I first fell for Jinmi Abduls in the SoundCloud era, somewhere between 2016 and 2018, back when his catalogue felt like a well-kept secret passed between people who took their Alternative Afrobeats seriously. So when I say I was truly excited to hear ‘Renaissance’, his new six-track EP, I mean it came with a bit of pressure attached. Artists you loved that early don’t always come back sounding like the same person you enjoyed back then. Jinmi does, and then some.
‘Renaissance’ arrives fresh off the summer singles ‘Sade’ and ‘Hold You’, and it plays like the fullest picture yet of what Jinmi Abduls can do. Produced largely by Spax Classic, with credits that include work for Tems and Show Dem Camp, alongside TUC and additional production from Jinmi himself, the project stays rooted in Afrobeats while letting R&B, Soul and Pop lean in at the edges, showing just what he’s capable of.
The EP opens on ‘Sade’, a warm, unhurried love song built around the quiet devotion of the women who show up for the people they love. It is a gentle way into the project, and it sets the emotional register that the rest of ‘Renaissance’ keeps circling back to even when the tempo picks up.
‘Ladder’ is where the mood turns, all bright Afrobeats drums and a hook built to lodge itself in your head. Then things slow down again on ‘Scented Candles’, my favourite record on the project. The percussion is warm, the production is sensual without overreaching, and Jinmi paints a late-night scene in a register that reminded me, more than once, of Lojay. It is the track I kept returning to.
‘Enjoyment Amaka’ pulls the energy back up with charisma and playful lyricism, a record that is unbothered and confident in a way that suits him. ‘Saro’ follows, and it is worth noting this one is not new. It first came out as a standalone single back in 2023 and has quietly built up more than 1.5 million streams on Spotify since. Slotting it into ‘Renaissance’ works, mostly because its bouncing percussion and bright saxophone line still hold up against the newer material without feeling like a retrofit.
The EP closes on ‘Hold You’, a tender Afrobeats and R&B outro about intimacy and the comfort of simply being present for someone. The nod to 2Face Idibia’s ‘Ole’ (which itself draws from Teddy Pendergrass’s 1978 hit ‘When Somebody Loves You Back’) supercharged the nostalgia, and it is a fitting way to close things out.
What ties ‘Renaissance’ together, beyond the storytelling Jinmi has always been known for, is a production choice that runs through nearly every track: a groove steady enough to have you head bopping throughout, but still suitable for a more relaxed vibe like cooking dinner, or even while working at my laptop, which is actually how I listened to it several workdays in a row. It works surprisingly well in multiple settings without ever feeling like background noise. That balance, between a record you can sit with and one you can move through your day to, is harder to pull off than it sounds, and ‘Renaissance’ does it across all six tracks.
If I have one hesitation about ‘Renaissance’, it is whether the title really fits. This is less a complaint than a question I keep sitting with. Strip away the 2026 polish, and this could pass for one of his 2016 drops, the same vibe that pulled me in almost a decade ago. Is that consistency, an artist who knew exactly who he was from the start and never needed to chase a different sound? Or is it a sign that maybe it’s not a total rebirth just yet? I am not sure I land firmly on either side.
Signed now to We Africa Music Corporation and Believe Music in Paris and building on a run of acclaimed releases, Jinmi Abduls uses ‘Renaissance’ to make the case that he is not just returning, he is expanding. For those of us who found him back in the SoundCloud days, it is the kind of comeback that reassures rather than reinvents, and maybe that is exactly what makes it work.
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