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The premier engineering talent for much of the U.K. drill scene, West London-based Fumez the Engineer provides behind-the-boards expertise to many of the scene's rising rappers. After founding the dominant freestyle show Plugged In in early 2020, Fumez came into his own as the show's host, offering drill legends and fiery up-and-comers a high-caliber showcase for their talents.

Though known to most as the host of the much-anticipated Plugged In, Fumez's roots in the U.K. rap scene trace back to 2012, when he helped in the early stages of the distribution platform PressPlay. Through the mid-2010s, he worked in engineering and production capacities for a variety of U.K. talents, most notably producing for M Huncho's viral appearance on freestyle show Mad About Bars. During this time, he compiled two mixtapes of his own: 2016's The Mix-Tape tackled hardcore U.K. trap with appearances including Ard Adz, M Darrg, and Big Tobz, while its 2018 sequel (The Mix-Tape 2) offered ventures into faster-paced trap and drill, alongside the likes of Headie One, 410, and M Huncho. Fumez's technical proficiency and early adoption of U.K. drill ensured he was the engineer for many of the genre's classics, among them CB's "Take That Risk" and V9 and KO's "Andy and Dwight."

Drill has always been a genre shaped by its freestyle platforms -- and in 2020, Fumez founded his own. Returning to his PressPlay roots, the engineer created his own drill freestyle series, Plugged In, aiming at a self-described return to "quality control" for the genre. Debuting with an appearance from drill icons Zone 2, Plugged In was quick to gain traction. The series' first season was a prolific run of freestyles across 2020: among the season's guests were drill heavyweights 410, CGM, and CB, and up-and-comers including Fizzler and TPL. Season one's biggest appearance, however, was from Irish drill collective A92, whose high-energy back-to-back landed their "Plugged In" at number 39 on the U.K. charts.

In November, Fumez kicked off season two with East London's 98s; the season featured a wider range of styles, including melodic trap (Baby Mane) and hardcore rap (Mitch) alongside a stacked roster of drill stars including Russ Millions, PS Hitsquad, NitoNB, Active Gxng, and OFB. The season finale pulled together three of the show’s most popular performers -- TPL, 410, and CGM -- for an all-star finish. It wasn't long before Plugged In's third season landed online: early guests included wavy trapper Mastermind, granddad drillers Pete & Bas, and OFB legend RV. Among the season's highlights were appearances from viral successes Arrdee and A1 x J1, U.K. veterans like 67 and Sneakbo, and drill talents Horrid1, Sav'O, 3x3, and Dezzie. For the season three finale, Fumez put together his biggest roster to date, compiling a blistering set of verses from Suspect, PR Sad, DoRoad, R6, A92, Pete & Bas, Kwengface, and PS Hitsquad. ~ David Crone

The breakaway success of Ireland’s emerging drill scene, Drogheda-based collective A92 catapulted to success with their appearance on the freestyle series Plugged In, that became the most-viewed episode in the series’ history.

Though Irish drill heavyweights A92 would find their greatest success as a group, their career began with the success of key member Offica: in 2019, the masked MC released viral single “Naruto Drillings,” capturing millions of views online with his fusion of drill narratives and heavy references to the titular anime. Subsequent collaborations with KSI and Fizzler, alongside a much-awaited “Face Reveal,” built a buzz around the MC, which soon extended to his collective A92. Comprised of rappers Offica, Dbo Fundz, Ksav, Trapboy, Ace, Kebz, BT, and Nikz, the group debuted in 2020 with “A9 Link Up,” a frosty posse cut that demonstrated the variety of MCs on the group’s roster.

Unprecedented success arrived in October 2020 when four of the group members appeared on Fumez the Engineer’s freestyle series Plugged In. The combination of Offica’s outlandish flows, Dbo’s booming threats, Ksav’s sinister swagger, and BT’s gliding boasts produced an effortlessly infectious track which soon landed on streaming charts worldwide. Not only was the group’s appearance on Plugged In the most-viewed episode in the show’s history, it had an international audience with over 100 million streams, making it among drill’s most-streamed songs to date. With their name solidified with just two singles, the collective released their debut mixtape, 92 Degrees; featuring contributions from the A92 roster, the project comprised a collection of jumpy drill anthems. After closing out the year with an appearance on freestyle show Next Up, A92 moved into 2021 with singles “Repeat It” (Nikz x Ksav), “Bite” (Ksav x BT), “Spin Dat” (Ksav x Dbo Fundz), and “Stuck in Da T” (BT), before appearing alongside an all-star roster for the Plugged In season three finale. ~ David Crone