Rising Afro-Urban Trio JAS CRW shares ‘Report (prod. by Jamie Rodigan)’
Rising trio JAS CRW have premiered their track, ‘Report (prod. by Jamie Rodigan)’ via CLASH Magazine. The track is taken from their upcoming EP, Greetings From which will be available on the 28th of August via Starter Gang. The three initials “J-A-S” stand for the first letters of the artists names James, Aristoteles and Sandjay and the upcoming EP was produced by Ketelby James (CH) in collaboration with Meek (DE), and featuring the voices of rising Nigerian artist Dotman, and Jamaican award-winning artist Naomi Cowan. Producer on the track, Jamie Rodigan, is the son of famous BBC Radio 1 presenter – David Rodigan. Thus far, JAS CRW have received airplay support from BBC Radio 1’s Toddla, BBC 1Xtra’s David Rodigan, Reprezent Radio, Heart of Love Radio and Apple Music’s New Music Daily. Rising quickly in the industry, the trio have performed at Paléo Festival, Open-air Frauenfeld and Open Air St. Gallen and have opened for several big artists such as Wacka Flocka Flame, Rae Sremmurd, Schoolboy Q, DAS EFX, Slum Villag and Dead Prez, to name but a few. At the moment, JAS CRW sit at just under 500 000 plays across streaming platforms.
Currently residing in Zurich, Switzerland JAS CRW have celebrated successes all over Switzerland, Germany, Italy and even Mozambique while they have spent two months in London, recording and developing their music. The trio also partly recorded their single, ‘Honey’ (also taken from the upcoming EP in Jamaica at Naomi Cowan’s studio, which is rising quickly, currently earning them the most streams to date. Comprised of Jaime De Matos Cunha, Aristoteles Filipe and Sandjay Deng, JAS CRW had an impactful experience together when the NGO Viva con Agua invited them to Mozambique to help people in need and produce a documentary movie entitled “Chuva”, which highlights the current water crisis there.
The trio’s sound varies, as they mould genres to their will while permanently maintaining an energetic afro-urban meets afro-carribean vibe. As JAS CRW’s sound fluctuates, so do their influences as they cite the likes of OutKast, Bob Marley, Earth Gang, Jay Cole, Drake, Michael Jackson and Erikah Badu. However, their own sound sits in closer comparison to the likes of WSTRN, WizKid and Burna Boy.
Serving as a small hint of what the listener can expect from the rest of the upcoming EP, ‘Report (prod. by Jamie Rodigan)’ strikes the sweet middle ground between mellow and a hard, underlying freshness. Exploring the troubles and thoughts that come with loneliness, the song takes some old school aspects of early hip hop using them to highlight the difficult topic.
Speaking of ‘Report’, JAS CRW tell us a bit about the creation of the song: “Having spent more than half a year on the hard disk before the project actually got finished, report had a little heavy birth. Although the framework for the beats and parts of the lyrics were mostly set with a heavy dancehall beat, there was still something missing to further work on it. After sending the demo to Jaime Rodigan it came back way different then expected. It’s mellow and hard but comes with a fresh and modern breeze. And that was the missing part to polish this track that talks about the troubles and thoughts that come with loneliness.”
