The triumphant return of Productionwise sees us scrutinise and celebrate the work of Dean Josiah Cover, AKA Inflo. Despite his pop success and rapidly growing discography, Inflo remains a true enigma. More or less anything known about him can be gleaned purely from his musical output, which has seen him collaborate with The Kooks, Adele, Jungle, Tom Odell and Michael Kiwanuka. Just as celebrated is his vast and eclectic output with underground collective SAULT. In this first of two parts, we discuss his early work and emergence as an undeniable and prodigious talent.