As soon as the song "What Yall Want To" comes on, it does not demand your attention, it seizes it. Junya Boy does not take a moment to get you adjusted to it; he throws you directly into his world with that ruthless Dallas electricity vibrating with every beat. The production itself is a feel-you-the-power-of-the-808s in your chest, hi-hats in your ear like a timer and about to explode, and the snares cutting through the night. Then comes that wicked synth melody, trancey and wild, playing in your head long after the song is over.
Junya, who plays behind the mic, and is called Simon Ellis when the lights are off, adds a rawness that can only be acquired by experience. His voice does not simply ride even the beat but orders it around, washing grit, pride and hunger with each bar. His stream is narrow, inexorable, machine-like in its motion towards its goal. The ad-libs flash through like live wire energy, and the hook brings it all down and rings in your head until you find yourself humming the song hours later. Here you can feel his growth--this is no man who tries to prove something, it is the man who has already known that he belongs.
Lyrically, it is a blow of strength in swagger. Junya transforms fight into beat, aspiration into armor and rebellion into art. It is not just a song, it is a hymn to those who struggle against the noise to get out of it, being hungry. I had to play it late at night, when I was doing some exercises and I had sweat in my eyes and my heart was beating with every drop. The concert had not finished by the time it was over, it was not another song, it was momentum.
It is not a throwaway trap banger this is Junya Boy making his claim and combining club heat with truth-teller soul. He is not riding with the wave, but constructing a wave with the support of Nonstop Grind Records, the proverbial nods of the likes of Bryson Tiller and Lil Flip. The buzzing of the song on platforms such as Spotify to Apple and deservedly so. It is audacious, vibrant and charged with a cause. Not only is Junya Boy dropping music- he is setting fires. And believe me, it is not one you will want to switch off once you have it turned on.
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