Born Jonathan Jennings, but better known by his stage name – NEP Jennings is an American Hip-Hop, Rap and R&B artist, producer, songwriter and studio engineer from Detroit, MI. NEP earned the nickname ‘Prince Of The Pro-Tools’ with his natural skills in mixing and mastering all forms of music. NEP who has built working relationships with many of Detroit’s most reputable MCs has rocked packed shows everywhere from Atlanta to California and Chicago back to The Dirty Mitten. The multi-talented artist recently dropped the single “Take Me Away” ft. Leslie Carron from his critically acclaimed album, ‘Mr.JENNINGS’.
There’s a three-step way to making an intriguing but successful hip hop recording: First, get a slightly unbalanced but talented and tenured underground emcee. Second, find a producer with prodigious skills. Third engage a hook singer that thoroughly understands the job. Of course there is the easier way – hire NEP Jennings!
An amalgam of classic battle rhymes and old school braggadocio, NEP Jennings is setting himself up at the forefront of the resurgence of old school hip hop mentalities that meets the modern idiom halfway.
“Take Me Away” captures many of these fundamental classic tenants that went missing somewhere along the time ultra-violent rap went multi-platinum. NEP brings the lyrical heat, and he mans the boards too, adding flavor to beat.
His skill is especially obvious in the dense production, as the beat tends to air on the organic side of electronica, a tactic that tends to produce a more progressive but soulful sound than what is often heard with contemporary producers.
There’s very little not to like about this track. The work of NEP Jennings is both forward thinking and classic hip hop at the same time, something that can appeal to a larger audience than most other hip hop albums.
In fact, if the track holds any legacy outside of the realm of hip hop, it’s that it is among the few releases that makes huge crossover leaps, pulling all sorts of fans who usually wouldn’t give hip hop a chance. Certainly the presence of Leslie Carron can peak the curiosity but it is ultimately the skill of NEP Jennings that will keep listeners in their seats.
“Take Me Away” is smart, soulful, melodic, and despite what one might think, incredibly down to earth. He finds sounds in places other producers would never think of, channeling what resembles an alternate-universe. NEP Jennings is the sound of both the future and the past, we should all eagerly embrace it.
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