At a young age, he developed and honed his musical abilities by listening to records and playing bass guitar. He later learned the basics of production under the tutelage of DJ Vance Wright (Slick Rick’s DJ) in 1994. In 1999, he released Music For Tu Madre, garnering critical acclaim in the hip hop underground, but it was not enough to propel him into the mainstream spotlight. He has since worked with and produced beats for artists such as Biz Markie, Cage, Diversion Tactics, Danger Mouse & Jemini, High and Mighty, Jehst, Redman, R.A. the Rugged Man, Tame One, MF Grimm, and Tha Liks. J-Zone’s music could be described as somewhat unconventional. He typically uses lots of offbeat samples, and attention to detail. While generally praised for his comedic storytelling, clever punch lines, acerbic wit, and stellar production work, some critics have claimed that his music is crude, juvenile, and misogynistic. He has recently shifted his focus away from rapping to concentrate full time on production, DJing, his Gator$-n-Fur$ mixshow podcast with his alter-ego Chief Chinchilla, TV Commercials and behind the scenes work. J-Zone also serves as an adjunct Professor at the State University of New York and is a freelance sports journalist. He covers New York High School basketball and does NBA blogging as a regular contributor for SLAM Magazine and www.slamonline.com, France-based Reverse Magazine and many others. In 2007 he wrote a column for www.HipHopDX.com called 5 Things That Killed Hip Hop and stated that crews, too much music, no balance, the law and the Internet were all killing hip hop. The said column was eventually published in Common Culture: 6th Edition (Prentice Hall, 2009), a pop culture textbook. www.myspace.com/jzoneoldmaid |
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