Focus Five is back with its eighty-first installment. This month’s feature highlights an exceptional bass producer from Nashville, an artist blending poetic soundscapes, high-quality drums and melodies, a producer with a fresh take on wave, a standout from VISION’s latest compilation, and an LA-based phonk machine. Get familiar with all five below.
AYCH
Nashville-based producer AYCH (pronounced H) burst onto my radar last month after connecting with FUXWITHIT favourite Buzz Junior for the filthy heater ‘PAPU!’ The track is a 140 banger with catchy vocal chops, wonky basslines, and some wicked bounce. The track perfectly introduces AYCH’s style, blending swagger, wild sound design, and hip-hop tendencies. A deeper dive into his SoundCloud showcases some impressive flips with reworks spanning from Skepta and Key Glock, to msft and Young Dolph, Billie Eilish, Justin Timberlake, and more. But there is one flip in particular that really stands out amongst the pack, AYCH’s rework of Mac Miller’s iconic ‘Nikes On My Feet.’ From the minute the classic Nas sample hits over the gritty basslines, you know you’re in for a treat. Mac’s vocals skate over the bass-heavy sound effortlessly, with AYCH providing the perfect 2025 take on the classic that’s at home at the club or while kicking back. I have no idea what the producer has in store for the rest of the year, but we’ll be keeping a close eye out, and you should too.
-C
buhlü
From poetic soundscapes that bend your hearts briskly and warmly, to high-quality drums and melodies, buhlü is one of those artists who impresses with every release, no matter what. His suave and charismatic production style truly enhances his creations to a whole new level. You never know what to expect next due to his unpredictability in each piece. His recent album, The Bittersweet Beauty of Solitude, represents his evolved creativity over time, along with who he is as an artist. Combining everything he’s learned along with some brand-new techniques. It screams passion and pure clarity in every sense. Tracks such as ‘Just a moment…’ and ‘Inertia’ are only a couple of examples of what you can expect from his overall mind. Enchanting drums, mind-soothing melodies, and overall trippy arrangements will give the audience a pure trance. Creating an unforgettable experience from beginning to end. We highly recommend diving into the rest of his discography! You won’t regret it one bit. We’re excited to see and hear what’s next for him along his journey!
-JD
HAIKU
Born as a multi-genre music producer but currently devoted mainly to wave, HAIKU landed on my feed a few years ago with his slapping remix of ‘Like A G6’ but earned my following thanks to his ‘lightweight’ (as I like to call it) approach to wave. By now, it’s common knowledge that I’m a die-hard OG wave fan, or an enthusiast of the sonic chimaeras that the Hardwave 2 movement is spawning, but there are also moments where I crave a ‘wavier sound’ that’s not technically so dark and suffocating. HAIKU’s output, whether originals or bootlegs, adheres to the wave style that lets the trap component emerge more significantly. Underneath the melodic pads and alabaster vocals typical of the genre, HAIKU concocts clean, airy yet still pushing and driving beats that perfectly support the songs without saturating the frequencies. A stylistic compromise that is not trivial to achieve and which doesn’t water down the emotional result, but instead makes it more digestible if you are not used to the purest and rawest wave. HAIKU is one of those essential producers who can act as a bridge between the wave orbit and related scenes. Releases such as ‘Vindictive’ (released via Trap City) or his brand new flip of Eastghost’s ‘D’vocean’ are tunes that can give a perfect hint of wave lore to new followers.
– AA
Moghee
One of the biggest standouts in VISION’s MISSION 03 compilation from a couple of months back was undoubtedly moghee‘s ‘vaskur.’ Formerly known as all your friends (and hence why both artists are included in the Spotify release), the Polish artist surprised with an absolute belter of a track with a halftime flow and bass swagger that is on par with some of the greats in the genre. While this was the artist’s first release under his new moniker, I took the time to dive into his work under his former alias to discover more, and I was impressed by the range of his compositions. From darker orchestral tunes that leave shivers down your spine, to an electric drum and bass remix for Ankou’s ‘Ember,’ it’s obvious that the producer possesses a ton of talent. Getting the VISION stamp of approval is no small feat, and moghee’s limited yet gripping discography signals that he is surely one to watch.
-SC
plur
Phonk is one of those genres that’s really hit-or-miss for me at times. It’s a landscape of four-bar loops and production styles that too often sound derivative of each other and lack a real sense of standout originality. Thankfully, plur is not one of those producers. This LA-based phonk machine has a litany of tracks that all pack a serious wallop, featuring a unique fusion of raw hip-hop elements, dub-style basslines, wavy synths, and exactly the kinds of vocal samples that you’d expect from a west-coast phonk producer. Tracks like ‘6 FIGURES’ and ‘CITY WALK’ go unapologetically hard in the paint with the thud of their 808s, while songs like ‘MILLION DOLLER SKY’ showcase the chiller, more wave-inspired side of plur’s discography. There’s a real straddling of genres going on in each and every one of plur’s tracks, the scales never quite tipping too far in one direction. Next time you’re drifting around city streets late at night, throw this man on at full volume. I promise you won’t be disappointed.
-BG
Written by Alessio, Braden, Colin, John, and Steph.
