Superstar producer JAE5 has just dropped visuals for ‘Dimension’, a brand-new track featuring Rema and Skepta. The collaboration is the first time that the three artists have appeared on a track together and the result is an infectious afroswing banger.
Having produced for a wide variety of artists both within the UK music scene and beyond it, ‘Dimension’ is JAE5’s first official single. Discussing the track in a press statement, he said, “For my first single, I wanted to pull off something that represented me well. It had to be heavily influenced by Afrobeats and the UK urban scene. Skepta and Rema are the perfect combination. ‘Dimension’ is a meaningful track with a vibe! Skepta as always delivers the maddest verse and Rema on the hook—that guy just isn’t normal! I hope everyone enjoys the track.”
The song is indeed a seamless blend of “Afrobeats and the UK urban scene”, with the softly inflected melodies of Rema complemented by Skepta’s unapologetically British vocal tone. The production itself is both mellow and stripped-back in a way that allows the afrobeat drum patterns that drive the song to really be foregrounded.
The song’s release comes off the back of JAE5’s recent win at the Grammy’s. Specifically, the East Londoner provided the production for ‘Bank On It’ on Burna Boy’s fifth studio album ‘Twice as Tall’, which took home ‘Best Global Music Album’ at the Awards. The win officially solidified afrobeats’ global takeover, with Nigerian artists, such as Burna Boy, at the forefront of the revamped “afrowave” sound.
The UK music scene was particularly quick to adopt and appreciate this genre, most probably because of the sizeable first- and second-generation African community that lives in Britain. JAE5 is a producer that pioneered this sound in the UK, frequently alongside J Hus who is another very important figure in the country’s adoption of the genre. The sound’s integration into the UK music scene was also strengthened by frequent musical collaborations between African artists and UK artists with African heritage. Consider, for example, Skepta teaming up with Wizkid on ‘Energy (Stay Far Away)’ in 2018 or Dave teaming up with Burna Boy on ‘Location’ in 2019. ‘Dimension’ offers another example of this sort of transnational collaboration and cultural celebration.
The vibrant and atmospheric music video was filmed in Ghana and is the perfect backdrop for the afrobeat-inspired track. Made up of powerful shots that capture the rich culture and beautiful landscape of the West African nation, the song is really brought to life by the video.
Check out the music video for ‘Dimension’ below:
