Oreo Jones Oreo Jones Indianapolis “Indianapolis rapper Oreo Jones makes hip-hop for people with unreasonable expectations of what hip-hop can and should be. A gifted lyricist with an ear for rich, textured beats that check off most boxes on the “new school” and “true school” checklists, Jones is both classicist and futurist.” —Sean L Maloney, Boston Globe Sean “Oreo” Jones doesn’t just make music—he builds worlds. Currently based in Indianapolis, the genre-blurring artist has spent the better part of a decade reimagining what it means to be a hip-hop polymath in the Midwest. First emerging from the city's underground with a deep reverence for the culture’s roots, Jones quickly expanded his scope—collaborating across soundscapes that span noise, soul, psych, punk, and the avant-garde. Since his first release in 2010, Jones has become more than just a voice on the stage. He served as an artist-in-residence, earned accolades for his contributions to hip-hop, and remained deeply rooted in the community working on public facing projects as a staff artist with Indianapolis arts non-profit Big Car Collaborative. In 2015, he founded Chreece—a now-iconic all-day hip-hop festival that put Indianapolis on the map as a cultural hub and gathering ground for artists across the Midwest and beyond. In 2025, over 10,000 attendees gathered across seven different venues and community activations throughout the neighborhood of Fountain Square. Chreece ignites artistic and cultural pride, uniting artists and audiences in celebrating and shaping the rich legacy and evolution of Black music in Indianapolis. As a 2023 Creative Renewal Arts Fellow, Oreo spent six weeks in Nepal to study how music can help impact and unite cultures collectively. Jones moves with purpose. His art isn’t just about sound—it’s about space, community, resistance, and the joy that rises from collective expression.
