Who is Achi? According to his Instagram bio, he’s the “favorite Asian you can cheat off in math class.”

Born in Hong Kong and raised in the UK, Achi (阿志) is a musician and producer. With roots in classical piano and violin, Achi blends rap with R&B, while tossing in some electronica, to create a sound that bridges genres.

Achi’s solo career began with two EPs and several singles before he finally released his debut album, OBSERVANT, in November 2024. It marked a new chapter in his musical journey, where Achi’s talent for lyrical composition took center stage. His voice is grounded and powerful, but that doesn’t stop ambient melancholy from seeping through.

For Achi, OBSERVANT is an introspective journey of self-discovery and empowerment. In a behind-the-scenes video, he reflected, “After spending nearly a decade away from home, I found myself looking for the threads that tie me to the roots and the people around me.” That search is evident in the track “SIXTY-SIX,” where Achi explores balancing the cultural values of the East and the West in a city where tradition and modernity collide. Other songs, like “BOUNCE,” dive into friendship, while “NOIGILER” takes a critical look at social media fame.

A Love Letter to Hong Kong

In an interview with Lifestyle Asia, Achi shared that the music he makes is almost entirely digital, including sampling random music and finding obscure sounds online. Achi said, “It’s a Gen Z thing, I guess. I’ve been working off my computer right from the start, and that’s where I feel the most creative.”

But Achi is more than a rapper of the digital age. He also has a knack for turning the everyday sounds of Hong Kong into totally sick beats and even cooler visuals. Different from his earlier releases, Achi stepped away from the computer screen in his latest project, “The Noise of Hong Kong (香港噪音).”

In the first video of the series, Achi sampled sounds from the Hong Kong MTR (the city’s mass transit system). The audio began with a familiar “Please stand back from the train door” announcement before leading into a jagged and looping beat that captures the chaos of rush hour transit. There’s the sound of doors slamming, coins clicking, trains whooshing by, and the beeps of the Octopus card. The result is a track filled with warmth and character—Achi found noises that are distinctively Hong Kong and very much analog.

Achi has also sampled the sounds of Sushiro, a conveyor belt sushi chain, capturing the clatter of plates, hum of conversations, and chopsticks swirling in soy sauce. Another track took place in IKEA, remixing the sound of hangers colliding, fabrics rustling, and drawers slamming shut. In another video, Achi visited the Hong Kong tramways. Much like the sounds of the MTR, he again captured the quiet, mechanical rumbles of Hong Kong’s transportation system that frequently go unnoticed.

On Instagram, fans have started recommending places for Achi to visit next, such as soccer fields and specific neighborhoods. Given that Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated cities in the world, it’s no surprise that the city harbors so many overlapping noises. Yet Achi manages to cut through the cacophony to find beauty—not just in Hong Kong’s history, but also in its soundscapes.

You’ve likely already heard of the Kowloon Walled City, a chaotic and unplanned residential area in Hong Kong that was demolished in 1994. At its peak, it had a density of 1.9 million people per square kilometer. The city was a vertical maze packed with unregulated clinics, markets, gambling dens, and makeshift living quarters.

Over the years, Kowloon Walled City has frequently appeared in pop culture for its dystopian aesthetics, inspiring several films, video games, and even physical recreations. With crowded corridors, dripping pipes, overhanging electrical wires, and flickering lights, it’s easy to imagine that the Kowloon Walled City would’ve been a perfect soundboard for Achi to explore.

Cover image via whoisachi.com.