LiTek

“Keep things simple and stay true to your own wave”

LiTek is the multi platinum-selling record producer behind some of the UK’s biggest hits like ArrDee’s ‘Flowers’ & Tion Wayne’s ‘IFTK’ which certified Platinum and Central Cee’s ‘Doja’ which certified Gold in the UK & US. LiTek also produced the lion’s share of records on ArrDee’s debut project ‘Pier Pressure’ which is now certified Gold in the UK. LiTek scored a Silver with ‘Je M’appelle’ by West London rhymer Benzz and another two Silvers with Aitch & Arrdee’s ‘War’ and ‘My G’ from Aitch’s debut full-length album Close to Home. 

Having swept the UK Rap scene, Litek demonstrates his versatility through his production of the UK’s most exciting rising pop acts. From Flo’s iconic team up with Missy Elliot on ‘Fly Girl’, to Caity Baser’s infectious ‘Pretty Boys’, both charting in Top 40, this is only just a taste of what’s to come for the young prodigy. 

LiTek first started as a teen, coaching himself on Reason in his bedroom. Born and raised in Ukraine, his parents moved the family over to the UK when he was a child with the hope of their son pursuing a career in football. “I didn't get to go out much because it was so heavily disciplined,” he explains. “Because of that, I was able to stay in and just live basically on the internet, find out little pockets for myself just on YouTube, just out of a general curiosity for music.” It was a disciplined upbringing where education and football were his only priorities, at least in his parents’ eyes. “It was very much behind everyone's back,” he jokes. “I remember my grandma burst into the room one time, she's like, ‘Are you doing homework?’ And I had Reason open and I was just like, ‘This is the assignment that we got.’ I thought I was being smart, but she was on to me.”

LiTek’s focus has never been confined solely to producing beats for other artists. Away from the rap world, LiTek has also had a foot in the world of house music pretty much for as long as he’s been making music. He found some early success in university, signing deals for some house tracks he made between studying before becoming enamoured with rap and gradually pouring more and more of his time into working with the rappers around him in Manchester.

Eventually, LiTek started making a name for himself within circles of prominent Manchester rappers and MCs. Through this, he met fellow producer and collaborator Whyjay.  They became two of the main producers in Manchester, charging the city’s rap scene for studio time and building up a strong network and an impressive reputation. It was during these sessions they eventually connected with now multi-platinum-selling rapper Aitch and his manager Michael Adex - the founder and CEO of NQ, a record label/recording studio/publishing house/management company that handles the pair’s publishing. 

The duo, under the name ‘Whytek’ have continued making moves. There are singles, live shows, DJ sets and ultimately, an album all being sketched out, but a more detailed plan is being kept under wraps for now. “Being producers, we're not just doing this one thing and hoping it works and trying to build this mad plan around it. It’s fluid, ever-changing.”

And it won’t just be in grime and rap, either. Hip-hop, rap, grime, drill… it all has a place in their long-term plans, but pop and Afroswing are due to play much bigger roles in their future. It will, in LiTek’s words, ultimately be pop, but “Pop music that makes you feel something.”

To sum up Litek’s future plans, both in terms of big-picture career trajectory and the broad spread of artists and genres he wants to work with, “It's hard sometimes to make them make sense and make it not feel like this manufactured thing. Neil deGrasse Tyson said, "The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you." There's no reason for it to sound good; it just does.”