Jim Legxacy BBM - A moment for British individuality

“You get out the mud… there’s always gonna be mud”

Opening the album with his ‘Brief’ Jim explains in two minutes how he dealt with grief just after what most would deem as a high. Coming out of homelessness, producing sprinter to then dealing with the death of his sister, his mother having two strokes and a brother going through psychosis, he still sounds tired. Mentioning he put the energy into this album as his way of coping can be heard in the sombre introduction, before the beat transitions into ‘Stick’.

The lightning bolt on Jim’s eye on the album cover sets pace for ‘New David Bowie’. This is a bold statement, snatching the torch from him and carrying it to Lewisham like 2012 Alan Lane, sampling ’Wash’ by Jon Bellion.  This is then followed by the more mellow ‘Sun’ featuring Fimiguerrero. This song even juxtaposed what I had heard from Fimiguerrero in the past year, being a frontrunner of the alternative scene.

Both Jim and Fimiguerrero have been called ‘underground’ for a while now despite major mainstream success, this song proves the growth of the scene in Britain whilst paying homage to ‘Did You See’ by J Hus which released in 2017 when Jim would have been in Secondary school.

Schooltime nostalgia is displayed in the visuals for ‘Father’. 280p quality, set on the back of a bus with short ties, untucked shirts, wired earphones and the plain black Nike hat to complete the uniform. This is a form of accuracy that can only be done by the those were young at that time. Everyday mundane travel has turned in to carefully curated visuals almost 10 years later. and is being looked back on by those in there 20’s.

Black british music out now. cant believe im actually saying this. thank u to my friends that were present with me whilst i was going through the absolute hardest period of my life & gave me the strength & motivation to keep going. thank u to my small but extremely efficient team that puts up with my fried ideas. thank u 2 my dog who makes me have to go on walks twice a day even tho i hate walks. thank u 2 my family, cant believe we got through that mentally. thank u to everyone that worked on the project u man r the best itw & thank u to everyone that listened to the music & continues to stick by me & my silly ideas hahaha u man r the best. this is just the beginning truly.

rip tinuke i love u 4 ever

There is something nice about the familiarity of that video and the setting being a universal experience for millions, despite the lyrics being a juxtaposition of the safety and nostalgia on screen. Jim however doesn’t let the despair dampen the atmosphere on this one.

’06 Wayne Rooney ‘ is the song that stood out the most to me, paying homage to ‘Hey Ya’ by Outkast as well as what sounds like ‘Disorder’ by Joy Division. Both songs are rooted in pain but sound very upbeat; something I did not realise in the 2010’s when they played around the house.

 “They play our war crimes in the clubs, it’s getting all over the floor” Jim sings, alluding to the point nobody is really listening to the words. They just want to dance, spending money, drinking and enjoying the sound of other people’s trauma. It really makes me think about whether artists are opening up on songs about a range of self-lived harrowing experiences to create a club banger or are audiences oddly insensitive to these issues simply because they have not felt the feelings being spoken about - whether it is anything from death to love. This song despite being reminiscent of early 2000’s indie also feels like a critique of our own consumption habits and makes me wonder if we are even meant to be dancing. 

Further references are made in ‘3x’ featuring Dave. Opening with lyrics from the ‘Wanna Know’ remix, referencing ‘Streatham’ and ‘Sprinter’ as well as sampling Wiley’s ‘Jam Pie’, this song is stacked with UK rap and grime references as well as a powerful Dave verse telling Jim “You did your sister proud”.

For another song sounding like celebration, there are still emotional undertones that make you understand ‘Brief’ even more and how Jim managed to cope with the vicissitudes of life.

British identity is reshaped in this album and is one of the first albums I have heard that cannot be put in a box of any genre. Avelino approached British identity with ‘God Save The Streets’ in 2023, also taking inspiration from the punk period. This album was also making a point to speak on modern British issues through rap.

Jim Legxacy managed to find the perfect middle ground between the old and new and further raised the point that British music doesn’t have to be a replica of what we hear across the pond and instead can be its own standalone force. 

During the height of forced international competition between the UK and USA, this is a refreshing reminder we do not need to compare ourselves to anyone. He has given the flowers to British greats whilst quintessentially building something new and refreshing that cannot be replicated by anyone without the same influences. 

Words by James Woodham