FromLondonRecommended if you likeNikki Nair, Anz, AhadadreamUp nextDebut EP Jellyfish out 6 July
On her NTS Radio show, London DJ Debbie Ijaduola, AKA debbiesthuglife, is liable to throw everything from 2000s dancefloor-fillers such as Basement Jaxx’s Oh My Gosh and Kelis’s Acapella with apocalyptic dubstep bass, trap lyricism, Jersey Club beats and Britney Spears. It’s a high-octane, unpredictable mix, only unified by the fact that when Debbie is on the decks, the energy is up.
Bringing this ungovernable, quickfire sensibility to club lineups alongside the likes of Welsh producer Kelly Lee Owens and American rapper Zack Fox, Ijaduola has recently been releasing her own productions, seemingly taking inspiration from the need to get her crowds moving and to keep them on the floor. Her debut release, 2024’s Juicy for Ya, easily fulfilled that premise with its chipmunk-tuned vocal sample and skittering kick drums, primed to reverberate through the body when firing out of a large speaker stack, while this year’s No Signal channels an Eric Prydz-style trance synth.
It might sound like an irreverent set of tunes but on her upcoming debut EP Jellyfish, Ijaduola gets more serious. Darker, heavier and intensely propulsive, across its seven tracks there are shades of Goldie’s Rufige Kru alias on the hammering drum’n’bass of Medusa, Special Request’s chopped breakbeats on the title track and Coki’s bass weight on Float. This is lively music to inspire the late-night crew. And yet, in Medusa there’s also a joyous sample of what sounds like Homer Simpson screaming; on Jellyfish a jazz Rhodes lick tastefully rolls through, maintaining the chaotic playfulness that ultimately makes Ijaduola’s music so hard to resist.Ammar Kalia
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