When Ahad Elley was 12, his family moved from Karachi to the UK. Quickly, he discovered his Pakistani identity was the basis of a slur. The word ‘pak’ means clean, it has no negative connotations.” Elley’s childhood response was to disconnect from his heritage, and what followed was “potentially shrinking or hiding parts of myself to fit into society”.
It’s likely a familiar story for many diasporic south Asians who, at some point, have felt the call to assimilate. Twenty years later, Elley is better known as Ahadadream, an integral architect of the current British south Asian music scene, as well as a DJ, producer, label head, A&R and promoter shining a light on dance music from around the world. His tracks are favourites in sets by A-list dance artists such as Fred Again, Caribou, Peggy Gou and Four Tet, and with the release of his debut album, P★KI (pronounced “pee-star-kay-eye”) Elley’s star is set to rise further.
The album’s title has caused some upset, given the word is laced with hurt and histories of racist violence, but Elley wants to reframe a slur used against him. But I totally understand everyone’s perspectives, and it’s also about sharing perspectives with each other, which I think is your responsibility as an artist.” Music wasn’t always an obvious journey for Elley. Like many desis, he thought of creativity as a hobby.
It was dance producer Skrillex who, in 2023, encouraged Elley to pursue his dreams. If you can’t make enough money, you can come and sleep on my sofa.’” Elley had spent a decade working full-time corporate jobs while establishing himself at the forefront of British underground dance music in his spare time. While studying chemistry at university, Elley had discovered club culture: attending Elijah and Skilliam’s infamous grime raves, Butterz; listening to Mini Mixes on Annie Mac’s Radio 1 show; running his own nights.
He felt the pull of percussion early on, he says: “Rhythmic music has probably always been in my blood, going to weddings and being exposed to the dhol [drums]. Maybe I was drawn to UK funky because it’s more rhythmic, and that was almost a gateway to discovering things like gqom from South Africa, [Brazilian] baile funk, [Angolan] kuduro … I don’t understand why those sounds aren’t given as much importance as house and techno.” And so his own sets and productions began weaving together kinetic global polyrhythms. In 2017, he co-founded the label More Time, releasing tracks by artists from Trinidad to Taiwan.
Simultaneously, he worked behind the scenes at DJ livestreaming company Boiler Room, all while making space for south Asian DJs who couldn’t easily be categorised: whether at his club night No ID, or Dialled In, the platform he co-founded. Though it started as a London-based festival, Dialled In has scaled up, with parties across the Indian subcontinent, international shows for south Asian artists, mentoring and, most recently, a record label – through which Elley is releasing P★KI. Capturing the bold energy of his DJ sets, with drums leading the melody throughout, P★KI is a thrilling love letter to Elley’s constituent parts, marrying a bright, borderless mesh of sounds that feel like being free.
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