East London's Juls Merges Africa and the Caribbean in His "Bad" Video

Part of what makes the best tunes from afrobeats and hip-hop blending artists like Mr. Eazi, Eugy, Maleek Berry, and others fully click is the fluidity of their songs' production. Each artist tends to take on beats that blend elements of both West African and Caribbean music, as they bounce between English, Nigerian or Ghanaian pidgin, and languages native to their home countries.  One of the key rising figures responsible for this sound is British-Ghanaian producer and DJ Juls.

"Everyone that I have worked with, I have had really good chemistry with," Juls says over email. "The vibes were good whether it was in the studio or on a night out. I also really like working with people who like to be a bit different and allow the producer to sort of the lead the way with the song process." That chemistry is what led to some of rising afrobeats star Mr. Eazi's best work. Juls played an integral role in Eazi's career, taking stems from his early recordings and personally crafting a signature sound for the singer through email exchanges while he was in London and Eazi was at school in Ghana. One of the highlights of their working together is Eazi's 2015 breakout single "Skin Tight" which now has over five million views on YouTube.

In November, Juls released "Give You Love," a beautiful horn-laden number that features vocals from Nigerian artist L.A.X. that he calls an African love story. Today, we're premiering the video for Juls' newest track "Bad" which was released earlier in the week. The slow winding track champions women's beauty and features London-based rappers Eugy, Kojo Funds, and Not3s. "I made the 'Bad' beat probably a couple weeks before the Brit awards. I was listening to a lot of dancehall in the last month too," Juls recalls. "I sort of dictated the vibe that I was going for, which was a sexy dancehall vibe for the summer with a hint of Africa. I wanted a song that would be perfect for the ladies to jam too." Juls plans on releasing an LP by year's end and says that he is challenging himself to create more Afro-Caribbean influenced music. "Bad" is a definite step in the right direction. Watch the video below.

Photograph by Aiden Williams

Follow Lawrence Burney on Twitter