Jeshi doesn’t run away from fire; he runs with it. The East London artist is on a quest to feel alive in every sense. To him, feeling alive means being present in each experience, no matter how challenging. For Jeshi – who has spent the last few years establishing himself as one of the most exciting voices of his generation – this is what life and art are all about. Chaos, then, is not something to shy away from, but where great ideas are born.
You can feel this ethos in practice throughout Jeshi’s increasingly vital output. His music is audacious and unflinching, stuffed with punkish energy and charisma as the 29-year-old remoulds the outermost contours of UK rap. This applies to early releases such as 2017’s The World’s Spinning Too Fast EP and 2020’s swaggering BAD TASTE. It also extends to his soul-baring 2022 debut album Universal Credit – an “era-defining” (as per The Guardian) portrayal of London life, social malaise, everyday struggles and youthful abandon that highlights Jeshi’s evocative storytelling.