Jeshi curates an eclectic playlist of pensive tunes and laidback bangers

Welcome back to Selections, a series of artist-curated playlists from those in the know.

For our latest iteration, it’s the turn of Jeshi, the east London artist who first turned our ears back in 2016 with his debut EP Pussy Palace and later link-ups with fellow London-based musicians and producers such as Mura Masa, Vegyn, Celeste and John Glacier.

When we caught up with him last summer, Jeshi spoke of the catharsis he was experiencing following the release of his acclaimed debut album Universal Credit, a candid 13-track project that fused Jeshi’s biting delivery with even more biting social commentary, personal reflections and themes spanning (but not limited to) the class system, knife crime and life in the UK under austerity. And then came The Great Stink. Released last month, the new EP retains the raw, gritty lyricism that made the album such a success – and Jeshi, in many ways, the voice of an entirely disenfranchised generation – but zoomed in closer to his current life in the capital. The Great Stink is a metaphor, Jeshi’s expressed, “for all this stinky shit going on in my day-to-day life in London”.

There’s a tranquility to many of his Selections picks that veers between the reassuring and the haunting, as engrossing, textured soundscapes pull you into an introspective world where indeed, catharsis reigns. From Radiohead to Joy Orbison and Léa Sen, the playlist reflects the breadth of inspirations at Jeshi’s disposal. “These are all songs I’ve found really inspiring while working on this music,” he tells us. “I love anything that makes me think ‘Wow’, and all of these people and songs have done that.” Consider this playlist, then, insight into Jeshi’s downtime listening habits.