Axian

From the small town of Odder, Denmark, the 26-year-old producer has quietly become one of the more widely recognized instrumental hip-hop artists in the online beat scene. He’s dropped over ninety songs, four albums and several EP’s, and racked up millions of plays on streaming services in the process. And that’s not to mention his successful stints both as a music curator on Spotify and YouTube as well as his A&R work for Stereofox Records as well as other prominent labels in the beat scene. Axian’s music bucks many of lo-fi hip-hop’s clichés: the overuse of the same few samples, the 45-second songs, and the splicing of cartoon dialogue onto beats. His sound - while undeniably influenced by lo-fi - is built off denser, more melodic samples, punchier, more organic drums - as well as his instrumentation, involving Rhodes keys, synths, guitars or horns. He wouldn’t draw attention to himself though; in his words, “my work to support and grow the scene is what matters most to me. I make music as a hobby because I enjoy it and I would never compromise it for anything”.