In his third project, rapper Flow Jones Jr. tells tales of struggle and triumph. “The title means if it’s not written in God’s pen, it’s possibly not in God’s plan,” he tells Apple Music. “So, saying that a lot of these things, if they weren’t destined for you, then that wasn’t in God's plan. Just trust and believe in the process, trust and believe in God.”
Jones Jr. and DJ Sliqe have formed a solid working relationship since collaborating on the 2022 hit “Sta Soft” alongside 25K and Emtee. On God’s Pen = God’s Plan, the Joburg rapper’s Young Thug-esque high-pitched delivery sits over trap beats and amapiano-inspired production crafted by DJ Sliqe, with an assist from Kimishi Beats.
“The way [Sliqe and I] write music together, we kind of have the same brain when it comes to how we approach bars, punchlines, how we are trying to articulate a certain message,” Jones Jr. explains. “With the tape, it was a lot of sleepless nights from the creation of the actual beat to the song getting made.” Below, Flow Jones Jr. breaks down the tracks on God’s Pen = God’s Plan.
“God’s Pen” (feat. Ason)
“We wanted this to be an interlude or a freestyle at first, because that’s the vibes of the song. It’s me and Ason going back to back from start to finish. Ason had these four amazing lines at the end.”
“Mawubuye”
“So, if I had to put this EP in its own genre, I’d call it ‘shawty’ music. If you’ve ever listened to any of my catalogue, the content was created for n***as. But this EP, it’s got a lot of ‘shawty’ music. Shawty music is music made for shawties. Whether it’s for them to dance, whether it’s for me to show them how much I love them. It’s not an R&B tape though, but the focus is to shawties. ‘Mawubuye’ directed us and made us sit back and be like, ‘OK, so this can be a whole tape’-type thing. The song is about a guy [who] had to make a lot of sacrifices—love, jobs, family, all of that—to pursue this music career. The girl wanted the guy to get a job because music wasn’t working out, things like that. And it’s also a song to be like, ‘Yo, it actually finally worked out; the future looks a little more promising now, but I don’t hate you still. And I’d love you to come back. Mawubuye. Come back. You’re the love of my life.’”
“Government”
“It’s basically [about] Flow Jones getting more attention now, especially from the women. But at the same time, it’s also saying, ‘Look, as much as I’m getting attention, this is the shawty I want.’ So, I’m getting a whole lot of attention and I could live this rock-star life, but actually, I just want this one girl. The song’s also somewhat of a stripper song. It’s a nice song for shawties to dance to. It’s that type of vibe.”
“D-Town (Bibo)” (feat. DJ Sliqe, Leandra.Vert & 2woshort)
“‘D-Town’ and ‘Mawubuye’ are related to each other. On ‘Mawubuye’, things worked out with the music thing, now he wants the shawty back. ‘D-Town’ is a celebration type of song where now the shawty is back, and they’re having a great time—just a celebration song. Besides the storyline, it’s to show the versatility of Flow Jones, to show his range as well. It’s a bit different from everything else in the EP. It’s actually kwaito. The next EP we’re going to drop is going to be kwaito. So it’s kind of to introduce this new sound that I’m actually going for. Also, it’s a kwaito song featuring two amapiano vocalists; Leandra.Vert and 2woshort. So it’s to show the South African side of Flow Jones. I be trapping really hard, but yo, I’m tapped in too. I’m versatile.”
“Ulala” (feat. Thato Saul)
“One of my favourite songs on the EP besides ‘D-Town’. We freestyled, we played around before we actually got to the hook because we wanted a very quick energetic hook with punchlines and metaphors. That’s why, even on the song, in the hook, there’s a line that goes, ‘[She] a lady at day, but at night she gon’ go gaga.’ It’s either you get it or you don’t [laughs]. It was just us having a great time, drinking in the studio. We wanted a fast-paced song, energy, all of that. Different flows as well. And we wanted someone who’s crazy vernac, either from Cape Town or Pretoria. And when the name Thato Saul came about, it was a no-brainer. His flows are very unique and infectious.”
“Wondering” (feat. Ason)
“So ‘Wondering’ is basically for the people that have counted you out in life, but now you keep on striving, if I had to put it in plain terms. It’s for people that have never believed in your dream, but they just can’t believe that you keep making things work. I say, ‘Wondering how I keep winning the race/Wondering how I get top from your fav/I’m just wondering how God can bless me today.’ It’s just like, don’t worry about those folks—just stay paid up, keep moving with faith, keep doing what you do, let them keep wondering.”
“Pramis, Swuh” (feat. Blxckie & Maglera Doe Boy)
“It was a DJ Sliqe video shoot. Maglera and Blxckie were shooting with Sliqe, and we kept repeating the words ‘I pramis, I swuh,’ you know, how Atlanta people speak. Your Gunnas, your Young Thugs—they speak like that. So, we were having so much fun with just those two words. We were like, ‘Actually, after this we’re not doing anything important. Let’s just go back to the studio and actually make a song out of this.’ We went to the studio; Blxckie laced the hook; we went back to back with the first verse, and Maglera graced us with one of his hottest verses.”
Tracklist:
- Flow Jones Jr. - God's Pen (feat. Ason)
- Flow Jones Jr. - Mawubuye
- Flow Jones Jr. - Government
- Flow Jones Jr. - D-Town (Bibo) [feat. DJ Sliqe, Leandra.Vert & 2woshort]
- Flow Jones Jr. - Ulala (feat. Thato Saul)
- Flow Jones Jr. - Wondering (feat. Ason)
- Flow Jones Jr. - Pramis, Swuh (feat. Blxckie & Maglera Doe Boy)
Stream the full EP below.
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