DJ Jax Jones has become the Prince of House. Sam Merricks explores how he has blown up the charts with his energetic and captivating tunes.
Timucin Fabian Kwong Wah Aluo, better known as Jax Jones, has been entrancing us with his infectious beats since 2014, when he was a featured artist with Duke Dumont. But now Jones is taking the lead to delight us with his first debut album Snacks (Supersize). But who is the man behind the infamous “What you gon’ do?”
Born in 1987, Jones grew up listening to rap, gospel, Afro-beat, and numerous other genres, and began making beats as a teenager before later performing at open mic clubs around his hometown London.
It wasn’t always easy, but he never gave up on his musical ambitions. “It’s been a long road, my parents didn’t agree with me doing music so I had to leave home pretty early and just kind of figure it out,” he reveals. “I had to get a job pretty quickly and luckily I landed on my feet, playing guitar for N-Dubz which was my first ever job.”
Then in 2014 Jones enjoyed a breakthrough year, when his work with Duke Dumont not only developed his interest in house music, but also secured him a place at the top of the charts with the track ‘I Got U’. Jones went on to continue to collaborate with Duke Dumont, co-writing and producing Dumont’s other hits such as ‘Ocean Drive’ and ‘Won’t Look Back.’
Explaining his move into house music, Jones says: “I was still making rap and R&B, dabbling in pop so it took a while to make that connection. And then Jax Jones was what brought it all together really, and I was like this is a really natural fit; I love house music, let’s do this.”
In late 2016, Jones’ collaboration with RAYE on ‘You Don’t Know Me’ became arguably his most popular single, reaching number 3 in the UK. Jones has now worked with RAYE again for his latest single ‘Tequila’, where he also teams up with Martin Solveig (best known for ‘Intoxicated’) to form musical duo Europa.
Jones’ work with RAYE has resulted in his most standout performances in the charts. Expressing the pride he feels for his music and the artists’ he worked with on debut EP Snacks, the DJ said: “I’m really proud of the collaborations we got on there like Demi Lovato, Bebe Rexha, all the
way to great up and coming artists at the time such as Mabel and obviously she’s gone on to be a superstar now.”
The initial EP peaked at number 9 in the charts, with 8 out of 9 singles also being within the Official Top UK 40. Its success then led to Jones supersizing our appetite for his snacks, as he now expands on his previous release with debut album Snacks (Supersize).
In recent weeks – before the coronavirus pandemic – Jones had been busy promoting the album with single ‘This is Real’ alongside Ella Henderson, fan favourite and former X Factor contestant best known for her single ‘Ghost’. This included appearing together on Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, opening the show with the single right before Jax had to perform in Bristol for the tour of his album.
Meanwhile, his latest single ‘Tequila’ is keeping us moving on the dance floor (and wanting some shots of course!) We can only hope to hear more hits from Jax and his friends, as they are sure to be more upbeat floor fillers.
For updates on Jax Jones and his rescheduled tour dates, go to > jaxjones.co.uk/tour/
