DJ IQ

HIP HOP

Don’t worry, the Sofa isn’t some tragically hip underground club you’ve never heard of – it’s in the living room of DJ IQ, one of the UK’s most tenacious new beatsmiths. With the help of a whole bus-load of UK hip hop’s verbal cognoscenti, he’s created an album of varied textures and tones. There are plenty highlights to choose from: ‘Eight Bars of Fire’ is bejewelled with guests but it’s IQ’s ferocious old school beat that leads the way, same goes for the tumbling beat juggles of ‘Never Be’. ‘D90’, his collaboration with Braintax, is a bounding, loping, swinger that would have US MCs drooling while the spooky tension of ‘The Chase’ and the string-loaded bombast of ‘Sucker or Savvy?’ further illustrate IQ’s developing skills as a producer.