IMANU is the artist name Jonathan Kievit took on after leaving the Hybris alias behind. The rebrand in 2020 was practical: the new music was no longer just neurofunk. The label was the same (Vision), the production rigour was the same, but the sound was now reaching further out.

What the music does

IMANU records sit somewhere between DnB, halftime, footwork-DnB and experimental bass music. The tempos drift between 140 and 180. The drums use atypical rhythms (5/4, polyrhythms, deliberately off-grid hits). The basslines are still Vision-clean but applied to weirder structures.

Why it works

Most producers who try to "cross genres" make records that fit nowhere. IMANU makes records that fit multiple contexts. A DnB DJ can drop the IMANU half-step section into a 174 BPM set; a UK garage DJ can drop the same track pitched at 140; a club DJ can play it in a halftime context. That versatility is rare.

The collaborations

IMANU has collaborated with Buunshin, Skeptical, Posij and pop-adjacent acts that most DnB producers do not work with. The 2024 EP with Skeptical was one of the most respected DnB releases of that year. The cross-genre work keeps multiplying.

Where it goes

The IMANU project is still expanding. Expect more vocal collaborations, more hybrid releases, and more of the genre boundary erosion that has defined the post-Noisia generation of producers. SELECTA will keep booking him as long as he keeps making records.