Audiopile Review: Look, we know better than to ignore anything that DJ Python’s Worldwide Unlimited imprint gets its hands on. In this case, it’s Jawnino’s debut mixtape, 40, the latest project to spring from the post-Hype Williams UK scene. Combining the ambient-leaning, heady production we’ve heard from acts like Space Afrika and Rainy Miller with elements of grime, drill, d&b and jungle, Jawnino strikes on a vibe reminiscent of the respective works of Iceboy Violet and John Glacier. Jawnino’s monotone but self-assured delivery serves as the through-line for 40’s diverse modes, drawing us into his scattered thoughts during endless nights out—the beats are thumping, the crowd is lost in ecstasy, but the mind still wanders. Faded melancholic bars sit nestled between nocturnal, Burial-esque emissions, otherworldly vaporwave textures, and club-ready rave-ups alike. Features from new-to-us voices like Cold and Jesse James Solomon stand tall next to more familiar names like MIKE, Kibo, and James Messiah (remember Babyfather’s DJ Escrow? Queue up album highlight “Westfield” and tell us you don’t recognize that voice!). It’s easily the most unabashedly Brit-centric slice of hip hop we’ve heard since Babyfather etched “this makes me proud to be British” into our minds back in 2016.

“Previously appearing on these pages as a guest (alongside Charlotte Church!) on Klein’s stunning ‘Harmattan’ album, Jawnino has been actively issuing prime zingers since 2019’s cult self-release ‘It’s Cold Out’, building a robust rep for his effortless and unique takes on grime, drill, jungle, and rap. Noted for his animated style of “melancholic chaos”, Jawnino flows ambidextrous on whatever’s in front of him, and ’40′ gives him a whole new playground in which to romp; spelling out his dare-to-differ slant on a colourful instrumental palette supplied by new hands – Woesum, HNRO, Brbko, 3o, and Cold – alongside more experienced guest features and remixers – James Massiah (aka Babyfather’s DJ Escrow), Bok Bok (remixing here as One Bok), Airhead, Evilgiane – with breezy fresh steez and classic storytelling that transcends eras.

Blessed with a naturally uncompromising yet broad appeal, Jawnino’s music speaks to life in 2020’s London with an observantly perceptive quality, delivered behind a mask of anonymity. His music is also artfully aware, exhibiting an appetite for variation that sees him glyde equally well on ohrwurming choruses on ‘2trains’, as he does at soulful grime for the club in ‘Dance2’ – an update of his ‘Good Thing Bad Thing Who Knows’ EP nugget that we swear sounds like Junior Boys – while also finding a wry humour in broken Britain on the timelessly drizzly melancholy of ‘It’s Cold Out’, a new expansion of his debut cut produced by Poundshop, Oliver Twist and Cold – and that’s only the opening trio.

Characteristic of his generation’s attraction to the most salient aspects of the preceding 20 odd years, Jawnino proves just as adept at jumping on tight D&B to tell tales of weekend excess (‘Lost My Brain’) as screwed boogie forging binds with US spar MIKE (’Short Stories’), or shuffling in the twilight of ‘90s R&B (‘Wind’). A particular standout of drill drama ‘Westfield’ characterises his ability to boost the energy by factors, and likewise dial it right down and draw us closer in on his description of popping percocet, molly and shrooms in ‘sentfromheaven’, also here in Bok Bok’s finely retuned version, nagging ’til the end beside Airhead’s piquant retweak of ‘Cant Be’.

For anyone losing faith in rap soundalikes, Jawnino reaffirms a love for classic forms pronounced in new ways.” -Boomkat