May 15, 2024 – What the press is saying about J Hus + Beautiful and Brutal Yard:

“…one of England’s most inventive rappers.” – The New York Times (“Favorite Albums of 2023 So Far”)

“J Hus is the rapper coming for everything this year.” – NPR

“J Hus returns with a vengeance.” - Billboard

“J Hus takes another step to household name status with his new project.” – The FADER

“The London rapper’s third album extends his carnal and philosophical investigation of masculinity against lush, robust beats that evoke a distinctly Black British take on G-funk.” – Pitchfork

“A modern-day classic.” – HYPEBEAST

Gearing up for the summer, J Hus is set to headline this year’s Wireless Festival on July 13th in London, UK alongside 21 Savage. If that wasn't enough, today he is back with new visuals for fan-favorite track “Alien Girl,” taken from his acclaimed album Beautiful and Brutal Yard. Watch via the link BELOW.

The dual music video was a collaborative project with Sony Music’s 4th Floor Creative team, Black Butter, P4SD & Picnic Studio. The visual presents two intertwining videos with mirrored narratives – Alien Girl’s world and Brutal Boy’s. It allows viewers to toggle and explore both Brutal and Beautiful galaxies as they are immersed in themes of self-discovery, isolation, and sexual fantasy. At the end, users receive a score based on the time spent in either galaxy, also viewers can unlock a 20% discount off official merchandise and the opportunity to win tickets to Hus’ Wireless performance this summer.

The unique interactive project showcases Picnic's sleek 2D animation style, bringing to life the afro-beat inspired track from Hus's critically acclaimed album Beautiful And Brutal Yard (B.A.B.Y). P4SD were charged to build and essentially realise all the interactive elements of the video.

Picnic commented, “We listened to the song and absorbed the lyrics - playful innuendos about sex and sci-fi - and it spawned a whole concept of two videos in two worlds playing out in the exact same time and composition but with two differing ends of the sexual anxiety spectrum…We were inspired by the separate art departments used on ALIEN (1979) where Ron Cobb and HR Giger answered their briefs without seeing each other's work until way into production.”

Last summer, J Hus blessed his fans with his third studio album, Beautiful and Brutal Yard, following a three-year hiatus. The project claimed the #1 spot on the The Official Albums Chart in the UK and featured a stellar line up of collaborators including Drake, Burna Boy, Popcaan, Jorja Smith, CB, Naira Marley, Villz and Boss Belly. So far, the now album has accumulated more than 363 million global streams, surpassing J Hus’ 2020 album Big Conspiracy in the same timeframe. Beautiful and Brutal Yard was one of 2023 most celebrated albums. Besides receiving a Mercury Prize nomination just two weeks after release, the album continues to receive glowing reviews and high praise. The New York Times named it one of their “Favorite Albums of 2023 So Far” on Popcast, while NPR proclaimed that Hus sounds “like he is really poised to blow up state-side with this record.” HotNewHipHop proclaimed that he delivered “The Soundtrack To Summer 2023” while NME dubbed the album “a joyous return.” The FADER described how “the energy on Beautiful and Brutal Yard is the kind that emerges when your biggest competitor is yourself” while Billboard announced “J Hus returns with a vengeance.” Uproxx perhaps summed it up best: “Hus uses his third album to provide a vivid and detailed account of his roots and upbringing, giving equal attention to all that’s beautiful and brutal. This duality contributes to everything on the album: its sonic appeal, the thrill of J Hus’ narratives, and the rapper’s overall artistic vision.” Further, Barack Obama picked hit single “Who Told You” ft. Drake as the #1 song on his “Favorite Songs of Summer 2023” list.

For Hus, all roads lead back to the music. Look close at the album title Beautiful and Brutal Yard and spot the acronym: baby. Whether it’s brutal, beautiful, or shuffling somewhere between the two, music is Hus’ baby. On his third studio album, this has never been more clear and present. The stage is set. The man has many names – Uju Militer, The Farda, Ezmalay, The Ugliest (so named after his clothing brand of the same name).

But there’s only one J Hus.

ABOUT PICNIC

Picnic is a multidisciplinary studio founded by Mina Song and Liam O’Connor, writer/producer/directors with a passion for mixing east and west animation styles into flights of fantasy & humour. Their specialty is character focused animation for originals & advertising and with both having film backgrounds, they also integrate hybrid live action and visual fx. Founded in 2013, their work has also ventured into VR, live visuals, title sequences and graphic novels. Their BBC films on Children's mental health won a National Television award and their launch film for Hopster picked up a Kidscreen award for best short film. Recent work includes projects for BEATS, DAFT PUNK with Warren Fu, LEGO, COINBASE, WeTransfer and The End of the Fucking World with 4Creative.

ABOUT P4SD

P4SD is an art and innovation collective, creating digital and physical products and experiences with the mission to inspire a global creative uprising.

CREDITS

Director: Picnic Studio
Creative Director: Liam O’Connor
Executive Producer: Mina Song
Production Company: Partizan Studio
Head of Music Videos: Lauren Mills
Executive Producers: Jenny Beckett, Duncan Gaman
Producer: Leo Green
Production Assistants: Will Cousins, Sharlene Oola

Record Label: Black Butter Ltd
Artist Management: 2K Management
Video & Digital Experience Commissioning: Dan Millar and Hari Ashurst-Venn, 4th Floor Creative.
Director’s Rep: Claire Subbs @ Mouthpiece

Assistant Director: Robert Faux
Compositor: Chris Sayer
Background Art: Hugo Moreno
Concept Design & Storyboards: Robert Faux, Thanh Tran
Animation: Robert Faux, Havtza, Thanh Tran, Tom Salo, Kata Szilassy
2DFX: Vannah Lenggu
Clean Up and Colour: Elpida Fousteri, Katerina Kremasioti, Angeline De Silva

Interactive Design: P4sd.com
Creative Director: Joe Furr
Technical Director: Tom Watson
Strategy: Nicolas Estrup
Software Engineer: Hunter Goodreau