Following their first sold-out show at London’s O2 Academy Islington, ones-to-watch duo A1 x J1 are back with their new single ‘Night Away (Dance)’ featuring rap star Tion Wayne out now via EMI.
Their success comes in the form of two top-five singles, a platinum-selling record, collaborations with the likes of
KSI,
SwitchOTR, Aitch, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, Deno, and
more
recently
a
2022 BRIT nomination. Watch their BRIT interview
here.
With snippets of ‘Night Away (Dance)’ circulating on TikTok since January, the anticipation is high. The track has already had over 10K organic video creations going viral on Tik Tok with 4.5m views across their teaser content alone and thousands of shares, ‘Night Away (Dance)’ is already set to be a success.
The duo are genre-bending taking pop classics their fans wouldn’t really know (Avicii with SwitchOTR/JLo with Dance) and reviving them for a Gen Z community. No rap/pop duo are doing this with TikTok in a credible way – they’re a new wave essentially.
At just 16 and 18, A1 x J1 remind us of their youthfulness in ‘Night Away (Dance)’, as the pair reimagine J-Lo’s ‘On The Floor’ sample reinforced with layers of slick production, with a chorus that sings “Dance the night away, we’re still young and you’re just not the one”. A playful track complete with rapping and singing, ‘Dance’ incorporates a soft guitar riff throughout whilst maintaining syncopated beats to give it an essential rap/trap vibe.
On the new single J1 said: “The track is a banger, we had so much fun making this song and Tion is like a big bro so it made so much sense to do this song together”.
A1 adds: “This song is jumpy, it’s melodic, has different flows, it’s a banger! Working with Tion in the studio is a vibe, the way he works is so different”.
Rap royal Tion Wayne – who recently gained a UK #1 single with global smash ‘Body’ as well as receiving a BRIT Award nomination – brings his uniqueness to the single with punchy rhythms and sing-song delivery meshing perfectly with the song’s intricate drill percussion.
After meeting on the off chance through the Houseparty App in 2020, A1 x J1 have gained unimaginable success at the young age of 16 and 18, not to mention whilst doing so in the unprecedented circumstances of a pandemic, and school. It’s been a whirlwind year for the 16 and 18-year-old, who, in the short time they’ve known each other, have pulled off the impossible.