Neo

Neo is a UK-based drum and bass and jungle artist with roots in the British electronic underground of the 1990s. The project originated as Keen, releasing early tracks on Formation Records before rebranding to Neo and subsequently signing to Flex Records—a move that aligned with the expanding institutional infrastructure of drum and bass during the genre’s consolidation phase.

Operating within the drum and bass and jungle idiom, Neo worked with the technical parameters and aesthetic conventions of the genre: breakbeat manipulation, fast breakbeats (typically 160+ BPM), layered basslines, and the genre’s characteristic integration of reggae, funk, and electronic influences. The transition from Keen to Neo represented a common trajectory within drum and bass—artists evolving project identities as their technical capabilities and networking within the scene expanded.

Neo’s association with Flex Records positioned the project within the label’s distribution channels and artist roster during a period when independent drum and bass labels were establishing the infrastructure for sustained genre growth. The artist’s continued presence in the drum and bass ecosystem reflects the genre’s maturation from underground warehouse culture to sustainable independent label ecosystem. Neo’s work contributes to the extensive catalog of mid-1990s drum and bass releases that documented the genre’s technical and sonic evolution.