Oreo Jones Covers Nuvo & Voted Indy's Best Hip Hop Act for 2012

Nuvo has now officially announced their best-of-list for 2012, and you can head over to check the Nuvo Cover Story that features #Naptown emcee Oreo Jones. Preview a little below, but head over from the link below to read the full length interview. Second place in internet user voting was logged by Rusty Redenbacher (of Mudkids fame), and third to Blake Allee.

In a remarkably short period of time, Oreo Jones has rocketed to the apex of the Indianapolis hip-hop scene, capturing top honors as an emcee in NUVO’s 2012 Best Of Indy poll – a feat he accomplished without a full-length album release under his belt. But that’s about to change, as Jones and his label, Rad Summer, finish production work on his debut LP, Betty.

If you’re familiar with Jones’ work, it’s probably through one of his humor-filled personas – perhaps you’ve seen him as the catatonically stoned host of the cooking show sendup “Let’s Do Lunch,” or the raging blonde-wigged party animal known as Black Fabio. With the release of Betty, Jones is set to reveal a more serious and personal side to his rapidly evolving artistic palette.

I received an advance copy of the Betty LP from Rad Summer over a week ago, and it’s been on heavy rotation in my playlist ever since. After several repeat listens I’m convinced that Betty is the strongest locally produced hip-hop LP I’ve ever heard. The album finds Jones stepping forward as a remarkably mature writer, weaving thoughtful narratives, full of nuance and poetic turns of speech, all delivered with his booming, charismatic flow.

I met with Oreo Jones on a late summer evening at his downtown home in Indy’s Old Northside neighborhood. It was my first encounter with the emcee and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. My editor had warned me that Jones might be tough to pin down – during a preliminary interview he’d insisted that he works days wearing the mouse suit at a local Chuck E. Cheese pizza joint (actually, Jones is a producer for an AM radio sports station.)

As I made my way to Jones’ front door, the empty cans of PBR, overflowing ashtrays and discarded pizza boxes scattered across the front porch confirmed the hard-partying, wild-man image of the emcee I’d witnessed in his “Black Fabio” videos. Half expecting Jones to be too drunk or hungover to function during our interview, I was pleasantly surprised to find him to be one of the most polite, thoughtful and self-effacing individuals I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet.

Jones shares his large home with half a dozen or so friends, so we adjourned to his room to find a quiet place to talk. Aside from an old organ, a drum machine and a few crates of records, there wasn’t much in the sparsely furnished space. Over the course of our conversation, I found this would be indicative of the central role music plays in Jones’ life and his intense focus on his craft.

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