Image provided by Imran Malik Publicity
There is strength in numbers. And when it comes to making music there's something to be said for working as a team. The biggest and best rap acts always have a producer on the boards who helps bring the best out of their sound – Snoop Dogg and Dr Dre; Future and all the ATLiens he's worked with; Playboi Carti and Pi'erre Bourne, etc. And to add to the category of super-collaborations? London act J Hus and his producer Jae5, who – for the past few years – have helmed the afrobeats, afro-bashment sound that's beamed its way across the UK, and are arguably the two kings of the fusion genre.
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The pair have collaborated on tracks like "Did You See", "Bouff Daddy", and the Dave collaboration "Samantha". Now – a little over a year since the release of Hus' Brit and Mercury nominated debut album Common Sense – he and Jae5 pair have returned with a new EP called Big Spang.Building on the pair's signature sound, the EP features banging brass instruments on "Dark Vader", veers into murky could-be-reality rap on "Scene", and ends with "Dancing Man" – a track that aims to have the listener doing what it says on the tin, albeit with a slow wine. Add to this the fact that the EP's come out in time for Hus' biggest string of festival dates yet. Musical, and seemingly featuring live instruments over ProTools (or at least sounding alive, rather than dead), the EP is a nice palette cleanser before Hus' upcoming sophomore album while also helping to cement the notion of Hus and Jae5 being one-of-a-kind.You can find Ryan on Twitter.