The first quarter of 2025 is primed to be a sterling one of fireworks for amapiano duo Mellow & Sleazy, who have been holding it down since the golden age of amapiano with their hit list credits including their 2021 thumper with DJ Maphorisa, Felo Le Tee, and Young Stunna “Bopha”, Ch’cco’s “Nkao Tempela”, Daliwonga’s “Abo Mvelo”.
Geared up for the release of Fantastic 4, the collaborative debut album with Amu Classic and Kappie, the pair have dropped their tantalising starter in the shape of their standalone single “JD 27”, featuring AI Xapo.
“JD 27” single cover | SUPPLIED
A seven-minute verse-bereft amapiano song, “JD 27” is a multi-layered offering that compensates for its lack of vocals with intricate production. The song sibilates with polished percussion treatment, bounces with reverberating bass sequences, and chirps with phonetic vocal loops topped with distorted sirens to impart elements of the deep house and underground electronic scenes.
The condensed production values of the record weighed against the upbeat personality of the song conjure up the Grammy-nominated “Sunshine” by David Guetta and Avicii, managing to convey feeling with nothing but onomatopoeic language that only the soul knows how to interpret and convert to dance moves.
Mellow & Sleazy | SUPPLIED
As much as the offering doesn’t wander, following the same sonic pattern it establishes by the second minute, “JD 27” offers something fresh with every passing sixty-second interval. Whether the beat gets stripped down, leaving only the skeletal structure of the electronic elements, or layered with sprightly sirens and harmonic melodies, the hills and valleys the duo charter with the listener ensure that the song, even with the absence of a prominent name behind the mic, remains a vibrant and unpredictable plaything for the ear to toy with till the very end.
“Biri Marung” cleaved the year open for millions on New Year’s Day, a probable herald of the sort of year piano will have; the drop of “JD 27” does nothing more but stoke those flames already burning.
