Award-winning hip-hop artist Jake Aldridge is taking the leap of a lifetime as he leaves Rap behind for the release of his first Country-Pop song, ‘Partners in Crime’.

Composed by Matt Knight, former right-hand man of chart-topping producer Andy Whitmore, Partners In Crime is set for release on 17th April. Co-written with David Booth, Jake’s mentor throughout his transition of rapping to singing, the song features backing vocals by Leanne Louise. The new single is devilishly cheeky, with the change in genre exposing Jake’s mischievous side.

“It’s a huge change. Singing in general, is scary as hell for me! I’ve fallen in love with Country music though and one thing that hasn’t changed, is my eagerness to only release music that I’m passionate about”.

Just 15 minutes from Ed Sheeran’s hometown, Aldridge was brought up in Reydon, Suffolk with his two siblings, and was born to a Bangladeshi father and Canadian mother. Jake was just eleven when his father was killed after being struck by lightning during a family fishing trip.

Struggling to deal with his bereavement, Aldridge began writing poetry. Having grown up to handed down cassette tapes of rappers from the late 90’s, he became inspired by Hip-Hop music and eventually turned his poems into raps.

Aldridge first became intrigued by Country music when he heard Florida Georgia Line’s collaboration with Nelly in 2012, on a remix for their song ‘Cruise’. Subtly, Jake began to incorporate elements of the genre into his own music. Jake’s song, ‘Gullible’, for example, was very much a hybrid of the two genres. The track features country vocals by British Country Music Association award winner, Kezia Gill.

Aldridge won Male Act of the Year at the 2018 International Achievers’ Awards and beat more than 100 other artists to the Audience Choice Award at the 2017 New Music Generator (NMG) Awards. The 32-year-old’s music later aired on U.S television in a documentary titled ‘Beating the Odds’. Featuring Michelle Obama, the series follows American students on a cross-country road trip helping young people to find career and life fulfillment.

You can pre-save ‘Partners In Crime’ on Spotify here.