The Unwavering Rapper-Producer Dynamic Steering London’s Afro-swing Train
Prior to the year 2017, Momodou Lamin Jallow, professionally known as J Hus, was an aspiring newbie in the UK music scene. Dropping excellent freestyles and barely-promoted records, he then got his first taste of attention in 2015 with the release of the song ‘Dem Boy Paigon‘ it was only a matter of time until he captivated the hearts of music fans and became a sought-after rap superstar.
With a wavy east London dancehall-like sound combined with a dash of modern rap, melodic rap, grime, bashment and afrobeats. This sound was best defined as Afro-swing, and J Hus was guiding the wheel of this new distinct genre.
Born in Stratford to an emigrant mother of Gambian descent, J Hus has been associated with the street life since his early adolescence, and this period of his life has been reflected in his music over the years, with most of his lyricism and storylines mostly telling the tales of his struggles with gang affiliation, poverty, and youthful exuberance in his earlier songs. J Hus coined his stage name from the word “hustler,” referring to how, while he was in secondary school, he would buy a pack of doughnuts and sell them separately for a profit.
Like a predestined occurrence, In 2017, a then 22-year old J Hus who had just returned from serving a year-long incarceration, teamed up with immensely creative music producer Jae5 (born: Jonathan Kweku Awote-Mensah) on the song “Did You See“, which turned out to be a monster hit record. Not only did this collaboration cement the duo’s long-standing friendship, it further resulted in a slew of chart-topping and plaque-certified hits.
Common Sense
A couple of factors may have contributed to their successful cooperation. Asides being signed to the same record imprint ( Black Butter Records), Jonathan (Jae5), like J Hus, is of African heritage and immigrated from Ghana, West Africa. Their backstories follow a similar paradigm in this regard. Although this may have contributed to their strong friendship, what is undoubtedly evident is profound musical chemistry between both J Hus And Jae5 .
Executively produced by Jae5, J Hus‘s debut album “Common Sense‘, was released on the 12th of May 2017 and it changed the course of things for both Hus and Jae5, scoring a platinum certification. The album’s lead single ‘Did You See‘ also went ahead to bag a platinum certification, with almost half he songs on the album namely. ‘Friendly‘, ‘Spirit‘, ‘Bouff Daddy‘ and ‘Common Sense‘ scoring platinum and silver certifications respectively.
These accomplishments solidified Jae5‘s position as one of the most prolific producers, heralding the afroswing sound in the UK. Following the release of “Common Sense‘, his distinct production signature, has been so ingrained in the minds of music fans that everytime the signature appears on a track, fans get even more interested in that particular song.
Although Jae5 has had a number of chart-topping successes with artists other than J Hus, including a Grammy award for his contribution to Burna Boy‘s Grammy Award-winning album “Twice As Tall,” This article, on the other hand, is entirely centered on his musical chemistry and run with J Hus.
Big Consipracy
Their long-running chemistry didn’t end with ‘Common Sense,’ as Hus’ sophomore album ‘Big Conspiracy‘ was officially revealed the day before release via social media in January 2020, following many tracks being leaked online earlier in the week. The 14-track album was executive produced once again by Jae5, and featured collaborations from Koffee, Burna Boy, Iceè tgm, and Ella Mai. This time, the album reached the top of both the R&B and UK Album charts.
Big Conspiracy establishes J Hus as one of the most influential artists in UK music. He brought depth to this masterpiece and experimented with a variety of genres such as grime, afrobeat, soul, drill, dancehall, hip-hop, R&B, garage, and jungle. J Hus symbolizes this melting pot of sounds, and with “Big Conspiracy“, he once maintains the blueprint already set on his first album.
The artist’s development was most visible on this album, which is notably more introspective than his prior work. He also demonstrated a more conscious and self-aware side of himself, a loving and naughty side, while remaining true to his boisterous ‘bad boy’ persona.
J Hus has progressed from a youthful rap phenom in ‘Lean & Bop‘ to a sophisticated superstar who has proven to be more than simply an East London rapper. On several occasions, the rapper has gone against the tides, first by surviving five stabbings, then by spending several months in jail on separate occasions, and finally by becoming a top-selling album rapper and sharing the stage with Drake. Of course, none of this would be complete without mentioning fellow east Londoner and production maestro, JAE5. JAE5 has played a big role in crafting this sound, drawing influence from dancehall, Afrobeats, and turn of the century rap and grime to create something new every time.
Over the past 6 years, Jae5‘s genius production touches have spanned a plethora of the industry’s great names, both within the UK and beyond, from Dave to Tiggs The Author, Skepta, Burna Boy, Koffee, Rema, BNXN, and a slew of other huge names. He is an icon in his own right and deserves every bragging right there is. With a Grammy nod under his belt, scores of platinum, gold, and silver certification plaques, and a reputation as an A-list music maker, having a likeminded creative genius like J Hus in his corner is more like icing on the cake.
Telling from his signature instrumental synthesis and structure right from his early hits, it’s evident that Jae5 had put in a good amount of years work into creating his sound, a sound that is so distinctive, it changed the face of the typical London sounds from the mid-2010s grime to a fresh and more melodic re-invention of those same sounds but mixed with a variety of other modern sounds from the diverse genres.
This was made even more unique by mixing these newly experimented sounds with J Hus’s distinct Afrobeats-inspired vibrations with a backdrop of grime and dancehall to create something wholly original. It would be accurate to say that Jae5‘s and J Hus‘s unconventional experimentation proved successful, bringing the distinctive and new Afro-swing sound to life.