Kayper

Few DJs can claim a journey as multifaceted or as quietly influential as Kayper’s. A South London native with deep roots in hip hop and turntablism, she grew up in a family of DJs and producers and began mixing records at just 11 years old. Drawing early inspiration from her cousin Nookie, a pioneering figure in jungle and drum & bass, she emerged in the early 2000s as a technically gifted selector at a time when few South Asian women were visible in UK club culture. Over the years, her sound has evolved from intricate scratch routines and soulful edits to a darker, club-oriented palette that weaves together house, UK garage, breaks, and bass-driven techno. Cutting her teeth on the airwaves, Kayper spent seven years on BBC Asian Network and 1Xtra, championing music that blurred the lines between underground electronic scenes and diasporic rhythm cultures. But it’s in the booth where her instincts are most clearly felt: fluid, intuitive mixing anchored by a deep knowledge of both the classics and the cutting edge. She’s played Fabric, Ministry of Sound, and Coachella with the same precision she brings to a backroom in Brooklyn or a sweaty basement in Berlin. Her productions, released on labels like Hypercolour and Eton Messy, reflect the same versatility she brings to the booth—deep grooves, dusty textures, and a strong sense of movement. In 2025, she relaunched her label Fututrebox under the name FTRBX, originally founded in 2010 during her time as a BBC presenter, with a renewed focus on darker, stripped-back sounds and forward-thinking club music. Her trajectory reflects not just longevity but evolution: from turntablist to tastemaker, and from radio host to label head. Quietly consistent, genre-fluid, and grounded in craft, Kayper remains one of the UK’s most enduring and underrated figures in underground electronic music.