Album of the Week: Good Effort! – Youniss
Antwerp's most restless voice makes his boldest move yet
Every album Youniss Ahamad has released has arrived with a different set of coordinates. His self-titled debut leaned into cerebral dance; White Space (2023) pivoted hard into post-punk, hip-hop, and noise. Now comes Good Effort!, and another deliberate shift: toward jazz, or somewhere between To Pimp A Butterfly-era Kendrick Lamar, Flying Lotus, and Slauson Malone.
It's a broad, hyper-colourful record that refuses easy categorisation. Youniss moves fluidly between rapping and singing, layering vocals over production that's as gluttonous as it is precise. Accessible on the surface, but as Focus Knack puts it, don't be fooled by the lighter sound. He's still throwing punches.
The cast assembled for the album says something about where he sits internationally: Petite Noir, Dienne, Pink Siifu, Quelle Chris. Lead single Gits Worse, featuring Petite Noir, was described by Clash as "avant-pop that refuses to obey genre lines." Sounds like a perfect match for BRDCST!
Critics have taken notice:
- ★★★★½ “A rare quality. On ‘Good Effort!’, he sounds more accessible than ever, but don’t let that lighter sound fool you. Youniss is still standing up against conformity.” — Focus Knack
- ★★★★ "Youniss thrives on pushing boundaries and bending through the synergy of jazz and post-punk chaos." — Clash Magazine
- “An album that swings wildly from Kendrick Lamar to TV on the Radio. Pretty pretty good effort!” — Humo
- “Youniss isn't afraid to rub and push where it hurts.” — De Standaard
Catch Youniss live at BRDCST 2026 on Saturday 4 April, 17:30 in the AB Club.