Comparable to the likes of Amp Fiddler in her tenacious and eclectic pursuit of a nu-soul groove through the jittery ravages of drum and bass and the smooth, fluid heartaches of classic r n b, Oakland, CA born singer, songwriter, and spoken-word artist, Jennifer Johns at the very least manages to wrestle with innovation and complexity even if she doesn’t completely master it on first album, ‘Heavyelectromagneticsoularpoeticjunglehop’. The Eastern backdrop to the graceful and hypnotic ‘Heavy (808-jungalastic afro freak) even manages to ruffle my trousers on occasions – and that’s praise indeed. And whilst it may not actually match the hard-noise erotomania of say Tricky and Topley-Bird’s Maxinquaye blow for blow, there’s a similar beguiling horniness there all the same. Produced sensitively by seasoned academic, the LA-based rapper and Grammy nominee Spontaneous, ‘Heavyelectromagneticsoularpoeticjunglehop’ offers a broad and expertly crafted mesh of sounds and atmospherics and occasionally strikes something memorable, notably the conversational, half-spoken jungle flow of ‘Do You Believe In Love’ – dividing it’s time between phone conversation and full-on vocal throttal.
If you’ve been taken in by anything proferred by any of today’s crossover elite like The Neptunes, Timbaland, Kanye West, P. Diddy, and Wylef Jean there may just be something of value to you here. And the best bit? It’s not half as pretentious as the title suggests.