Black British Music (2025)

Black British Music (2025) (stylised in all lowercase, shortened to BBM) is the third^[1] mixtape by the British rapper and producer Jim Legxacy. It was released on 18 July 2025 through XL Recordings.^[2][1][3] The follow-up to his mixtape Homeless N*gga Pop Music (2023), it features guest appearances from Dave, Fimiguerrero, and Dexter in the Newsagent. Legxacy primarily handled production himself, alongside Joe Stanley, Cppo, J Moon, and Dre Denim, among others. It was released to critical acclaim.

On 27 February 2025, the first single from the mixtape, "Father", was released on streaming services.^[4][5] This release was followed by the second and final single, "Stick", released on 10 April 2025.^[6][7] On 8 July 2025, Jim Legxacy announced that Black British Music (2025) would be released on 18 July 2025.^[8]

Black British Music is a experimental rap album, with reviewer Mehan Jayasuriya writing how the album sees Legxacy combine "audio moodboards, stitching together spidery emo guitar lines, Afrobeat drums, recognizable samples, and of-the-moment rhythms like Jersey club."^[9]

According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Black British Music (2025) received "universal acclaim" based on a weighted average score of 90 out of 100 from 6 critic scores.^[10] Pitchfork called the album "some of Legxacy's best production and songwriting yet; he's beginning to sound like the second coming of cut-and-paste icon Jai Paul. Here, Legxacy is at his best when commanding tracks that are propulsive and chaotic: Samples collide headfirst, drums snap with the force of fingers on pads, drops overpower everything in the mix".^[9] NME called it a "potential future classic".^[12] Sheldon Pearce of NPR described the album as "a jumbled, marvelous survey of 21st century U.K. rap, identifying connective tissue with Afrobeats, emo, drill and garage."^[15] Jon Caramanica of The New York Times called the album a "homage to the last two decades of Black British music."^[16] The Economist included the album in their top 10 albums of 2025, describing it as "the most intriguing British hip-hop release of the year."^[17] According to Rolling Stone, Black British Music was ranked at #38 out of #100, with Jeff Ihaza of the company writing Lgexacy showcases his personal storytelling on the project. On tracks like the boldly titled “I Just Banged a Snus in Canada Water,” he hypes himself up while reflecting on past struggles, capturing deep emotion in simple lines. The mixtape, reminiscent of Illmatic in its intimacy, blends his inner world with his environment. Despite acknowledging hardship—“There's always gonna be mud”—Legxacy's music remains grounded in hope.

Credits adapted from Tidal.^[40]

• All track titles are stylised in lowercase.
• "Stick" features additional vocals from Joe Stanley and an interpolation of "Going Through It", written by Joseph Adenuga and Stewart Mullings and performed by Skepta.^[41]
• "New David Bowie" contains a sample of "Wash", written by Jon Bellion, Jason Cornet, Jason Johnson, Stef Johnson and Pete Nappi and performed by Bellion.^[42]
• "Sun" features an interpolation of "Did You See", written by Momodou Jallow and Jonathan Mensah and performed by J Hus.^[41][42]
• "06 Wayne Rooney" features an interpolation of "Hey Ya!", written by André Benjamin and performed by Outkast.^[42]
• "Father" features a sample of "I Love My Father", written and performed by George Smallwood.^[4]
• "D.B.A.B" features an interpolation of "Informer", written by Darrin O'Brien, Shawn Moltke, Edmond Leary, Terri Moltke and Jeffrey Silva and performed by Snow.^[42][9]
• "SOS" features a sample of "Missing You", written by Joe Thomas, Tim Kelley and Bob Robinson, as performed by Case.^[42][43]
• "3x" features an interpolation of "Wanna Know", written by David Omoregie, Fraser T. Smith and Tyrell Paul and performed by Dave.^[44]

Credits adapted from Tidal.^[40]