JoeJas ain’t tryin’ to hear that in his incredulous and audacious new single and vibrantly cartoonish video WTF — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
The oddball U.K. rapper’s first release since his fourth album, 2022’s Gaps & Nomads, WTF boldly and brazenly blasts of out your speakers like a long-lost collaboration between The Neptunes and Timbaland. Underpinned by thwacking 808s, driven by grinding bass tones and sweetened with string synths, the rebellious and irrepressible track serves as potent propellant for JoeJas’s sharp-tongued verbal gymnastic and proclamations of unimpeachable greatness:
“Like man, what the fuck
Y’all niggas can’t tell me nothing
Been doubted
But never been crushed
Finna go global
Check my first LP
And the Name of the band
Niggas that’s all me
Keeps it hassle free…
Man I got big goals
So I set the bar steep
Everything hands on
So what’s outta my reach?”
“WTF is a scream for all the people doing things their own way making it work no matter what,” says JoeJas. “Theme of doing things your own way is also felt in the song’s structure, moving from a head-bobbing groove to synth chords and sung melodies — then an eerie alt trap ending, jumping genres and sounds to show that there are no rules!”
A rapper and producer (under the alias HairyMuffinMan), JoeJas has been rapping since he was 11. He started producing at 17 because the beats he was on did not showcase the full vision he had for his music. He put out his self-produced debut album Planet in 2016, blending influences from punk, jazz, hip-hop and R&B. This genre-mashing has become a defining point in his music.
He has shot, edited and directed all his videos, which feature a distinctively colourful visual style. In his performances, he takes audiences into the world of the albums he’s created, introducing them to his many characters and balancing his off-the-wall energy with slower grooves and sombre sounds. In 2020, JoeJas won the Vans Musicians Wanted competition, earning praise from Anderson .Paak for his unique style.
Watch the video for WTF above, hear more from JoeJas below, and just try to tell him something on his website, Twitter and Instagram.
