of the album being produced with Manchester-based Mattu. The result is both ambitious and refined, tells of a fruitful creative relationship between the two artists. Most apparent is that the pair can speak the language of the mainstream, trap hi-hats, booming 808s are all there. But the real genius of it is in the layering of genre, often so seamless that you would have to sit and dissect the song’s different parts to be able to pick it all out. It just works.

Deiju’s songwriting gives us further insight into his uniquely creative and often eccentric outlook. Lyrics can be brusque to the point of vulgarity, but are tempered with a tongue in cheek humour - see the jaunty, naughty chorus of ‘Dipshit’ or the sadboy/fuckboy dichotomy on emo gone RnB bop ‘Bachelor’. 

Substance is dealt with a playful hand. Themes of depression and promiscuity are mixed in with an ode to the pub on ‘Wetherspoons’. The anthemic, anarchic ‘Flem’ is a warcry against political corruption which aligns revolution with bumping the tube. “Fuck the government, I’m doing my own shit”, Deijuvhs screams on the chorus. 

Well Deiju you certainly are.