Jelani Blackman continues to show his diversity with new single ‘Pattern’, out now via 18 Records / eOne Music. This latest offering follows Jelani’s incendiary freestyle ‘Gone’ that kicked off the year, continuing the momentum from a breakthrough 2020, which saw widespread support for the West London rapper and singer.
Produced by the team of Jay Weathers (Stormzy, Not3s, Mr Eazi), Conor Bellis (Rudimental, Tom Walker) and George Conway, ‘Pattern’ sees Jelani showing off his impressive vocal range, seamlessly slipping between singing and rapping over a sultry beat that draws from elements of afrobeats and R&B. “I’ve wanted to have a tune like this out for the longest time. I love summer and for me, this is exactly what I would be listening to at this time of year, so I’m happy that I could make something to vibe to. It’s about life and how it dips and moves in mad ways, but you can always just go with whatever happens,” Jelani explains.
Heavily influenced by r&b and soul, yet coming up at a time when Grime was everywhere, Jelani’s sound swerves stereotypes, blending the hard with the soft, the dark with the light; reflected in an impressively diverse rollcall of collaborators that spans from Brian Eno to Burna Boy and Wolf Alice to Big Zuu. 2020 was a breakthrough year that saw inclusions in Radio 1’s Next Wave, DIY’s Class of 2021 and Notion’s Ones To Watch followed a collab with Ghetts and Fraser T Smith, a 1Xtra TOTW, as well as what was widely recognised as one of COLORS Studios’ best sessions. One of the most exciting, versatile and distinctive voices in the UK scene, 2021 is set to be Jelani Blackman’s year.
