J Hus releases debut album via Black Butter Records featuring Burna Boy, Mist, Mostack and more…The title track, COMMON SENSE, is out now!

Today marks the release of ‘Common Sense‘, the debut album by J Hus via Black Butter Records. A diverse body of work, the album features tracks with Burna Boy, MIST, MoStack and Tiggs Da Author. Full track listing below. The title track from the album was recently premiered via MistaJam as his ‘Hottest Record’ and its already blowing up a storm.

New track ‘Common Sense’, co-produced with The Compozers and Mark Crown of Rudimental features live drums as a self-assured Hus starts as he means to go on. “I wanted to start the album very confidently, 100%. People often think of me as a singer, and I wanted to reaffirm myself as a rapper. I’ve got bars!” As for the title of the album and Hus’s answer is similarly self-assured.

“It’s common sense to listen to J Hus,” he laughs, “Why would you listen to anything else?”

Boasting an ebullient blend of Dancehall, Afrobeat, Grime, Rap, Garage and R&B, ‘Common Sense’ is a musical revelation, an emotional rollercoaster ride into the inner musings of an inner-city musician. As well as his signature sound – some say UK Afrobeats, others AfroGrime – there are nods to others influences too. Production over the entire album comes from Hus and long-term collaborator JAE5, with additional production on select tracks by Tiggs, Show & Prove, The Compozers, Mark Crown, TSB and iO.

His explosive first single Did You See (Top 15 Official Charts, Radio 1 A-List) has already clocked upwards of 12m views on Youtube thanks to the ridiculously popular, meme-worthy refrain, ‘Did you see what I done? I came in the black Benz, left in the white one’. Boasting African inflections and Jamaican patterns, the melody-heavy bounce picks up where 15th Day left off. Bouff Daddy is a similarly straight-up Afrobeats banger, as Hus leans and bops over JAE5’s playful beat.

“In my area, bouff means money, so whenever I go back to my area, everyone’s like ‘the bouff man, the bouff Daddy’,” explains Hus of the title. “A lot of the words I use, people might not know what they mean, so you have to listen to the music to catch on, to work it out. To me, it’s normal, it’s just how we’ve always spoken in east London”.

The love-soaked ‘Closed Doors’ features sax and piano.

“I could be talking the most mad crud, but when you have live instruments it just makes me more emotional. I don’t know why, it’s mad,” Hus points out. “I feel more spiritual; I really feel the music”.

The track ruminates on Hus’s prowess with women – I’m a bad-man lipser, he brags.

Clartin’ is the album’s angry moment as Hus takes on the haters; Plottin’ takes the tempo all the way up as JAE5 delivers a shimmery summer anthem that harks back to the late nineties.

“I wanted that UKG sound. At that moment in time I was thinking about the Streets. I was really into him, very influenced by him, so I wanted something that sounded like Original Pirate Material. I liked that he didn’t really care – the way he rapped was like he was just speaking to the listener. I saw that as so sick.”

The mischievous Like Your Style was inspired by a trip to Ireland and features Hus’s attempt at the Dublin brogue – ‘What’s the craic, what’s the storehh’.

“It’s very cheeky, that one, but you know the girls in Ireland are crazy, man. There’s something about that place that gave me so much inspiration, even though I’ve only been once”.

An album highlight sees Hus team up with Burna Boy on the upbeat Good Time. The pair met first in Nigeria, before teaming up at a London studio when Burna was in town.

“Burna Boy is a wavy, wavy, wavy artist from Nigeria, he’s very big out there,” Hus explains. “He’s a cool brudda. I’ve been a fan of him for a very long time. And he’s very cool when I’ve met him. He’s a proper guy”.

On Spirit, Hus digs deeper into himself to discuss his past life when he took the path less righteous. ‘They can take away my freedom, they can’t take my spirit,’ he sings of his time spent in prison back in 2015.

“When I was inside, I used to listen to a lot of radio. I thought if I could make a tune that would go on radio that could then be heard in prison, then I could almost talk to myself, myself in prison. I wanted a song that could really resonate with people in that situation. So if any of my tunes get played on radio, it’s great, but if that one gets played on radio then I’m going to be so happy. I made this one to try to keep everyone’s head up. It’s a purely positive message”.

Fisherman hats start to appear across London!

“Imagine if Kanye West in his backpack rap era started listening to grime, dancehall, and Afrobeat on top of all those Motown classics. J Hus’ “Common Sense” comes close to this fantasy” –PITCHFORK.

“If ever there was a cut that sets the tone for such a majestic debut album, that represents not only an arrival but a reshaping of what British music can sound like, it’s “Common Sense”‘ –COMPLEX.

“J Hus is Assured and Swagged Out on New Track “Common Sense”‘ –NOISEY.

“Buoyant live instrumentation and personality packed verses from J Hus” – PIGEONS & PLANES.

J Hus – Common Sense via iTunes

‘COMMON SENSE’
TRACK-LIST:
Common Sense
Bouff Daddy
Clartin
Leave Me
Closed Doors
Did You See
Like Your Style
Plottin
Sweet Cheeks
Fisherman feat. MIST and MoStack
Good Time feat. Burna Boy
Spirit
Mash Up feat. MoStack
Goodies
Good Luck Chale feat. Tiggs Da Author
Who You Are
Friendly

Currently On UK Tour Including Special Guests Nadia Rose, Lotto Boyzz And Young T & Bugsey…
(Tickets can be purchased here – www.gigsandtours.com // www.ticketmaster.co.uk)

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