For British music in 2019, few moments were more euphoric than when J Hus appeared on stage at Drake’s O2 Arena show. Just hours before, the Brit and Mercury Prize-nominated rapper had been released from prison, having served half of his eight-month sentence after being caught carrying a knife. Now on his second album, Big Conspiracy, the 23-year-old sounds weathered by the experience – but also raring to pick up from where he was forced to leave off.
Where Hus’s 2017 debut, Common Sense, was imbued with a charming sense of carefreeness, Big Conspiracy is brooding and weary. You picture him looking over his shoulder on the silky “Helicopter”; his low murmur mingles with guest artist iceè tgm’s hypnotic lilt, as a sullen bass hook skulks beneath them. He can still be playful, though, as on the sex-obsessed “Cucumber” and the bouncing “One and Only”.
His frequent collaborator JAE5 joins TobiShyBoy, iO and Nana Rogues on production. Too many cooks, you might think, but this album is far smoother a concoction in comparison to Common Sense, which, brilliant though it was, occasionally overwhelmed the senses. Here, you have iceè tgm’s vocal hook from “Helicopter” echoed by a male singer on “Fight for Your Right”. And where Grammy-winning Jamaican artist Koffee appears on the bass-heavy “Repeat”, Hus follows by injecting Nineties dancehall and reggae into “Fortune Teller”. Elsewhere, talented multi-instrumentalists such as north London’s Nana Pokes add additional layers to the instrumentation without over-cluttering it.
Falling victim to an album leak didn’t strip Big Conspiracy of its potency. “I know my skin looks fresh but I come from the mud,” Hus preaches on the uplifting closer “Deeper than Rap”, which addresses his own flaws as well as society’s. “How can a man judge me like he never sin?” Big Conspiracy is Hus’s second chance – an album that proves he’s just as essential a part of UK music today as he was three years ago.
