Who Is fakemink? What to Know Before Listening to 'Terrified .'

Born Vincenzo Camille, fakemink comes from Essex County, England, and was raised in the small suburban town of Basildon, roughly an hour outside London. He has Indian and Algerian roots, a detail he shared on X back in the spring of 2025.

Despite putting out music for years, fakemink gained his biggest exposure from his feature on fellow rising stars EsDeeKid and Rico Ace’s 2025 track “LV Sandals,” which is one of the best songs of 2025.

While both EsDee and Rico deliver solid verses, mink’s hook is clearly the standout moment of the track. His stuttered repetition of the word “Louis,” paired with a pitched-up delivery, results in what is arguably one of the most memorable hooks of 2025.

The song became one of the biggest singles from EsDee’s debut project, Rebel, and helped propel mink into the spotlight. Even artists like Jack Harlow and Camila Cabello were spotted vibing to mink’s chorus.

fakemink has been making music for years.

In 2024, he told No Bells, “I have been using FL Studio since 2015, and I am 19. So I have been using it for like nine years.”

He first released music under the name 9090gate before later rebranding to his current moniker. In a 2025 interview with Hyperpop Daily, he explained how the name change came about, describing it as a “spur-of-the-moment” decision made while sitting on his ex’s bed.

His Spotify profile under the 9090gate name still exists as a pseudo-archive of his earlier persona and continues to attract more 300,000 monthly listeners.

fakemink actually started out as a producer and only stepped behind the mic after learning his way around FL Studio.

He spoke about his origins as a rapper with No Bells, saying, “While I was making my music, I was listening to ‘Headlines’ by Drake, and I copied the exact same snare pattern from ‘Headlines’ by Drake, and that is the snare pattern they use in jerk music. And I feel like jerk music is more hyperpop-y. But because I have been working with producers that solely make jerk beats, I am kind of a jerk artist.”

fakemink’s sound is rooted in the fidgety rhythms of jerk, but it’s difficult to pin down to a single genre. His music is a sonic smoothie, pulling from a wide range of internet-born styles. The blaring synths and bassline on the euphoric “Easter Pink” reveal a clear Crystal Castles influence. On “Kill Everything,” he flips Imogen Heap’s “Headlock,” a sample previously used by ASAP Rocky, Lil B, Cochise, 41, and Duwap Kaine. Fakemink adds a refreshing indie-electronica twist, letting the sample stutter and shimmer in the background.

Vocally, mink constantly experiments with pitch, which is on full display on his debut album, London’s Saviour, released in 2023. On some tracks, like “London Life,” his voice sounds as if he inhaled helium before recording, while on others, such as “Loser Monologue,” he uses his natural register or even pitches it down slightly. Regardless of the tone, mink’s distinct nasally voice dominates every genre or instrumental he tackles.

For new listeners, a good place to start is his 2024 EP Wild One, where mink pushes genre boundaries even further. Tracks like the slow, gritty “Chinchilla” and the bouncy, cloud-jerk rhythms of “Blow Me” showcase the full range of his eclectic style.

fakemink began as a one-man operation. On an Instagram Live, he bragged that he could “produce, record, write, mix, master, and engineer an album in three days,” which is how he made London’s Saviour. As his buzz has grown, that self-contained approach has given way to a widening list of collaborators, from the UK underground to artists in the United States.

Starting in his home country, he has collaborated with the aforementioned EsDeeKid on multiple occasions. The duo has developed strong chemistry beyond “LV Sandals,” releasing tracks like “Tropical (Remix)” and “Slurricane,” both of which push further into the UK’s take on jerk. Mink has also worked with EsDeeKid’s producer, Wraith9, on the ominous track “Fidelio.” Beyond this, he has collaborated with other rising UK underground artists, including GhostInnaFurCoat, Fimigurrero, and Zukovstheworld.

In recent years, mink has also built connections in the US. One of his earliest collaborations was with jerk pioneer xaviersobased on their 2024 song “Shih Tzu.” Xavier told Complex that Mink is his favorite UK rapper, saying, “That is my boy because I really chilled with him, you feel me?”

Since then, Mink has released multiple songs with underground producer WeGoneBeOk, including “Music And Me” and “Look At Me.”

Mink has been making the rounds, and it all started when Drake brought him onstage during his three-day Wireless Festival takeover. There, Mink performed “Music and Me” and “LV Sandals,” a major moment that put him in the spotlight and set off a series of A-list co-signs.

Shortly after, Frank Ocean followed mink on Instagram and shared a photo of the rapper wearing Homer jewelry for Face Magazine. Later, mink took to IG live to talk about the insight Frank has given him. “He has given me the best advice out of anybody in this game. He is very understanding and he listens. He is not a talker. He talks when he has to, but he really listens, so that is why I fuck with Frank.”

Playboi Carti helped bring mink exposure with a co-sign, inviting him to perform at the LA stop of his Antagonist 2.0 Tour. mink was seen vibing onstage and later performed “LV Sandals” at Carti’s afterparty. Timothée Chalamet is another unexpected co-sign, having been spotted at mink’s show in August. SZA shared his song “Truffle” on her IG Story, and Clairo even followed him on Instagram.

Other notable artists who have been seen linking up with mink include Yung Lean, Pinkpantheress, A$AP Rocky, Ecco2k, Plaqueboymax, Clipse, André 3000, Yeat, Lazerdim700, and Bladee.

Yeezy has always been an artist with an ear for new promising talent, so it would not be a stretch to assume mink met one of his biggest inspirations.

There’s no official confirmation, but several hints suggest that the UK rapper has at least linked up with Ye. Last year, amid all of Mink’s buzz, he posted a cryptic IG story showing what appeared to be a Chrome Maybach—Kanye’s signature vehicle of choice.

Beyond that, Mink shows a strong Kanye influence, from his drip to his attitude. During his Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival set, he paused the show to play “On Sight” and held his Yeezy Louis Vuittons to his ear, paying homage to the designer. On IG Live, he declared himself “more than just a rapper and later echoed some classic “Kanye-isms,” claiming he’s better than every rapper “dead or alive.”

Initially, Mink and US underground rapper Nettspend shared a budding friendship. They were seen hanging out together during New York Fashion Week 2025, alongside Lil Yachty and Slawn. Later, the duo teased a collaborative track at the Grailed event in New York City that September.

For some unknown reason, mink and Nett supposedly fell out with one another and unfollowed each other on IG. In October, Mink posted a story reading: “Showing fake love will not get you nowhere in this world boy,” which fans speculated was aimed towards Nettspend.

Mink then released a track titled “Look At Me,” co-produced by Nett’s go-to producer WeGoneBeOk. Over a moody instrumental, Mink raps: “You be poutin’ on your lips, movin’ like a diva / I got everything you feel like you want and need, uh / I, I’ma let you try and cut because I cut deeper.”

fakemink would deny it was a diss, but fans speculated that these lines were subliminal shots at Nettspend—following his recent modeling work for high-end brands like Miu Miu and Marc Jacobs.

Both artists were recently seen modeling for Gucci creative director Demna’s Gucci show in early 2026, where they both walked the runway in Milan. During that time, both artists were spotted hanging out together once again, and perhaps they had mended their friendship.

After criticism of his live sets at Coachella and Rolling Loud, fakemink took to social media with a 600-word response. He dismissed the backlash as bad-faith attacks from a new subset of haters, adding that he had forgiven his critics.

"I've made peace with the fact that some minds are decorative. Being early requires a kind of mental independence most of the internet fundamentally does not possess,” he wrote. “Mediocrity does not create this level of emotional instability in strangers. Nobody has ever lost sleep over somebody being decent."

A day before the release, fakemink appeared on Zane Lowe to talk about what to expect and how he went about making the album. He said:

"The reason why I'm so proud about this is because I made all of this from scratch. Except two songs, two songs have samples. I tried my best to chop the samples the way that I did on London Savior in a way where it masks them properly."

The album, which he has called "lo-fi hip-hop if it was played on the radio," is an eccentric and often compelling merge of genres, from EDM to rap. The album is entirely self-produced across its 19 tracks and was even partially recorded at the legendary Abbey Road Studios in the UK, which mink announced via IG “Etna at Abbey Road ; ).”