Words by Cameron Goodyer
On Thursday 9th November, J Hus comes to the O2 Academy Birmingham. Doors open at 7pm, with the event billed as sold out at the time of writing – please check with the venue or respectable ticket outlets before purchasing. For direct gig info, including venue details, click here.
J Hus continues his headline tour across the UK with dates at the Manchester Academy (10th Nov), Rock City Nottingham (14th Nov), O2 Academy Brixton – London (15th Nov), Alexandra Palace – London (30th Nov) The LCR – University of East Anglia, Norwich (6th Dec). Click here for full tour details, as presented by SJM Concerts/Gigs and Tours.
Thursday 9th November marks the midpoint of the UK leg of J Hus’ European tour, following the release of his latest album ‘Common Sense’ which went straight to No3 on the iTunes chart and flew through the UK albums chart, being hailed as one of the best British Breakthrough albums of the year. This in mind, it’s unsurprising that every UK date, including this one, is sold out.
Booming out of rolled down car windows and out of almost every late night club won’t be the only places you’ll be hearing hits such as ‘Did You See’ & ‘Playing Sport’ as ‘The Fisherman’, as J Hus is more colloquially known, graces the O2 Academy in Birmingham this coming Thursday. J Hus earned this title through his considerable collection of ‘fisherman style hats’, an iconic accessory which became such a key part of his image he even wrote a song about it. And something that we may be able to see first-hand on Thursday 9th November.
J Hus was and is a true pioneer in the sound that, once unique, is now deeply rooted into the ideology of modern day grime. Although once is the key word as since his skyrocket in success many have tried to impersonate his style, his sound, his character. In some ways, you could say it’s been diluted down but for sure it’s becoming more and more noticeable to the point where it’s no longer just his style – it’s the style he shaped.
J Hus is as a born and bred Londoner with strong African essence flowing throughout his music most likely inspired by his, Gambian decent on his mother’s side.
After aspiring to take up rapping, it took the push of two friends (and later managers) to help him out and take the leap into professionalism, coming after the release of a few tracks online. Summer 2015 was the beginning of the boom for J Hus as he released ‘Lean & Bop’, a simple yet catchy song that makes your body want to jive. This one song, streaming six million times (double that now), and getting its own dance, soon became the summer club anthem being blasted everywhere and remixed countless times.
2016 was no slacking point following this success and proving he was no one hit wonder, J Hus released the single ‘Friendly’(receiving a nomination at the MOBO Awards) alongside, ‘Playing Sports’, ‘Liar Liar’ (remix) and ‘Solo One’ – not bad for someone whose career has, in some ways, only just begun.
Alongside an article about him in The Guardian and signing to Epic Records, this year has been full of hits and features for J Hus. Including a collaboration with arguably one of the biggest current UK artists and a godfather to the grime scene, Stormzy.
At present, J Hus’ name is scattered all over the UK charts, not only via his features but his solo single ‘Did You See’ coming in at No9 and I’m sure the O2 Academy Birmingham crowd will give a very warm welcome to this new star in his highly anticipated headline show.
‘Did You See’ – J Hus
J Hus comes to the O2 Academy Birmingham on 9th November, as part of a UK wide headline tours – for full tour dates and details, visit www.gigsandtours.com/tour/j-hus 
For more on J Hus, visit www.jhusmusic.com
For more from Birmingham O2 Academy, including full event listings and online ticket sales, visit www.academymusicgroup.com/o2academybirmingham
For full gig listings from SJM Concerts/Gigs and Tours, visit www.gigsandtours.com
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