Tuesday Music Review: Jajaz – Collabo

I have taken an increasingly closer look at emerging artistes lately.

I am interested to see how these newbies interpret the industry.

Do they have any actual ability? (The girls usually don't – an excellent example is Ava Peace, who is hilariously bland and mostly just gets away with twerking and being light-skinned).

The men? They generally tend to have some musical ability, mostly because they cannot get away with just twerking on stage (I don’t need to name names by this point now, do I?).

The first thing you notice about Jajaz is that they can SING – we needed to capitalise that word. Rich, cultured voices with a velvety texture that almost feels wasted with the Afro-fusion genre they are running with on this track.

The Jajaz are Tatee (22), Dollar (21) and Tajiri (17), an Afro-fusion outfit and then some. Considering what their name translates to phonetically, it is somewhat ironic. You have to love how Afro-fusion works – with a creative producer you can come up with some otherworldly stuff, and the producer on this track, a one Yoh Kuki, goes all in. The percussion was wildly creative and is possibly the best thing about the track (along with those vocals).

So, who are the Jajaz?

They are a trio of lads whose favourite genre is Afo-fusion. The three childhood friends grew up together, studied together and discovered their love for music together at an early age. Trios like this work well because they combine unique personalities with shared experiences. The Jajaz stated their aim is to reach a global audience while staying true to their African roots, which is something of a balancing act, but an act that a number of artistes have shown is actually possible. It is an approach that their distribution team, Madluv Entertainment, have taken on board with fervour.

It is hard to tell if the producer works in some session instrumentalists on this track – it sounds like he doesn't and mostly works through synth programming. He focuses on the percussion, and the result is worthwhile – a heady groove you cannot ignore.

The result is a track with the sort of global appeal the lads were going for, one they deliver with a maturity that belies their years. There’s a reason these kids are gaining traction – remember – you heard it here first.