Hey everyone. Made in Britain, Paid in Britain here, the internet's busiest music nerd, and it's time for a review of this new Jim Legxacy mixtape, black british music 2025.

Rapper, singer, producer, songwriter, Mr. Jim Legxacy, a guy who, in a few short years, has become a real dark horse on the UK music scene, building up his name, not just through some respectable underground hits and collaborations with the likes of Central Cee and Dave, as well as Fred again.., but also a pretty radical artistic progression going from hardcore UK hip hop tracks to this now spacious, artsy blend of R&B, Afropop, rap, emo, and more.

Jim is also an artist who historically wears his struggles on his sleeve, whether it's mental illness or family issues or homelessness, all of which he digs into a bit deeper on this second mixtape here, which, as I said earlier, comes with a pretty definitive title: black british music. He teased toward this project with some very moving and attention-grabbing singles like "Stick", which features the stunningly beautiful, sharp, and seamlessly blended touches of R&B and pop and rap. Jim's youthful vocals and sentimental lyrics just slide across this angelic beat, where I love the contrast between the booming bass pirate radio drops and also, of course, the chipmunk vocal samples, which have just buried themselves in my psyche ever since the rain came.

In promoting this album, there was also the song "Father", which, again, is a moment where I feel like Jim is really playing to his stylistic strengths. You have this bold rap/sung delivery playing around a very interesting vocal sample drop, a very personal angle to the lyrics, too, and the overall messaging of the song being quite focused. Also a very funny and random shout out to Mitski as well in the bars. While the track is short and does lead me wanting a little bit more on some level, it does feel like it flows within the greater idea in this tracklist of creating something that vibes and comes together like a mix, like an underground broadcast.

Because, again, you do have very consistently throughout black british music all of these rap tape and pirate radio vocal drops that serve as a reminder that what we're hearing is like an expression of an underground sound or movement or something like that, even with the connection to XL recordings. But these bits and touches also segue us from one moment on the tape to the next, too.

So, yeah, the overall presentation on this project is a little rough. It doesn't sound like Jim labored over any of these tracks for super long. But even in the skeletal and sometimes intentionally half baked state that these tracks are in, there are still a lot of very standout vocal performances and stellar hooks.

The track "New David Bowie", for example. It is bright, cheery, and hopeful, like a really good Porter Robinson song. We also get more booming beats, chipmunked vocals that soar across the mix, and chopped up string sections that each time just hit with a rush of ecstasy. I also love Jim's aggressive and determined vocals all over this track, too. Just generally, how well he pulls off this rap/sung combo delivery without having his vocals touched up too much. The singing, the rapping across this project, it all sounds very raw, but it's still incredibly well-executed.

From here, true to this project's mixtape-type flow, there is a lot of versatility here in such a way to where it feels like we're listening to something bordering on a compilation. The track "Sun" is a bit of a mild one. It's like Jim's personal ode to this ongoing trend of super heady party music. It's a track that you can most definitely play in front of a crowd, but it's still uncompromisingly moody despite its Afrobeat-inspired grooves and tropical guitar licks.

We get similar vibes on the track "SOS" later on the tape. However, in that instance, I would say we're actually getting much better vocals as well as a chorus.

Then "'06 Wayne Rooney" comes through with another switch up. It's the exact reverb-y, regimented rock that you might catch in the midst of a Spotify alt pop playlist. And while it does fit into the trend well, Jim most definitely adopts this sound very accurately. I always find this brand of rock music to be a little gutless.

I think his strengths as a singer and a songwriter are much better showcased on the track "Issues of Trust", even if that song is another moment on the record where I'm like, damn, this is so short. I just want more of what this song is delivering, especially after the fucking whimper, bro, the whimper he has in the midst of that one vocal line! The only thing more tragic than that is the literal content of the song where Jim is just delivering these devastating lines about trust issues he has with his dad, as well as the the lingering memories of his sister who passed away.

Then there's also "DBAB" (or "Don't Be A Bitch"), which I don't think I've ever heard a song in this style go quite this hard. It's like this modern, minimalist, lofi take on dance hall music, but Jim's vocals are quite aggressive, very bold, very upfront, very in your face. It's not simply just a chill vibe. In the midst of the track, he randomly drops in this interpolation of Snow's "Informer", which just It comes out of nowhere, but it's pulled off so well.

The charisma is also off the charts on "I Just Banged a Snus in Canada Water". But then after this, the tape's final moments do leave me feeling a bit underwhelmed, because I do think this thing starts a lot stronger than it finishes. I do love the gorgeous group vocals on "Dexter's Phone Call", and they definitely show that Jim's ears are in the right place in terms of being able to evoke a certain feeling and arrange certain palettes of instrumentation in a that just sounds… Again, it's pulling at your heartstrings, and he's doing it so well. But the song itself is just a little too brief and underdeveloped.

"3x" featuring Dave, I think, certainly could have had a stronger verse, more interesting production. "Tiger Driver '91" feels like, I don't know, like a less interesting spin on an old Weeknd song. And the closing track, "Brief", sees this tape going out with more of a whimper than a bang.

But even though I'm not really crazy about this tape's final moments, Jim did pack enough super impressive ideas into this project to leave me just waiting and wondering what he's going to do next. I don't think black british music is an example of Jim's full creative potential, but there's still a lot of tracks here I'm going to be coming back to again and again through the rest of the year.

I also think it's super impressive that, on this project, Jim was able to really nail down a very recognizable and distinct style while covering so many bases because there are tracks on this thing that are soulful and passionate, like a James Blake or a Sampha or a Frank Ocean song. There are moments that are strange and obscure, like a Dean Blunt cut. Tracks that are braggadocious and triumphant, like a quality piece of UK hip hop. Then also, of course, you have those sensual groovy bits that are luring and low-key, like something from a good Afrobeats or a dance hall mix.

There are a lot of elements on this project being balanced, and they're being balanced well, even in the in-development mixtape state that they're in currently, which is why I'm feeling a light to decent 7 on this record.

Anthony Fantano, Jim Legxacy, Forever.