Juls’ work with Mr Eazi, Maleek Berry, Wande Coal, and Burna Boy may have established him as a key figure in Afrobeats, but his sound is too rich and questing to be wrangled into genre pigeonholes. “It’s like telling the story of my journey, and my influences, and what genres of music I like,” the Ghanaian-British producer tells Apple Music’s Ebro Darden. “Even though I’m African, growing up in my household, my dad was a jazz guy. My mum was a reggae person. There’s different genres that I’m listening to at the same time, and then just literally adding that to my style of music, to make it different.”
His invention and imagination show no sign of letting up on this third release—which Juls calls an EP—where the rippling, sun-bleached rhythms of the Mr Eazi collaboration “Cake” sit alongside “Normal,” a tightly wound fusion of grime and Ghana’s house-like azonto music—topped by simmering bars from UK polymath Kojey Radical. Throughout, the abundance of ideas is balanced by a striking efficiency. No note or beat sounds superfluous, and when Juls brings together Ms Banks, Kida Kudz, and Pa Salieu on “Like Tu Danz,” he keeps the beat clean and lean, allowing three of UK rap’s most exciting new voices to shine.