Is there room here to mention the Benjamin Feltes discussion? I love Jenkees' music, been a fan for a long time since Before The Echo had its original name. I even own a lot of his music, and play it frequently. Disorganised Fun is good, but not my favourite - it's lacking a bit of oomph the other releases have. Throwing Fire is my favourite track, it's the one that got me properly into this artist. I find it works better as background music rather than something to focus on, which is funny since my introduction to the artist was a rythm game that mainly featured Jenkees tracks.
That said, every time I listen now, I'm plagued with the awareness that Feltes uses an alter ego that, judging by the self-titled album's imagery and the "hello youtubes" introductions to videos, is supposedly someone with learning difficulties. Is that my read on the portrayal influencing my opinion? Possibly. The fact that it's a potential read that Feltes is using "Anyone can create anything" as a hook to sell music is... a little iffy; As if the music wasn't good enough to stand on its own, so he had to make it seem like he was starting on the back-foot in terms of personal background. I think it's a me problem, but I spent a long time denying that this was even a possibility when it's probably true. Could this be taking the spotlight away from someone who actually comes from that background and makes music? Maybe, I don't know; RJ is still pretty niche after all.
I'm reminded of the Very Online Show about internet sluething every time I put the case forward to someone, so, you know, take this all with a massive pinch of salt. There's far worse in the media industry, and ultimately Jenkees inspires much more creativity and positivity than many artists, so it's a swings and roundabouts sort of thing.
If you liked the grittier sounds on Disorganised Fun, I recommend Alpha Numeric next. If you enjoyed the RnB stylings, check out Rhodes Deep next.
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