Leeds Uni rapper is about to drop the hottest mixtape of the year

If you were too vanilla to visit the mythical Marry Morris House last year, you missed the beat.

With a laid-back atmosphere far from Unipol’s watching authority, the halls were allegedly host to post-pizza sex parties and strip ping-pong amongst other extra curriculars.

However, if you did get a chance to visit, you might have heard a mixtape brewing from room H07.

Over the summer, Chemist Andrew Linstead (AKA FulKost) disappeared on a six week hiatus.

Typically, freshers locking themselves in their room means they’re either getting lucky with a partner or without, but neither of these applied to Andy – at least not this time.

Riding the wave of the grime renaissance, Andy had actually been at work on his maiden mixtape, From Way Back When.

We spoke to Andy, who told us the mixtape is about his musical past. He said: “It begins all about how I got to this point and ends in a positive note of dreams and aspirations.

“I skipped a professional studio and recorded from my bedroom using raw and authentic sounds to showcase my potential as a musician and sound engineer.”

So how does a Leeds Uni boy get into grime music?

“I’ve always been a massive fan of urban music. Growing up in Coventry I was surrounded by people that rhymed, back when grime music wasn’t respected in the same way it is now.

“We rapped because it was fun, for the respect. For me it started out just writing lyrics that were funny with my friends until I eventually realised I’m quite good at this and maybe I should take it a bit seriously.

“When I did, of course there were certain friends that thought it was funny because everyone they knew only rapped about being a badman and living a lifestyle that most of them didn’t.”

FulKost’s housemate, Lukas, doesn’t seem surprised at Andy’s creative output – and blames the legendary Mary Morris House for his mad flow.

He says: “It was impossible for the crew to not be creating, drinking or consuming fun.

“Even better was that, regardless, fuck all care was given to what others might think – it was our own way of university life”.

They didn’t boast legendary status on campus, and they didn’t frequent Terrace. Not that it mattered – they were serial chillers.

And hours after a successful night out, when the laryness had worn off, any young lady who had stayed would wake to the sound of Andy rapping/mixing samples.

One of two things usually happened at this point. One, the girls would look disappointedly at the boy lying next them. Two, they’d beam and ask, “Is that an angel next door? Is he signed to a label?” It was moments like this where the residents of Mary Morris knew: Andy was onto something.

For perpetually broke freshers, house party invites were a score. On the few occasions attended, flatmates Chris and Hammad would hijack the speakers and pump out Andy’s tracks.

After moments of confusion, ears were pricked, beer was spilt, “zoots were raised” and the hype was momentarily real.

Andy says: “I was clever with my lyrics. Nowadays there’s not many nights out with my friends that don’t end with them insisting I show them my new lyrics and spin their brain around.”

So after conquering the residents of the now-closed Mary Morris, what’s next for Andy?

“After I release this project on September 21st, I have two more lined up almost immediately.

“The first is a short EP with an up-and-coming hip hop producer, it features very classic sounding instrumentals and I’m really trying to just showcase my flow and deliverance on this project as well as coming up with some thoughtful lyrics.

“The second project is a completely acoustic three or four track EP I’ve been working on writing with my guitar. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do but recently the opportunity presented itself for me to record at a professional studio with some expert guidance so I’m very excited about that.

“Apart from that I’m working on getting a couple of music videos produced and kick-starting my YouTube channel, as well as hassling promoters to let me perform on club nights and taking any promo I can get.”

If you take Andy’s word, the name FulKost won’t be staying low-key for much longer – so when freshers’ week comes around, keep an eye out for the bald midland kid on the mic.