Mixtape Review: Jim Legxacy - black british music (2025)

2 years later, Jim Legxacy returns with his blood, sweat, and tears fully exposed. ‘black british music (2025)’ is an expression of heartfelt songwriting and vivid songcrafting, bringing together some of his emotionally dynamic and sonically adventurous songs that he has put out on record.

Sometimes, the process of creating music also means reliving and recontextualizing the experiences that the artist has gone through, wherein the gap of time that persists between their old and recent record is very much filled with a well of moments that will change and shift their perspective and their attitude, not just as a musician but as a person as well. But what’s also tough is whether or not they’re willing to keep creatively growing, especially as the experiences that the artist will proceed through may either stifle or refresh where they will head towards in their next project. It’s not like it’s uncommon to see this coming true. Unfortunately, amidst an industry that will eat musicians alive creatively, financially, and mentally, it is an undeniable frustration that leaves the artist to struggle in their lives. Yet, there are some that have to push themselves further, willing to pen down those pensive thoughts in their art, and create a mature, but emotionally complex project to tangle into.

All this has been said as Jim Legxacy - also known as James Olaloye - has very much struck an immediate goldmine with his 2023 mixtape, ‘Homeless N*gga Pop Music’. The sort of free-wheeling fusion between pop, hip-hop, afrobeats, and R&B that is not only catchy to boot, but also provides intriguing sample choices and songwriting that is both vulnerable and personal at the same time. Yet, things have changed further for Jim Legxacy since then. Netting a hit as he co-wrote and co-produced “Sprinter” by Dave and Central Cee, as well as becoming a feature under fred again..’s 2024 album, ‘Ten Days’.

Yet, those glowing highs are also met with heartwrenching lows in his life, an aspect that Jim Legxacy explains through the first song from his newest mixtape, ‘black british music (2025)’. Explaining the context of losing his sister back in 2023, his mother suffering a stroke twice, and “candy reign (!)” being taken down due to a copyright nightmare has taken a toll on his purview. Certain experiences have taken a toll on his personal life, and how much it has put him off track. Such grief only leaves him in a complicated headspace. Not only reliving his time being homeless and trying to survive and create meaningful relationships, but also just how, in the present time where he has gotten older, gaining that sense of community and success, there’s a part of him that can’t exactly end up happy. Still pushing people away and drowning in the ache of reflecting about his overall family: his father’s act of being absent in his life, his brother’s reckless mistakes, his sister’s death, and his mother’s experience of going through a stroke. All of it is pounding down on his life.

But despite all that, it is through his pack of friends that he can give himself some grace and relief in going through those tougher times, and try to alleviate the grief that he’s feeling. Yet, Jim just couldn’t get over it. “Brief” lets all of Jim’s vulnerable thoughts be exposed in the open, where, despite the support that he has on his back, he just couldn’t process the fact that his sister has left him behind. He may be able to accept the futility of one’s life, but when the memories and connections are so strong, he can’t help but still cling to them and cry for them as he does. After all, the people that are cherished the most are the one’s that you’ve lived the longest with. In this case, it’s his family.

When there’s so much wealth of vulnerable expressions being laid down, it’s also extremely impressive how Jim Legxacy has refined himself as an overall musician, all brimming with life in everything that he touches upon. The melodies that are concise and stickier than ever, production that gives so much color and space in his mixes, sample choices that are implemented very well, and genre variations that he just lands with his most expressive performances to date - both in his singing and his rapping. It leaves a lot of his tunes landing with so much splash and unique flavor. The warm afrobeat tones across the gentle acoustics of “sun”, the brighter atmosphere of “sos”, and the salving exhale of “3x” with a welcome Dave feature; the ethereal keys glossing around the rumbling bass of “i just banged a snus in canada water”; the fast-paced pop rock swerve that Jim just sells with his strident vocals on “‘06 wayne rooney”; the infectious melodic flow on the chipmunk soul of “father”; “stick” that properly opens up the project with its burly bass hits and cooing backing vocals; the layers of strings and guitars strumming through “issues of trust”; dexter in the newsagent taking the stage on the pensive R&B of “dexters phone call”; and the shimmering keys and horns across the galloping beat of “brief”.

Overall, there is something extraordinary about ‘black british music (2025)’ as a whole. An openly vulnerable introspection that continues to affect Jim Legxacy as a black artist in the UK, where the success he garners just could not patch away all the grief that he’s facing, but it’s also just a top notch, all killer no filler refinement of what he has showcased as a musician. Despite facing all of these complicated situations throughout his life, he never fails to fill up these songs with variety, buoyancy, and musical flair. Perhaps, that’s how he defines black british music: it’s unique, adventurous, and most importantly: profoundly heartfelt.

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Favorite Tracks: ‘stick’, ‘sun’, ‘’06 wayne rooney’, ‘issues of trust’, ‘father’, ‘sos’, ‘i just banged a snus in canada water’, ‘dexters phone call’, ‘3x’, ‘brief’

Least Favorite Track: ‘tiger driver ‘91’