BexBlu and Paul Stephan Continue Their Run With ‘U Feel Good’

South London producer BexBlu and rapper-vocalist Paul Stephan have released ‘U Feel Good’, their second collaboration to arrive in quick succession. It follows ‘Never Relax’, and the pairing has clearly settled into a working rhythm rather than a one-off.

The single is out via Empire. Where a lot of contemporary UK rap production pushes forward, ‘U Feel Good’ pulls back: rich keys, chopped samples and crisp drums anchor the track in a languid, retro-futurist register that recalls classic hip-hop while keeping the cadence and phrasing distinctly local. BexBlu’s production has never sat still in one genre, drawing from hip-hop, soul and electronic music without announcing the borrowings. Here that fluidity works in the record’s favour, giving Stephan room to move.

His contribution is the other half of the equation. Stephan’s range as both rapper and vocalist lets him shift between textures rather than lock into one mode, and on ‘U Feel Good’ the writing carries a homegrown inflection that sits against the smoothness of the beat instead of dissolving into it.

The track arrives with a video directed by Theo and Monty Hamm. For two artists with distinct approaches, the collaboration is less a meeting in the middle than a case of each making space for the other, and it is the second time in recent months that the arrangement has held.