Nana's Sunday Jams: Frosted Perspeks - Foreign Beggars

Published on 2020-08-09 00:00:00 by Nana Fani-Kayode

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Yes Yes Yes, Sunday Jammers!\

Hotness in the bloody city—love that life is making a comeback, albeit with a makeover. Hearing tales from friends having socially distanced fun—heads bobbing at DJ sets, music floating through the air—feels like a dream in soft focus. And those bobbing heads? That’s the inspiration this week.\

I’ve been thinking about artist-led independent labels. The ones born from a lack in the landscape, carving out routes for their own music or reshaping ideas of artist development. Some endure; others fold. The reasons vary—adaptability, luck, necessity, bankruptcy—but no matter how far they got, most leave an imprint.\

The imprint here? Dented Records.\

Home to UK hip-hop outfit Foreign Beggars, the label is sadly no more, but its catalogue reads like a love letter to the UK hip-hop scene of the 2000s. Born out of necessity and hunger to be heard, Dented was a learn-on-the-job operation: pressing records, hustling sales, building platforms through radio, and guerrilla marketing (think: stickering every available surface). Their grind paid off—specialist retailers, big distributors, and fellow artists took notice.\

Dented went on to distribute music by Dubdledge, Ed Skrein, Medison, Speakers Corner, Stig of the Dump, Task Force, and more. Its foundation? A deep love for music, the artists they worked with, and a mission to spotlight UK talent—which it did, unequivocally. The label’s legacy (alongside peers like High Focus) wasn’t just about creating outlets—it was about making space for what came next.\

So, this week’s nomination: ‘Frosted Perspeks’ from Asylum Speakers—the debut album by the label’s creators and one of my favorite albums ever.\

This was a defining moment for a scene bursting with energy, fighting to solidify itself as a genre to reckon with—yet struggling to claim its own space. Amid the beautiful chaos of MCs spitting skits, producers dropping heavy beats, and vocalists weaving harmonies, Asylum Speakers arrived. It connected dots: personal to political, raw to refined. Musically, it felt considered but never artificial, with tracks for every type of Headz moment—hard, bass-heavy rock-tinged bangers; lo-fi electro-jazz-blues meditations. It crystallized the vision of artists whose commitment was unquestionable.\

These were stories and voices I knew—experiences I identified with. Every track felt like Foreign Beggars’ many Headz reconvening, swapping tales from across the planet (and sometimes galaxies), all molded into rhyme and sound.\

‘Frosted Perspeks’ sits on the lo-fi end of the album. A rebel yell. A lament on surviving a toxic, imbalanced world. The percussion marches steady; strings amplify the ache; vocal harmonies drift into the surreal. And holding it all together? A frenetic flow that celebrates language and emotional world-building. A deep, Headz moment—one to loop back and forth, forth and back.

Written by Nana Fani-Kayode