For the best part of a decade, DJ and producer JLSXND7RS has been putting his blood, sweat and tears into nurturing a grime scene in the Netherlands. He’s not the only one—DJ Gomes’ Oi! club night has been building since the mid-2000s—but he’s the only one to have produced some of grime’s core instrumentals. It all started with DJ Slimzee, who was an early supporter of Justin (JLSXND7RS’ government name) and his productions, and it didn’t take long for the rest of the grime world to catch on.
A longstanding friendship with Wiley soon followed and within months of meeting Wiley by chance in a Dutch fast-food restaurant, Justin had a production credit on Godfather (“6 In Da Bloodclart Morning”). Now a regular collaborator with fellow producer Ironsoul, his list of credits and accolades rivals the very best of them. Although he’s been toying with drill and trap—finding common cause between the rattling hi-hats, skippy rhythms and the booming low-end that unites all three—grime will always be his first love.
It’s why he’s become one of the most trusted hands around. So trusted, in fact, that he has a very, very special project in the pipeline that involves one of grime’s most treasured pioneers who is sadly no longer with us. We can’t say more than that, but just know it’ll be one for the history books. We hit up JLSXND7RS to put together a mix for our Complex Sessions series, and he blessed us with a set of grime, drill and trap essentials. Press play below and enjoy.
Tell us a bit about your selections in this mix.
The mix has mainly my own productions with a few collabs that I’ve made with the likes of Footsie, Splurt Diablo aka Merky Ace, Bok Bok, and Mojzyo. It’s a mixture of grime, drill and trap and it’s what I would like to hear in sets, to be honest.
What was the one track you absolutely had to include?
I had to include two tracks. One of them is Esco’s “East Is Grease” instrumental; for this tune, I combined the sounds from Slew Dem mixed in with drill. It’s quite a hybrid tune, if I may say so myself. Also, the “Wiley Flow” drill version. The backstory to that one’s quite funny: I made it with AsIf Kid around the time Wiley and Stormzy were sending for each other. One day, Wiley called me and said: “Remix that ‘Wiley Flow’ song for me, please, with all those glides etc.” I can’t tell you if the song has been vocalled, but if he did that would have been massive.
Any tracks that narrowly missed the cut?
The instrumental for Discarda’s “Waterboy”, which is produced by Ironsoul and myself. The tune is quite old for me, as a producer—as in the time that I made it—but it’s a banger so I had to include it.
What’s the first single or album you ever bought?
Coming from a big family with older cousins that are into music I got given music most of the time. Big up my cousin Edje for giving me all his old CDs and inspiring me to be a DJ.
What’s the last physical record you bought?
Before I went to London in 2020, I bought DMX’s Flesh Of My Flesh, Blood Of My Blood in a record store in Leipzig. R.I.P DMX.
What do you want to see happen musically over the next 12 months?
More unity in music and quality control. When it comes to myself, I should release more on the bigger platforms instead of Bandcamp only.
What trend or scene absolutely needs to die right now?
I don’t know if it’s a trend, but when I came down to London, I saw a lot of people at parties with shoes that are supposed to be white but they’re all yellow and dirty [laughs]. I don’t understand how people can walk around like that. So, yeah, that trend needs to die! Scene-wise, have you ever heard of ‘electro swing’? Well, if you haven’t, check it out on YouTube or something. It’s the worst type of music ever, in my opinion. Way too happy!
Tracklist:
1. Esco f/ Scorcher, Stanaman & Ghetts – Buss It (Produced by Splurt Diablo & JLSXND7RS)
2. JLSXND7RS x Footsie – Area 55
3. JLSXND7RS – Icey
4. JLSXND7RS – Shocked
5. JLSXND7RS x Mojzyo – TRB
6. JLSXND7RS x Footsie – 3 Cheese Pizza
7. RocksFOE – Zerostyle Instrumental
8. Splurt Diablo – Ikea
9. JLSXND7RS x Bok Bok – Untitled
10. JLSXND7RS – Triton Driller
11. JLSXND7RS – East Is Grease Instrumental f/ Esco Vocals
12. JLSXND7RS x Ironsoul – Intent (Discarda – Waterboy Instrumental)
13. Splurt Diablo – Impatient (Wiley – Crack City Instrumental)
14. JLSXND7RS – On A Different Level
15. JLSXND7RS x Mojzyo – Bobby
16. JLSXND7RS – Barbican
17. JLSXND7RS x AsifKid – Wiley Flow Drill
