At 9.19pm, the time had come. Calm, humble and smiley as ever, rocking an Armani buckled belt, with a fresh monkey on his feet. Days away from dropping his first studio album, ‘Common Sense’, in a rammed up Birmingham venue, screaming bar for bar to an enthralling reception – J Hus took to the stage opening up with the first track from the ’15th Day’ project, ‘I’m Coming’. This entrance, followed by ‘Playing Sports’, made it clear that this was going to be a special night. Because the real beauty of attending a show at this stage of an artists career… is that the people who are there, actually know it’ll never be the same after this.
J Hus the seemingly camera-shy, most definitely humble, yet arguably, one of the top talents in the UK scene, has already entered the UK Top 20 Singles charts, amassed tens of millions of views on YouTube, and is headlining his first ever tour across the UK.
Earlier in the night, supporting the man at his stop in Birmingham in a fully packed out venue, were the cities own Lotto Boyz, opening up with ‘Bad Gyal’ and later joined by another 0121 talent, Jae Kay. Nadia Rose soon followed tearing it down with cuts from her ‘Highly Flammable EP’ and wrapped up her set with the infamous shelling that only ‘Skwod’ and ‘Crank it (Woah!)’ can give.
Taking it back to almost 3 years ago in late 2014, J Hus first made his first real entrance onto the scene dropping freestyles across LinkUpTV, GRM Daily and SBTV amongst others. They were hard, raw, and gave you a feeling that there was something special about to happen.
Fast forward to 2017, and tonight soon after his entrance on stage, he’s spitting one of those infamous GRM Rated freestyles that first put him on the radar. Lit by yellow stage lights and seemingly paying homage to the platform that also first caught my attention, J Hus is later joined on stage by Dave, diving into ‘Samantha’ to a huge response. Up to this point, the vibe and energy mirrored his persona – relaxed, controlled and undoubtedly ready for more.
After fusillading some new exclusive joints from his upcoming album, including ‘Clartin’ (most definitely a certified, shirt off, knees up, confetti gun banger) and ‘Plottin’, (which in his own words is “a garage kinda ting”), Husla gave the fans what they truly came to see, hype. From the ‘Liar Liar’ remix, to ‘Lean & Bop’, to ‘Dem Boy Paigon’, his arsenal was non-stop with bangers, loaded with the sound of Afrobeats, to Grime to UK rap.
If it was unclear before then, it’s well known by now that J Hus, musically, does not only what he wants, but has also paved the way for the genre blender era. J Hus was one of, if not, the first to do it, yet more impressively, do it impeccably. And doesn’t it show? His sound has given him universal appeal, and has taken him into contention for the crown, with ‘Common Sense’, only days away from release, it is bound to deliver more than anyone can expect.
Mad scenes ensued with the last two songs of the night, where J Hus got ‘Friendly’ with the crowd, leaning over barricades, shirtless, hands grabbing all over him, before finally asking “Did You See What I Done?” complete with a standard reload…or two (of course).
What we should have been asking however, was not what J Hus had done so far. He’d already proved himself, but what we really wanted to know was what was he really about to do? With the energy on the night so right and the vibe undisputed throughout his performance, everything leading up to it has made it abundantly clear – that this album isn’t going to just be his first studio album – it’s going to be a statement. It’s going to put a stamp on the game. J Hus is here.
