Words: Sophia Hill
Photographer: Ryan James-Beau
Assist: Cashmerre
Stylist: Romana Habova
Jewellery: Gallery Of Nothing
icykof’s Sexy Dancefloor Music Will Make You Simultaneously Sweat, Screwface, and Squirm…
Movement is never just forward motion. It’s the push and pull, the slow build before the break, the way anticipation curls around a moment before it lets go. You feel it in your body before you name it—before the drop of a heavy bassline, or the sprint at the end of a long run where you swear, for a second, you might take off from the ground. Some forces press down; others lift. Some nights, the air is thick, heavy with something unsaid. Other times, it’s weightless, rushing past your skin as the city blurs around you.
Sound moves the same way. Not just in beats per minute or structure, but in tension, in gravity. The right track doesn’t just land—it shifts everything around it. It catches you where you are. That balance is where icykof, born Kofi McCalla, finds his purpose—whether it’s the discipline of training for a marathon, the release of bombing down south east London’s Forest Hill on his cowboy bike as the slipstream washes away those tangled thoughts, or creating music and art driven by curiosity and an inner compulsion. A far cry from the need for external validation: each of these moments reflects a pursuit of something greater, a constant interplay between surrendering to the moment and staying grounded in what truly matters.
Without being bound to a specific sub-genre, icykof’s music runs right through the middle, grabbing at the minimal, piercing, drums of techno, the sweaty atmospherics of hardgroove and bone-chilling dubbed-out ambience of his remixes, turning minim into maxim. In that same sense, icykof’s ZERO SUGAR EP is both straight-up and delirious, full of tightly wound, head-spinning change-ups. Each track contains as many ideas as it does drum patterns, with icykof looking less toward a formula-based science than alchemy.
His first foray into techno culture began in 2018 during a trip to Tokyo, where the genre’s unfiltered energy caught him like a fly in a web while celebrating his birthday. His friend Gab3 “dragged” him behind the decks and introduced him to Virgil Abloh and Heron Preston. He recalls, “I had never really heard this kind of techno before, and V [Virgil] would explain it to me, then Heron would show me. ‘It’s a language with no language. It’s pure emotion that brings us all together.’” It was a starting point driven by sheer instinct rather than a calculated, learned approach. “Making music started from that frustration of not knowing the sounds I liked” he explains. Since then, the multifaceted artist has been putting out singles independently via his own label RAVE NUIT, steadily becoming an integral cog in the electronic dance machine.
ZERO SUGAR, the electronic producer’s new EP, is his most potent distillation of this yet. Here, he makes his club-ready approach to chronicling of genres clear, crumpling up timelines and sketching out a universe of sound. It’s a sentiment echoed by neuroscientist Dr Julia C. Basso, who explains that when people dance with others, it creates a feeling of unity. “That whole social network of brain areas is lighting up, firing together, so there’s a lot of inter-brain synchrony that’s happening,” she explains in her study. This sense of collective energy, which icykof felt during his trip, later influenced the ethos behind one of his countless endeavours, Bonne Nuit Studios, a clothing brand that continues to explore this thematic core of rhythm, unity, and cultural expression.
From seemingly out of nowhere, icykof emerged as a fully formed techno savant with his first solo release “SHE KNOWS” in 2024. His sleek, nocturnal Detroit and Chicago style of hardgrooves, was both a callback to old school techno and drum ‘n’ bass music of the 80s and 90s, combined with a reflection of his present reality. But icykof didn’t just come out of nowhere. Before he was icykof, McCalla was known for his work as a visual artist and spent several years building his presence through “The Unknown Vlogs,” a YouTube channel where he documented street fashion by interviewing individuals about their outfits. Beyond vlogging, McCalla stood as the creative director for Violent clothing and launched Holy Grail, a design and fashion company based in London. His collaborations spanned interviews with global fashion and cultural icons, alongside partnerships with major brands like Louis Vuitton.
It’s almost Sisyphean, the way icykof approaches creativity. Building and expanding his sound and image through fashion, design, visual art, and now on ZERO SUGAR, an EP of big funky acid house bass lines from pioneering influences like Underground Resistance and Robert Hood, hardgroove, and even some horns. For all its retro-leaning references, ZERO SUGAR is hardly shackled to the past. It is a series of clever and subtle reimaginings, fusing new-school and genre-agnostic approaches into mind-bending, roof-raising compositions. We caught up with icykof ahead of the release of his EP to talk about how his influences can range from tank top weather to the sheer upheaval of routine through a Sagittarian-fueled boredom, moving to Antwerp on a whim and how he met Jaden Smith at a theatre screening in Calabasas in 2017 and became a MSFTSrep for a short period, and more.
First off, how’re you doing?
I’m doing great, thanks. I’m currently in my last month of training for my first marathon. So physically feeling the best I ever have.
Tell me about “Move Your Body”. What ideas/ themes were central to creating the record?
I needed something more hardgroove, more heads down. Low ceiling for a dirty bass and kick to drive the floor. I don’t want to know what time it is. No sense of egos around me. Just pure filth cleaning the smiles off from peoples faces—after being lifted from the previous track on the EP, “PAYDAY”.
Techno and dance music can feel like this push and pull with tension and release. How do you navigate when to hold back and when to let the floor cave in?
I can’t lie, the weather has a big part in this. If it’s grim outside, pouring rain, cold and grey, expect to hear a filthy track to heal seasonal depression. If I’ve been dealing with a lot mentally, expect that dancefloor to cave in. Now imagine you’re cycling down south London, Forest Hill to be exact. So it’s super hilly. On my Cowboy bike bombing the hills. Suns out. Tank top weather. You’re going to hear that feel good energy. “PAYDAY” for example.
You’ve moved through different creative spaces and seem to thrive in each. Do you feel drawn to any one place, or is it the novelty of shifting between them that drives you?
As an artist explores their mediums and textiles. I’ve been doing so in my creative spaces. Music feels good for my soul and I believe in every creative space I’ve been drawn to, we’re only preludes for what’s to come.
When you made your public debut with music (correct me if I’m wrong, but this was with DJing some years ago?)––what was that initial spark of inspiration or motivation to finally share your music with the world?
I wanted to share my story. It was during my trip to Tokyo for my birthday back in 2018 I think. Virgil and Heron were playing and Gab3 dragged me behind the decks to meet Virgil and Heron properly. I had never really heard this kind of techno before and V would explain it to me. Then Heron would show me. “It’s a language that has no language. Techno. It’s pure emotion bringing us all together.” I left Japan excited and inspired. Later launching Bonne Nuit Studios (my clothing brand) which explored those themes. And music. When I started playing techno, I didn’t know much about it. Just what I liked. So making music all started from that frustration of not knowing sounds I like and trying to create them myself. Now knowing more about that sound I want to live in and drive, I can’t stop being excited to release music for the world to hear.
You mentioned once in an interview five years ago: “I have 7 albums of me trying to sing.” Is this a side to your artistry that you think you will eventually explore again?
Hahaha wow. Yeah this is funny. Back in 2017 I think. I met Jaden Smith in a theatre screening out in Calabasas. That later sparked three months of living in Calabasas as a MSFTsrep. Ian Frequency had released ‘Energy’ with Jaden and Jaden was working on Syre. Now I’m in the studio with one of Jaden’s producers and the whole team. All of them making music for his label. I became hooked and started giving it a go. We went to Guitar Centre where I bought my first microphone and interface etc and with J’s producer, made three albums. Then more back in London. I don’t think I’ll touch base with rapping or singing again, but with just a laid back approach to talking over my tracks like Cajmere, expect to hear a lot more of that ‘less is more’ approach.
You’re known for having an eagle eye for the finer details that others may overlook (in reference to culture, fashion, music, design and beyond!). Has this always been how you see the world or is it a skill you’ve honed in on over time?
Everything is business. My business is based around me. I’ve been an outsider since I was young. I never fitted in with a group of people. Never found my people. So always on the side lines observing life pass me by in forms of moments and trends. But this perspective allowed me to try and understand why people like things and gravitate towards things. And why I don’t. A skill I developed understanding culture and consumerism over time. Now developing my world over the years and meeting people who are just like me.
How has your approach to production changed as time passes and as you add new skills to your repertoire?
I think it’s the shortcuts in Ableton that have taken my skills to the next level. I mainly use analogue equipment but to put it all together, lay down the idea and finish a song. That process on my laptop has become so much more efficient over the time. Allowing more ideas to be laid down and finished.
Listening to your releases, it feels like your sound carries a pulse—something alive, even intimate. How much of you, personally, is buried in the music?
The music is me. I started out loving the melodies that afrohouse bought out back in 2019 when I visited for the first time and discovered this genre in Johannesburg at some bar off of Braamfontein. If you know you know. I remember Arca visited the same place a week later. So I knew I found a gem, and with that, hearing the emotions from this genre carrying a pulse, I knew I needed this to breathe in the hardgroove and hypnotic rhythms in ZERO SUGAR.
What’s the strangest or most unexpected sound you’ve ever used in a track?
Sirens. Haha. At first, it’s kind of jarring. But a few tracks needed that next thing to push it out its shell. And so a siren mixed in with some hidden vocals of Pharrell Williams being asked his opinion on the relationship between music and fashion with him saying ‘it’s obvious’. This is on PAYDAY. And few other tracks follow the same vibe of hidden messages. kind of weird. But I love it. Bringing my identity from YouTube into music. Using unreleased footage I can play visually at my gigs. Perfect.
What’s the feeling or energy you’re chasing when you’re in the studio or wherever else you might be making music?
A stank face or screams. that nod from an OG raver in the corner of the room. That seal of approval. I want that dancefloor hooked.
Detroit and Chicago are known for their deep influence on the evolution of dance music. What’s your relationship with those sounds and scenes?
I call it ‘sexy dancefloor music’. and with that being said; let’s keep bringing people that effortless approach. That 909 swing on the groove. Throw in some storytelling because it’s 3am and I’m trying to hear some hypnotic story in the club I can relate to somehow. it just feels natural to me. Developing these sounds.
What art was particularly formative for you when you were growing up? Does that connect to your current practice?
Miro’s approach to painting from his home in Mallorca. His simplicity on the canvas drives his expression. I feel this still runs deep in my efforts today on how I develop ideas. A place of peace delivering art in its simplest yet loudest approach.
Dance music has always been deeply connected to the realities of the people who create and move to it and the clubs are a place for that cathartic release. How do you see your own experiences reflected in the spaces you occupy or the music you make?
I make music for places I want to play at. Clubs I want to relive but behind the decks. I started as a raver first, no phones, just music playing on the dancefloor at places with no addresses during lockdown especially. Those moments replay in my mind all the time. So for sure, my experiences are reflected in my music as I recreate emotions and moments.
Last question to you, as a fellow sagittarius, what’s something ridiculously spontaneous you’ve done recently to get out of your comfort zone?
Nahhh this is too funny. I think one of them has to be moving countries permanently. I cancelled my lease in London and packed my things. Next day I went to Antwerp without knowing the bureaucracy of moving countries permanently. And lived there for over a year. Didn’t know anyone there. Zero contacts there. Didn’t speak the language. I had no idea what life would be like out there as I only visited once for a RAF Simon’s sample sale and even then I didn’t even stay a night. All I knew, it was cheaper than London and all my favourite fashion designers were from here. Even Brussels was not far, so I could dive deeper into techno.
By the way, this all happened in one day. I woke up bored with London. Told the landlord I’m leaving. Had moved all my things that night and the next day with my mates to a storage unit in Kings Cross because it was next to the Eurostar I would take to Antwerp from London. And easier to move things in a suitcase at a time. Found an Airbnb that night and caught the train straight there on day two.
Watch the official video for “MOVE YOUR BODY” below and listen to the full EP.