It is both common knowledge and never-ending pleasant surprise to the steadily growing core fan base and first-time listeners respectively, how singer, songwriter, record producer and composer Jasën Blu masterfully channels the legends of Soul & R&B on recordings and on stage, as is readily evident on his solidly building catalog and recent live performances. And if you have ever either been mesmerized by past moments of pure magic on his “Already“, “Brown Shuga“, the “Road 2 Soulwave” EP, “Chill” and most recently, “Summertime” or you just happen to be witnessing the sheer ingenuity of the Akure-born and Lagos-resident music artist, he just took it up a whole new level on this new retro-pop inspired single, “BluFunk“, the fourth official single off his incoming full-length debut album “Soulwave“.
Brilliant fusion of cross-genre elements on a recording is already a tricky thing to achieve even for the most seasoned songwriters, record producers and music directors, but nothing prepares for the wizardry single-handedly orchestrated on “BluFunk” by Blu, who lets all the magic loose on the record based solely on a slightly high-tempo ’70s/’80s Pop/Funk drum and bass, subtly glossy piano chord snatches, sexy muted bass guitar licks, a nice little synthesizer signature, topped with a short, neat flurry trumpets response on the hook that even Louis Armstrong or Miles Davis might’ve been proud of, written, produced and engineered, as usual, by himself for his SoundQraft LLC production outfit.
And all that isn’t quite enough for our friend Blu, who decides to mount an already super-impressive production work with an unprecedented yet pleasantly familiar trap cadence; clever but simply structured lyrics flawlessly delivered in Warri Pidgin, Yoruba and English, complete with soft and soothing Kool & The Gang inspired background vocals flavored with Blu’s usual lush bass backing vocal layers. An incredible on-radio themed intro delivered by Nigerian radio presenter and media personality, Tayo “OSYB” Ogunsusi serves as opener to a genuinely bold and remarkable 2023 R&B release, which though highly refreshing, has become quite typical of Jasën Blu if his previous releases are to go by.
With “BluFunk“, Jasën Blu’s steady uprising continues strongly on the back of immediate previous standalone buzz single “Otojometa“, and album singles “Chill” and “Summertime” which signifies a sonically varied yet cohesive range of sounds, themes and topical directions on the impending album “Soulwave” whose arrival is due in the first quarter of 2024.
