AJ Tracey

With his debut album he firmly establishes himself as one of the leading lights in UK rap (if there were any doubts), and in a year where some of the scene’s heavyweights are also dropping albums, it won’t be a surprise if AJ’s project is rated as among the best of them by the end of 2019.

With this record, he’s laid to down a marker, not just for 2019, but for the future of UK rap. It’s hard to think of a debut so confident in every musical aspect since J Hus’ Common Sense. Advice: consume daily for effective mood enhancement.

AJ Tracey’s debut is perhaps the best of the current crop; twisted, vibrant and ever-shifting, but linked with that confident voice.

AJ Tracey not only lives up to his hype, he transcends it. [Mar 2019, p.114]

The album leaps surefootedly from the pop-facing and melodically lush Psych Out! and Butterflies to the claustrophobic rhythmic clatter and 80s arcade game electronics of Horror Flick. ... For all the lyrics’ tendency to fly past in a blur of namechecks for designer labels, Vegas hotels and high-end car manufacturers, there’s self-awareness and occasionally very British wit behind them.

With the help of stellar producers like Cadenza (Kiko Bun), Swifta Beater (Kano, Giggs), and Nyge (Section Boyz, Yxng Bane), Tracey incorporates electronic music, rock, garage and even country on his most cohesive work to date.

Tracey ensures the album links the UK urban music’s past and present. Which of the mixed bag of styles deployed on AJ Tracey will be further investigated in the future remains a mystery. What is clear is that he has talent and star power for days—talents that could have been better showcased here.