Introducing: Crucial Todd

Crucial Todd is reshaping the dance music scene with a fresh perspective and a rebranding that’s as mysterious as it is intentional. Emerging from the South Coast of the UK, this enigmatic artist has traded in the DJ ego for a mission to spread powerful, uplifting messages through his genre-blending sound. Fusing Jackin House, NUKG, and DnB into what he calls “Jackin Bass,” Crucial Todd’s music doesn’t just make you move—it makes you think. Signed exclusively to the iconic Payback Project label, his releases are already gaining traction on BBC Introducing, Kiss FM, and various independent stations. With his mission to elevate consciousness and spread positivity, both through his music and his community-focused initiatives, Crucial Todd is gearing up to make waves in 2025.

1. Your music blends Jackin House, NUKG, and DnB into a genre you call "Jackin Bass." Can you tell us more about what inspired this unique fusion and how it reflects your personal style?

Throughout my extensive DJ career I found there were an extremely limited number of producers that consistently made the kind of music that I actually to wanted to hear and of course play in my sets. I never really truly focused on production during this time. I was a crate digger and loved bringing new and old music to people they’d not heard before. I was constantly looking for the perfect tunes. Until I realised that if I wanted to hear the music I can’t find, then I have to make it myself! I love Jackin and bumping beats, off centre percussion and as the bass sounds of neuro funk DnB became more extreme, it dawned on me that this was the kind of bass I wanted to hear but over house and garage beats. Jackum does it brilliantly but his sounds a very tough whereas what I do has a lot more funk and of course contains positive lyrics and messages. It’s unique because I am too, one of of a kind.

2. Rebranding yourself with a new, enigmatic name suggests a desire to shift focus away from your identity to the messages in your music. What message or impact do you hope to convey through your art?

I’ve always believed a musician is as only as good as the music he creates but these days the brand of the Dj or producer has become the focus. Not only that but a lot of music these days is low vibration by which I mean it often contains gratuitous swearing, or messages of disrespect and hate in it. I believe music is a way of raising people’s vibrations and spreading positivity and love.

3. You’ve described a mission to "raise vibrations" and encourage your audience to reach their potential. What does this philosophy mean to you, and how does it influence the music you create?

My mission to raise vibrations and encouraging my listeners to at least see their full potential is everything to me. Which is why I only include vocals and samples with positive messages of love and spirituality in my tracks. I want people to finish listening to me DJing feeling inspired to make positive changes to both their lives and the lives of those they meet. So often my music will be built around a vocal sample that I know will make people think.

4. With the Payback Project, you’re not only producing music but also actively helping people in need. Could you share a bit more about this initiative and the vision behind combining community work with your label?

At The Payback Project, our mission is to create a powerful impact through music, blending our passion for dance music with a commitment to social change. Established in the early 2000s and revitalised in 2023, we have a proud history of delivering chart-topping hits while staying true to our core belief: that success in the music industry can and should pay it forward.

We are dedicated to using our platform, profits, and expertise to support social enterprises, uplift communities, and improve lives. Through our fresh roster of artists, we aim to inspire and create positive change, proving that music can be a force for good in the world." We are achieving this by doing everything in house and having total control over everything we do. We have the foresight and understand the industry in-fact I we think outside of the normal parameters and see and notice things others don't. This is why we know we will succeed as a label and as an outfit that creates and encourages positive change. We are already working with a company called Gainsborough Home+Garden who have been doing free garden clearances for individuals who have either found themselves with serious illnesses or fallen on hard times. We then share these videos as they not only have a good reach but they too encourage other people to be better and do better.

5. As someone signed to the legendary Payback Project label with support from BBC Introducing and Kiss FM, what’s next for Crucial Todd in 2025? Any new releases or projects fans should be excited for?

As you can imagine, having the mission behind the label that I run with SuperStyle Deluxe (who originally created the label, does ALL our artwork and is an incredible strategist) means we have a lot of plans for the future with our music, the label and of course our mission of helping others. Setting goals beyond making music and getting gigs allows us to think outside the box and come up with new and innovative ideas. We want to get our message to as many people as we can so we can have as big a positive impact on people’s lives as we can. So expect more innovative music, more charitable acts and of course more gigs and you should be seeing Payback Project stage take overs at festivals, all over the world very soon