Turn your living room into a dance floor and listen to ‘Iraymental’, the colourful debut mixtape from Jaij Hollands, a fundamental member of the burgeoning UK Afrobeats/Bashment scene and part of London’s IRAY Movement. Originally from Amsterdam and now South London based, Jaij Hollands' music has a range of depth and flavour with big floor-filler potential. ‘Iraymental’ has been released through NVA Music, alongside the long awaited visuals for his smash hit ‘Ngozi' Ft. Samini. Jaij first came on the scene with his big street single 'PINGA' feat. Nsg which has since had over 700k views on his own YouTube channel. You can see how Jaij's style and sound has developed since then and his new mixtape features cameos from Naira Marley, GB and Tim Westwood. The mixtape features a repertoire of dancehall anthems and slinky tracks which embody feel-good vibes and enjoying life. With a fusion of genres, there is a rhythmic flow that underlies the root of Jaij's music.
With ‘Ngozi’ Jaij delivers an energetic track showcasing his distinctive guttural vocals, over a ferocious beat which he co-produced and which works itself into a frenzy.
He says of the lead single from the mixtape,
“Ngozi is the only song on the album which has 3 producers on it; myself, Mundo and MB. It has elements of dancehall, bashment and afrobeats, so to me, I think it really stands out that way - The whole video is based around the message in the chorus 'looking for the fine baby girl called Ngozi' the rest is the mandems creativity.”
There is a new breed of dynamic young producers and MCs in the UK who are creating a sound which fuses Afrobeats with basement, dancehall, rap and grime and Jaij Hollands is thrilled to be part of that network. He comments, “Afrobeats as a whole is growing and the African influence on music and pop culture is really great to see. I'm inspired by the scene here in the UK also and that motivates me and the team to push on and to make the dream work.”
‘Ngozi' Ft. Simini and ‘Iraymental’ are out now on NVA Music across all digital outlets including iTunes
