“Whoa Kenny!” Any fan of The Cave would’ve heard that sentence. Born in 2019 from the mind of producer and multi-instrumentalist Kenny Beats and surrounding collective D.O.T.S. (Don’t Overthink Shit), this colourful YouTube series straddled the line between tutorial video and reality show, challenging various rappers and musicians to make a track with Kenny in a single session, often to comedic effect. Breakthroughs and breakdowns occur in equal measure as guests as diverse as rap legend Schoolboy Q, Bristol rock band Idles and Afrobeat-dancehall artist Byron Messiah graced the studio, not least to mention spawning the “Jesus is the One (I Got Depression)” track that has since accrued streams in the tens of millions. Given Kenny’s recent announcement that the series is concluding with its fourth season, we look back at some of its best moments…

5. SMINO AND MONTE BOOKER UNDERSTAND THE ASSIGNMENT

Night time somehow managed to fall inside on this episode, as Kenny, Monte Booker and Smino cloud out the studio with blunt smoke, dark liquor and distorted basslines. Ironically, however, rapper Smino and producer Monte Booker illustrate what happens on The Cave if everyone does what they’re meant to do: make good music. As you’ll see with the rest of these choices, though, it is fortunate that this isn’t always the case…

4. MARC REBILLET’S ‘A LITTLE STANK’

When loopstation maestro Marc Rebillet offered to add a ‘little stank’ to the track in the last 45 seconds of the episode, we didn’t know what we were in for. The Yerba Maté-induced organ solo that ensued is one of the single greatest feats of the show and powerfully embodies Kenny’s description of the drink as “somewhere between a panic attack and a creative breakthrough”.

3. DENZEL CURRY GOES SUPER SAIYAN

The fact that perhaps the best verse ever spat on The Cave only lands at number four on this list speaks volumes to the heights that the series reached, transcending rap and becoming a pop culture powerhouse in its own right. Kenny and Denzel are an iconic duo, producing the critically acclaimed 2020 EP Unlocked, and this episode falls within that golden period of collaboration. As soon as Denzel turned up to the show alone, we knew he was ready to work. 

2. ‘KENNY BEATS IS THE POLICE’

The ‘Officer Kenneth’ meme is one of those moments that became much bigger than The Cave. Originating in Vince Staples’ season one appearance on the show, this is The Cave at its best – when Kenny has a rapport with the featured artist and is able to make fun of himself. “This is not how the show is meant to go” moans Kenny, head in hands. “It’s my show now,” Staples shouts from the doorway. Gold.

1. ‘Jesus is the One (I Got Depression)’

As soon as Zack Fox sat down and asked Kenny for a “post-911, pre-death-of-Whitney-Houston type-beat” it was GG. The resulting track opens with a soaring “Jesus is the one” vocal sample before collapsing into 808s and trap kicks so dirty that they practically crip walk by themselves. “RIP Betty White – she not dead but for when she die ‘cos I know it’s coming up,” Zack barks on the intro. With humour unmatched in the entire rap scene, Zack Fox’s episode perfectly epitomises the philosophy of ‘don’t overthink shit’ that The Cave represented, and also marks the only track from the series to see an official release.

It’s hard to underplay the transparency that The Cave added to Kenny Beats’ process, as well as some of hip hop’s biggest names. When I first started making music myself, I remember zooming into Kenny Beats’ screen during episodes of The Cave and copying his pixelated presets, replicating them on the Waves plugins that I would then spend all night pirating. In an era defined by self-taught producers and the artist-content creator duality, Kenny Beats’ The Cave stood in a league of its own. It will be missed. “No Kenny!”