Jodie Abacus is an English musician from Lewisham in South East London.[1] His musical styles include R&B, soul, electronic and funk.

Jodie Abacus
OriginLewisham, South East London
GenresR&B, soul, electronic, funk
Years active2015-present
LabelsMinistry of Sound, Household Records, RCA
Websitewww.jodieabacus.co.uk

Career

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Jodie wrote "I’ll Be That Friend" in 2013 and uploaded it to his SoundCloud channel[2] where it topped the Hype Machine charts and amassed over 100,000 plays.[3] It was written while Jodie was in a dark point in his life, having caught life-threatening pneumonia and broken up with his long-term girlfriend at the same time.[4] He subsequently signed a five-single deal with Household Records / Ministry Of Sound in early 2015.

Follow-up single "Good Feeling" was premiered by MistaJam on BBC Radio 1Xtra on 28 July 2015 and released on the same day. It was named Best of British Record of the Week on the BBC Radio 1Xtra Breakfast Show.[5] It also received plays from Clara Amfo and DJ Target on BBC Radio 1, Tom Ravenscroft on BBC Radio 6 Music, and Trevor Nelson on BBC Radio 2.

His debut EP, titled "For Real Life And Not Pretend", was released on 26 February 2016. The single "She’s In Love With The Weekend" was released on 11 April 2016 and made it to the A-List on BBC Radio 2 [6]

Abacus supported Jamie Woon on his European tour in April 2016 and Laura Mvula on three dates of her UK tour in May 2016. He followed these with a run of UK summer festivals including Glastonbury, Lovebox, Parklife, The Great Escape, V Festival, Secret Garden Party, and Y Not.[7] His performance at The Great Escape was filmed by Vevo for their Vevo DSCVR series. He also performed at the main stage of the 9th Annual Roots Picnic in Philadelphia, opening for The Roots, Usher, and Anderson Paak.

The video for "I’ll Be That Friend" was released on 6 July 2016.[8] It was shot in Los Angeles and was inspired by the video "People React To Being Called Beautiful" by Shea Glover Films.[7]

On 4 September 2016, Jodie Abacus was the musical guest on the Channel 4 show Sunday Brunch. He supported Corinne Bailey Rae on her UK tour in October/November 2016. He recorded a live session for YouTube Music Foundry,[9] where he performed "Keep Your Head Down", inspired by the Syrian refugee crisis.[10] The song was released as a single on 9 December 2016.

Discography

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Albums

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Year Title Released
2018 Take This and Grow Flowers 26 October 2018

Extended plays

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Year Title Format Released Tracks Label
2016 For Real Life and Not Pretend Digital 26 February 2016 "I'll Be That Friend" (radio edit)
"Hot Kitchen"
"Good Feeling" (edit)
"Halfway to Mexico"
Household Records / Ministry Of Sound Recordings
2016 For Real Life and Not Pretend - The Remixes Digital 6 May 2016 "I'll Be That Friend - Boston Bun Remix"
"I'll Be That Friend - Club cheval Remix"
"Hot Kitchen - Armand van Helden Remix"
"Hot Kitchen - Après Remix"
"Good Feeling - MXXWLL Remix"
"Good Feeling - KDA Remix"
Household Records / Ministry Of Sound Recordings
2017 Mild Cartoon Violence Digital 3 November 2017 "100 Dollars"
"Off My Chest"
"Meet Me in the Middle"
"Another Kiss"
"When Sunday Comes"
Ferocious Label Services
2018 Meet Me In The Middle (Remixes) Digital 16 February 2018 "Meet Me In The Middle (Gil Cang Tough Scout Remix)"
"Meet Me In The Middle (NULA Remix)"
"Meet Me In The Middle (Shelter Point Remix)"
"Meet Me In The Middle (John Donovan Remix)"
Ferocious Label Services
2019 Everything is going to be OK Digital 25 October 2019 "Mould on the wall"
"Crush"
"Remember"
"Hungry like a puppy"
"Hungry like a puppy - Radio edit"
Ferocious Label Services

Singles

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Year Title Released Label
2015 I'll Be That Friend 13 February 2015 Ministry of Sound Recordings
2015 Good Feeling 28 July 2015 Ministry of Sound Recordings
2015 Halfway To Mexico 21 October 2015 Ministry of Sound Recordings
2016 She's in Love with the Weekend 11 April 2016 Ministry of Sound / RCA Records
2016 Keep Your Head Down 9 December 2016 Ministry of Sound / RCA Records
2018 Save The World 2 March 2018 Ferocious Label Services
2018 You're Crazy 20 July 2018 Ferocious Label Services
2018 Skin 17 August 2018 Ferocious Label Services
2018 Hard Work 28 September 2018 Ferocious Label Services

References

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  1. ^ Davies, Natalie (6 October 2015). "Next: Jodie Abacus". Dummymag.com. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  2. ^ "I'll Be That Friend". Soundcloud.com. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  3. ^ "Let South London's Jodie Abacus Bring That "Good Feeling" With A Heavy Dosage of Funk". Noisey.vice.com. 15 October 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  4. ^ Bartleet, Larry (7 September 2016). "Under The Radar: How Jodie Abacus Launched His Career By Needing A Hug". Nme.com. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  5. ^ "Jodie Abacus – Good Feeling Video". Tirademagazine.com. 16 October 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2016.[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ Vincent, Alan (23 July 2016). "Tom Jones Concert to top off all day festival". IOM Today. Archived from the original on 19 September 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  7. ^ a b "Playlist: Jodie Abacus". Wonderlandmagazine.com. 2 August 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  8. ^ "Jodie Abacus - I'll be That Friend - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on 9 July 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  9. ^ "YouTube". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on 8 February 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  10. ^ Savage, Mark (9 February 2017). "Jodie Abacus: A song for Syria". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 6 July 2020.