Flexing and preening on the lip of Alexandra Palace’s stage, a topless J Hus surveys the scene in front of him. Thousands of smartphone cameras flash, and the din of the crowd occasionally punctures the bass, the room a convulsing mass of smoke and sweat.

“I want Who We Be to feel like the streets,” Austin Daboh tells Music Week in the run-up to the platform’s biggest ever UK live event.

Despite the pristine stage set up, copious branding and ...