BRENNAN JONES

Brennan Jones, at this point a popular underground name, continues to set waves of controversy throughout his music and life. His high-pitched voice and random bars have been both hated and loved, but never failed to be popular. Ever since his first hit, Duval (prod 19), he’s been popular for all the right and wrong reasons. 

Growing up in Jacksonville, Florida, there is not much known about Brennan Rhys Jones’s rise to fame. According to Edward Skeletrix, Jones’s father is a pastor, which is interesting considering that Jones has become viral for his vulgar and aggressive lyrics. Despite official information not being available, Jones frequently raps about his come-up in a seemingly rough environment, often citing gang activity and violence. 

One of his most popular songs, in fact, RIP Corbin, revolves around Corbin Odell Johnson and his murder. In the song, Jones iterates his separation from such gangs, but reinforces that murders such as these all happened around him in the Jacksonville area, which is notoriously known for gang violence and gangster rap. 

Following Jones’s first music video and song, he received a record deal with the help of his friend at the time, Edward Skeletrix. Despite the duo becoming popular separately, their fame was tightly intertwined. They were roommates, friends, and artists doing the same thing – trying to make it in rap. 

Jones’s songs, such as Duval (prod 19), quickly became popular, with new songs emerging into the spotlight nearly every time he dropped. The streams were nowhere near the millions, but Jones was quickly rising to 100,000 monthly listeners on Spotify within a year —a remarkably challenging feat to accomplish in the underground.

With the number of songs being released, it quickly became apparent why Jones was gaining such a viral following. 

Jones was not limited by public opinion; he just made music he liked. His beats were unique, perfectly complementing his voice. His experimental flows and unconventional techniques did not affect his delivery. He was one of the few rappers who made good-sounding music without seeming to know anything about what he was doing. 

Out of an era where just about anyone with BandLab on their phone and a royalty-free beat can make a song and release it, Jones stood out like a sore thumb. Without any general intent behind his lyrics, songs like "Gonmakit," "RIP Corbin," and "FashionTrappin" blew up purely because of how unique and catchy they were. 

All of his beats shared properties with different underground beats, usually crossing the line just slightly enough for them to be unique to Jones's style. His beats did not follow a pattern or a sound; they were all different and tied together by his rapping. 

Comparing two random songs, such as 'Throw It' and 'Gonmakit', the difference in flow, style, and tempo is huge, but not in delivery. Jones's infectious delivery on every song he's released has left people shocked, as any beat that he encounters is one he can rap on. 

As mentioned before, Jones’s voice has been a source of controversy in his endeavours as a rapper. It is high-pitched, to some even annoying, but still fits in the beats he raps on. His lack of singing is compensated for by Jones’s choppy choruses, where he will typically self-loathe himself with his accomplishments. 

However, the controversy surrounding Jones isn’t limited to his voice. 

On multiple occasions, most notably during the Well Well Well interview, Jones has been exposed for some fairly heinous comments or actions he has made. 

One of these comments stemmed from a video on TikTok where Skeletrix and Jones were interviewed in NYC. When Jones was questioned about his opinion on whether or not people should still listen to controversial rap figure Ye West, he said “absolutely”, with the reasoning of “when he said he f***s with Hitler, that s*** was fire”. 

Some may argue that Jones intended his response as a joke, as Ye’s political views had a significant presence on social media, with people mainly not taking him seriously. However, even if the comment was a joke, this was an idiotic move for Jones to make when his career was just beginning to take off. 

This incident, along with Jones’s questionable political views on other occasions, such as his feud with Skeletrix, has led people to believe that this was not a joke. 

During an episode of  Well Well Well, where the founder of Well Well Well, Emwell, interviews Edward Skeletrix, Skeletrix recalls their conflict, stating that during his beef with Skeletrix, which began with Jones teasing a diss track directed at Skeletrix on his Instagram story, Jones used a video from the movie American History X, a movie about a teenager becoming a neo-nazi (IMDB). Apart from once again hinting at his controversial political views, Jones’s decision to diss Skeletrix was also contentious, as Skeletrix had been a crucial part of Jones’s career. 

A series of conflicts, such as Jones allegedly threatening Skeletrix, led to the complete separation of the duo and the end of their friendship, costing Jones many fans. 

Overall, I see Jones as an unfortunate case of wasted potential. Having a quick come-up and therefore an even quicker increase in earnings may have made Jones make decisions that will end his career sooner than he thought. His choices, which resulted in his separation from Skeletrix, his long-time official and unofficial creative director, have been reflected in his underwhelming last project. Losing guidance, traction, and fans is pointing his career to only one inevitable conclusion: a fall off. 

My own personal and subjective rating: 1.5/5 – a 0.5 for the music he will never be able to replicate.