AJ Tracey and Jorja Smith Reunite For ‘Crush’

On February 12th, AJ Tracey and Jorja Smith released ‘Crush’, an English song about love that connects the West London rapper and the vocalist from Birmingham in service of love. 

This is the first collaboration between the two artists following AJ Tracey’s 2019 hit song ‘Ladbroke Grove’ in which he sampled Smith’s ‘Wandered Romanticism’ and their BBC Radio 1 cover of ‘Flowers’ by Sweet Female Attitude.

‘Crush’ is a song that combines elements of R&B and grime, Tracey and Smith masterfully strike a balance between these two wildly different genres. AJ Tracey brings the bars and Jorja Smith her beautiful and soulful voice, but she also surprises the listener by rapping in her first verse “I don't wanna cause any problems, / you're only tryna please yourself / Know I got what you're after, / but you want something else”. She only starts singing in the chorus with the marvellous voice we know.

The beat which is a sample of the grime song ‘Used To Be’ by UK rapper Wretch 32, which itself is a sample of Brandy’s 2000 track ‘Love Wouldn’t Count Me Out’ from her 20002 album ‘Full Moon’ nicely complements the song’s topic of youthful love and nostalgia. Two decades later, the music from the 2000’s still seems incredibly modern.

They also dropped visuals for this song a few days before its release, in which we see Jorja Smith and AJ Tracey meet for coffee after Smith’s shift. The video was directed by LateMilk.

This nostalgic new single came just in time for Valentine’s day.

Lyndsia Alexandre-Alexis

@lynds.shoots

Image: ‘Crush’ Official Single Cover

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