'Anthology' Is Kartik Sudhera’s Love Letter To The Art Of Beatmaking

A man and woman argue in Punjabi over a crackly phone line — voices rising, emotions flaring, while in the background, triumphant horns blare and a gospel choir soars like we’ve stumbled into some chaotic, avant garde opera. It’s absurd, intimate, and weirdly majestic. And it's the kind of magic Kartik Sudhera pulls off in 'Anthology', his new compilation beat tape; a time capsule wrapped in cassette hiss and dusty grooves.

Made in collaboration with Nishant Mittal, a.k.a. Digging in India, the Delhi record store owner and archivist with a cult following, this limited-edition cassette release is a landmark for the New Delhi-based producer. Kartik, who drew attention with last year’s 'Thugs From Amritsar' (created alongside P4VAN and Sonnyjim under the moniker Pataka Boys), steps into his own world here—one built from weathered vinyl, dusty samples, and a deep love for the textures of Indian sound archaeology.

Kartik's aesthetic is rooted in the lineage of beatmakers like J Dilla and Madlib. That’s clear from his use of the tactile crackle of needle-to-wax, loop-based architecture, off-grid drums and the warmth of soul-based hip hop. With loops subtly pitched and chopped, lo‑fi vignettes gliding into orchestral momentum, punctuated by swelling horns, along with cinematic sample flickers, there is an atmosphere of cultivated drama without excess or "bass-driven minimalism of early Kanye.

'Anthology' shines in its careful curation and storytelling. The tape collates Kartik's work from 2020 to now — early experiments, Bandcamp-only tracks, and previously unreleased material that never made it to digital platforms. There’s a diaristic quality here. The grooves are stained with memory, in a way that it feels instantly old but refreshingly new at the same time.

SIDE B of the cassette available only on tape, never to be uploaded, is a special unreleased beat suite, a “journey through soulful textures and deep rhythms rooted in Indian soundscapes.” These compositions feel dug-up rather than made, as though Kartik is excavating sound rather than producing it. There’s something devotional in this process, and something local too: these are not generic ‘world music’ aesthetics but deeply contextual fragments of Indian sonic life, reassembled through a beatmaker’s imagination.

The cassette itself, released as a Gudup Gudup x Digging In India collaboration, comes wrapped in a handmade Mirror Gold under-layer J-card — another signal of how this project values touch, presence, and permanence in a world of disposable listening.

Follow Kartik here and get the mixtape here.

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