Beautiful and Brutal Yard (also abbreviated B.A.B.Y[2][3]) is the third studio album by British rapper J Hus, released on 14 July 2023 through Black Butter Records. The album includes collaborations with Drake, Naira Marley, Jorja Smith, Burna Boy, Popcaan, CB, Villz and Boss Belly.[4] It was preceded by the singles "It's Crazy" and "Who Told You" featuring Drake.[5] J Hus will tour the UK and Ireland in October and November 2023 in support of the album.[6] The album was shortlisted for the 2023 Mercury Prize.[7]
Background and promotion
In May 2023, Spotify-sponsored billboards appeared in London. The billboards were labelled "Don't Say Militancy" and included a phone number. When called, a voicemail would play that confirmed an upcoming J Hus album.[8][9] Shortly after, the album's lead single "It's Crazy" released.[10] On 8 June 2023. the second single "Who Told You" released.[11]
The album's announcement on 29 June 2023 was accompanied by a trailer in which J Hus walks through his own mansion before being delivered a vinyl copy of his album and before he is transported "in front of a beat-down neighborhood". A voiceover by Idris Elba states, "No matter what's going on around me, I'm still myself. And now my eyes are open and I can see the beauty of everything. I always calculate trying to challenge destiny and test fate. Welcome to my Beautiful and Brutal Yard, may peace be onto you."[12]
Beautiful and Brutal Yard received a score of 83 out of 100 on review aggregator Metacritic based on seven critics' reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[13]Alexis Petridis of The Guardian named it his album of the week and noted, "that its polarities hold together for more than an hour is partly down to J Hus's famed adaptability, his facility to ride any beat thrown his way".[3]NME's Niall Smith described it as "a scattershot burst of brilliance" as well as "an elongated, yet joyous return from J Hus", who "channels his lyrical potency, struggles and romantic pursuits into one unified portrait".[1] Hayley Milross of The Line of Best Fit stated that the album "shows Hus display his greatest quality – his music" and "displays both the beauty and brutality of the world", calling it "an album that connotes the essence of home, and his home is his music".[14]Clash's Dwayne Wilks wrote that while the album "remind[s] us why [J Hus is] so adored", he found that there is "less of his story" and it does not reach the heights of J Hus's previous two albums, but concluded "no other artist commands rhythm and rhyme like Hus, and it's patently clear that the Stratford rapper is enjoying making music again, which is a blessing for the rest of us".[2] Will Pritchard, reviewing the album for The Telegraph, called it "the record of the summer" along with "thrilling, hip-twisting, [and] unsettling", on which "Hus still leads the pack with his pitless charisma, linguistic inventiveness, and musical curiosity".[17] Pritchard, writing for Pitchfork, described it a "carnal and philosophical investigation of masculinity against lush, robust beats that evoke a distinctly Black British take on G-funk".[16]
Year-end lists
Select year-end rankings of Beautiful and Brutal Yard
In the United Kingdom, Beautiful and Brutal Yard debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, with first-week sales of 17,260 album-equivalent units.[20] The sales consisted of 1,722 CDs, 557 vinyls, 294 cassettes, 305 digital downloads, and 14,383 sales-equivalent streams.[20][21]
