Juliet Ilaya, professionally known as JULI BEE, uses “Velvet” to explore different shades of house music across four tracks, pulling in Amapiano and jazz without losing the groove underneath.
House music is having another moment. Its growth over the last few years has pushed the genre further into African pop and electronic music, with producers and artists increasingly finding different ways to stretch its familiar pulse.
JULI BEE’s Velvet arrives comfortably inside that movement. Across four tracks, she takes house as the starting point before moving through Amapiano, jazz and lighter dance influences without abandoning the rhythm underneath it all.
The opener, aptly called “House,” wastes little time introducing the idea.
Heavy bass, percussion, piano and drums work together with the sort of straightforward confidence the genre needs. Nothing is unnecessarily complicated. The beat is strong, the bass has weight and the groove feels naturally built to get heads nodding and feet moving.
“Juliet” introduces the first real switch.
It remains rooted in house, but there is a more laid-back feeling in the arrangement. Bass-heavy piano keys give the record its character, while the bass guitar around the hook becomes the little twist that separates it from the opener. It is calmer without becoming slow.
“Southy” takes the project south, at least sonically. The Amapiano-house crossover is obvious almost immediately. Percussion and rhythm establish the foundation, but it is the trumpets that give the track its identity. Those horns are excellent. They bring so much character to the instrumental that layering vocals over the whole thing would almost feel unnecessary. “Southy” already has a voice of its own.
“Vibey” might be the smartest way JULI BEE could have ended the EP.
It pushes jazz further into the foreground, with the looser melodies and brighter mood sitting over house drums that continue to demand movement. The two genres meet without cancelling one another out.
You get the warmth and personality of jazz, then the kick and repetition of house underneath it. That combination makes the title feel appropriately obvious.
Velvet works because JULI BEE understands that house music does not need to remain inside one narrow box. The EP starts with the genre in its most recognisable form and gradually loosens it, introducing different influences while keeping the same physical energy.
By “Vibey,” the point is clear.
Whatever direction JULI BEE takes the sound, the groove stays.
Listen to “Velvet” Here
