There is no exaggeration when I say Kenzo Jae is the best thing to come out of Bradford since The Cult. His mix of singing and rapping brings to mind the best parts of classic British acts like The Streets and Rizzle Kicks, with a chill vibe reminiscent of Hard Life and a charisma that comes through in every single thing he releases.

All of this is especially impressive considering he is a one-man operation; this level of rapping and singing talent should not be possible in one person. With an infinitely smooth flow and a singing voice like a falsetto version of Tunde Baiyewu, his music is infinitely listenable without ever feeling like it’s trying too hard. It simply feels like Kenzo; he has no
equals, no peers, only soon-to-be imitators. His latest single, ‘end of the world’, continues the buildup to the July 17th release of his mixtape after a generational run of track releases like ‘a right to lose’, ‘mmpa’, and the ridiculously smooth ‘softly’.

Synthpop hip-hop is not a mix you see often, but my god does Kenzo pull it off. It’s catchy, it’s infectious, and it has one of the best edited music videos the Leeds scene has seen in years. The lyrics are tight and introspective, touching on materialism, existentialism and struggle, all being relatable without getting too heavy for such a danceable song. A heavy, groovy bassline under everything with deep synth pangs throughout creates a soundscape that’s unlike any other hip hop track you can find.

The song is like Kenzo himself, hard to pin down. In his typically chameleononic way, Kenzo starts the song not with his usual rapping or singing but instead with an affected voice somewhere between the two, distorted and lightly mumbling in a way that immediately abducts the reader with its alien nature, matching the theming of the song and video.

This then cuts into the chorus, sung in Kenzo’s typical breathy greatness that could see him become a great singer in his own right. It’s short, it’s sweet, and it’s catchy and chantable whenever audiences are lucky enough to see it live. It’s exactly what it needs to be without overstepping its place.

The second verse is Kenzo’s usual rapping greatness, full of lyrics of the futility of wealth when faced with the end. Laced with his usual humble swagger and buttery flow, the verse feels like an integral part of the four vocal styles showcased on the track instead of a filler rap verse a la 2000s and 2010s pop.

The track ends with a breakdown full of glitches and sound effects, all of which are suitable for the apocalypse in the song. That soundscape then feeds into a short spoken word piece, emphasising his lyrics’ poetical potential and really hammering home the point that Kenzo could be anything he wanted to.

Ultimately, ‘end of the world’ is just that, a showcase of the absolute mastery over his abilities that Kenzo Jae has. The other tracks released for the mixtape so far show snippets, pieces of Kenzo’s abilities; ‘end of the world’ puts them all together. If this track stands as anything of a notion of the quality of the remaining tracks on the mixtape to accompany the
already stunning set of songs, it’s going to be a release for the ages. With said mixtape coming out soon and a tour in October that’ll see him packing out Oporto on Call Lane, Kenzo Jae is someone to listen to now, so when he inevitably blows up, you can say you saw it coming.

Review from William Hatfield – @wrh.2001