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Standing Tall Among Giants: Jennifer Johns is No Joke

by Davey D

Peep the Breakdown FM Interview Here: http://odeo. com/audio/19248903/view

The Bay Area is full of talented emcees, singers and producers. This was and is the land where icons like Sly Stone, Carlos Santana, Graham Central Station, Rosie Gaines, Sheila E, ConFunkshun, Tony, Toni, Tone and so many more have hailed from.

That tradition has been carried over within the field of Hip Hop where we have seen icons ranging from Too Short to 2Pac, from E-40 to Digital Underground, from Hieroglyphics to Mac Dre, and from Living Legends to Blackalicious and Zion I. The list is seemingly endless.

Here in the Bay we have seen a burgeoning neo-soul/R&B/spoken word movement that is explosive. Within it we have grammy nominated artists like Mystic, Keyshia Cole, and Ledisi. Artists like Goapele, Martin Luther, Ise Lyfe,Kev Choice, Lloyd Jones Michael Franti and Latoya London are just a few of the many have made major inroads and have helped broaden the Bay Area music scene.

Standing head and shoulders amongst these giants is a sister who is no joke. Her voice is strong and vibrant. Her swagger exudes warmth and a confidence that is infectous. Her beauty is intoxicating-we’re talking about Ms Jennifer Johns.

She may not be a regular on BET’s 106 & Park or Rap City. She might not be in regular rotation on Hot 97 in new York, but like her Bay Area counterparts who also aren’t routinely featured on such platforms, her name and work is well known and greatly appreciated.

Ms Johns packs clubs when she performs. She is also always on tour. So much so that it took a good 3 months before we were able to hook up and sit down, because everytime we spoke she was either in places like Hawaii, overseas or in some other part of country rocking the mic and doing what the Bay does best-superbly executing that independent music hustle.

We sat down to speak with Ms Johns the other night and finally celebrated the release of her sophomore album ‘Painting on Wax’ which was a nice follow up to the critically acclaimed 2004 release Heavyelectromagnecticsoularpoeticjunglehop.

We started out by talking about Jennifer’s long tenure in Hip Hop. This longtime b-girl was once a part of a collective called ‘Keep It Real’. She and a number of other women were not just about the business of rapping, singing or dancing, but actually getting their business hustle down. They were an all female promotion and marketing company that played a key role in getting people’s product on radio and in the hands of key tastemakers. The pioneering women of this collective like; Thembisa Mshaka, Crystal Isaacs, Ingrid Best and several others who’s names escape me, did some big things in these here parts, from putting on music panel discussions to editing magazines to hosting seminars and more importantly providing women keen shining examples of how to get things done. Many of them have gone on to hold shot calling positions in the industry as executives.

Jennifer Johns came up under those women where she cut her teeth and learned the ropes. Out of Keep it Real came her first group called Nayo which included Maya Fox Davis and the late Mekel Andrade. The group doubled as performers and street team for Keep It Real. Jennifer who has since learned to make it happen for herself, adopted the name Nayo Movement for her own company in honor of her late friend and bandmate Mekel who died 10 years ago in a car crash. She felt it was important that people know that she’s b-girl and that she didn’t just show up overnight and get put on because of good looks. She’s paid some serious dues and trust me if she worked under the aforementioned women then you can rest assured no free ride was given. They were about the business of making sure their camp was tight and professionally on point-always.

During our interview Jennifer Johns talked about the importance of finding her voice as an artist and how singing and rapping became natural outgrowths of that exploration. Bay Area artists like Mystic who she considers to be a big sister paved the way and let her and others know its ok to push the envelop and develop a sound that best fits you as opposed to trying to fit into somebody else’s cookie cutter mode.Jennifer noted she is fortunate to live in a place like the Bay Area that affords one the opportunity to be different without harsh penalties.

Jennifer is not signed to a major label so we talked about the advantages and challenges of being an independent artist. She explained that she thoroughly enjoys her freedom and has found that if you understand the game and have both your domestic and international hustle together you can do quite well. She credits fellow Bay Area artists Jahi and Blackalicious for giving her her first shots at going overseas and lacing her up with international game. (For those who don’t know Blackalicious is often credited with showing alot of Bay Area folks how to make bread and navigate the industry outside the states- major props to Chief Excel and Gift of Gab. )

With respect to signing to a major, Jennifer clearly understands that being on a major label will increase your exposure and get you massive air and video play. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean you will make money or generate large album sales. She talked about how nowadays with the music industry in trouble, that labels have now resorted to taxing artists and getting a piece of the pie for everything they do including touring. Its not a good look she noted.

Jennifer concluded with a sly smile, by saying the only way she would consider looking at a major label is if Clive Davis, Leyor Cohen or Jay-Z called her personally and even then its gonna have to be some sort of partnership.

We talked about the direction and meaning behind many of her new album’s songs. Cuts like ‘Love for the DJ’, ‘Let the Drums Moan’, ‘Golden Eye’ ‘Ghetto International’ and ‘Chasing the Sun’ are standout songs that put Jennifer Johns in a class by herself.

We talked about the process she embraced to record keeping in mind that she writes all her material.

We concluded by talking about whether or not she and some of the incredible female artists in this region will come together to do something on a larger scale. She’s already recorded a song with Mystic called ‘Ghetto Stories. ’ Here in Oakland, people have been clamoring for her and Goapele to do a song together. She says she would love to, especially when you consider that Jennifer, Latoya London and Goapele all came up together and sung in the same choir early in their careers. She noted that both their hectic schedules have prevented that from happening, but one day it would be great for all the female artists in the Bay to come along and do something big.

In the meantime sit back and enjoy this interview