Future Classic: Flava D “Fabriclive 88”
via Fabric London: Flava D has made a rapid ascent to the top of the bass music tree. Within a few short years, she has gone from anonymously selling loops on Myspace, to selling out venues and packing festival arenas as an instantly-recognizable headliner.
After catching Wiley’s ear with her productions, her infectious ‘Hold On’ landed her a vinyl debut on Elijah & Skilliam’s respected Butterz imprint. She has since juggled an increasingly-packed international touring schedule with a prolific production output, via labels like Local Action, Formula Records, and also direct to her growing legion of fans via Bandcamp. Flava D’s sound is rooted in her love of UK garage, and traverses the genre’s full spectrum – from sweetly-vocalled 2-step to heavy 4×4 bangers – with a tip of her signature snapback cap to grime, too.
FABRICLIVE 88 perfectly encapsulates the musical force of nature that is Flava D. Its 30 tracks comprising predominantly brand new, unreleased material, mainly from D’s own studio, the entire mix simply bursts with freshness and attitude. Bookending the mix with melodic cuts which stretch her musicianship and production capabilities beyond limits she’s ever previously explored, there is also plenty in between to please fans of her devastating bass-heavy sound. Collaborations with Champion, My Nu Leng, Taiki Nulight, Holy Goof, DevelopMENT, Royal T and DJ Q (the trio appearing in their t q d guise) bring alternative perspectives to her dancefloor-led approach, whilst vocals from Miss Fire, Slick Don and Newham Generals’ D Double E respectively add soulful, confrontational and cheeky vibes to the mix. Killer exclusives from Distro, Notion and TuffCulture ensure that it’s never all about Flava D, but make no mistake, with FABRICLIVE 88, she’s made another huge step in her unceasing march to superstardom.
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