He calls himself the “Savior of London,” but not out of arrogance or to provoke: Fakemink is one of the artists who are rewriting the rules of UK Ug—short for UK Underground Rap—one of the British musical and countercultural movements most representative of Gen Z. Alongside him are artists like EsDeeKid and Jim Legxacy, among the scene’s best-known figures, but his approach is perhaps the most personal. His sound oscillates between Nujabes-style lo-fi hip hop, cloud rap, and echoes of the frenzy of Japanese nightcore. He has said that he started producing music at just ten years old using FruityLoops, the software with which he developed an instinctive and free-spirited style typical of someone who grew up on the internet: he constantly pitches vocals, speeds up and slows down tracks, and manipulates them to the point of reversing them. In 2024 alone, he released about 80 tracks on Spotify under the pseudonym 9090gate, before changing his name to Fakemink in April 2024, a few months after the release of his debut album, *London’s Saviour*.
Vincenzo Nischal Camille Bhatia, born in 2005, has Indian (Punjabi) and Algerian roots and was born in Ilford, in East London, before moving to Essex as a child. With his now-iconic skullet and robotic movements—which have made his performances go viral—he has managed to break out of the British underground scene and make his mark in the fashion world as well. His appearance at the first Gucci by Demna fashion show did not go unnoticed: he walked the runway with his eyes glued to his smartphone, turning even that gesture into a style statement. Behind that seemingly aloof image, however, lies a young man described by those who know him as polite, shy, and even awkward. And perhaps it is precisely this authenticity that first won over Demna and then Simon Porte Jacquemus, who invited him to attend his latest fashion show in Corsica dedicated to the Le Bonheur collection.
Wearing hotel slippers practically everywhere and sporting Gucci looks that perfectly embody Demna’s deliberately bold new aesthetic, Fakemink has crafted an aesthetic as recognizable as his music, becoming one of the new icons of his generation.
“Sometimes I really feel like the Eminem of the British underground: I’m way better than a lot of others, and they just can’t accept it,” he said in a recent interview with Dazed. Ambitious? Definitely. But if his trajectory over the past few months is any indication, the guy who has proclaimed himself the “Savior of London” might be just at the beginning of his rise.
[📸 Getty Images; IPA; Instagram: gucci, fakemink 📹 TikTok: c6hiara, xtcindy, aydan3k, joseph.crash0ut; YouTube: gucci]
