Born Steven Jones on March 17th 1990 as the youngest of three, HiFi Pep is a monstrous rapper with a charismatic flow, penchant for witty lyrics and some of the most vivid tales you’ll hear. But, beyond the bars is a man whose  mother was deported to Trinidad when he was six from a downward spiral of  addiction. As well as his father who also battled an addiction to crack cocaine.  He went to TEN different schools between pre-K and 10th grade before former gang ties forced him to drop out of High School. The burgeoning MC says his best talents are his versatility and freestyling, but he’s only half right. Those qualities are derived from the singular most impressive skill HiFi Pep possesses: unwavering adaptation.

The temerity heard in  his voice when he raps  “grandma I’m tired of switching schools” on “Bad Attitude” comes from a man who always felt home was temporary. Pay close attention to his flow as it dances on the piano chimes of “Whoa Fi”. It’s as if it effortlessly maintains the tempo while increasing the intensity as the hi-hats splatters.  Resulting from Pep knowing that adjusting to anything new is instinctive at this point. Rap has always been more than a way for Pep to find success. “[Me and my brother] communicate our feelings through freestyling. That’s how we expressed to each other what we were going through.” That brother, Simon Haynes, better known as rapper HIFI Trucc was a catalyst for his drive, and a founding member of HiFi before being incarcerated.

"HIFI Trucc is a major part of what I do and we wouldn’t be this far if it wasn’t for his love of my music. I feed off his energy and he feeds off of mine. I wouldn’t have started if he didn’t agree to the HIFI idea”.

Pep is an astute lyricist with an analytical eye balanced by a close connection to rage. Even the movement HiFi is two parts wit and emotion. The “Hi” in HiFi is really “H1” as in H1N1 (swine flu) and the “Fi” is really F150 a brand of trucks (Trucc, his brother). There are even people with “HiFi” tatted on their skin, including Pep and his brother.

He doesn’t glorify his past drug use, he contextualizes it with insight. “There’s three reasons why people do a drug,” Pep says. “Either you have a genetic predisposition to drugs and alcohol, childhood trauma or early exposure. Unfortuanetley I have all three.” 

He respects MC’s such as J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar and Chance the Rapper, lyricists willing to go against the mainstream to give a message. Something Pep is willing to do, no matter if there is a machine behind the movement or not. “I’m probably not going to get signed because the way I think is not the way they want people to think, but I’m not tripping.” This is not a rapper. This is a scholar with hip hop proclivities.

“As rappers we’re the voices of the community. We are ambassadors of fashion and  of someone else’s way of thinking,” says Pep. He recorded 20 songs and written over 70 songs in 2015 just between July and November for Trust Issues Vol. 1 and a slew of future projects. HiFi Pep knows his music has a purpose larger than filling his pockets with dollars and the world should know he’s got his eye on it.   “I don’t live in oblivion. I know what’s going on.”


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