I first connected with J-Zone back in the late 90’s, when he initially broke in to the underground NYC rap scene. We had some mutual friends from White Plains, because even though he was originally from Queens, he spent a lot of time in the 914, going to school in Mamaroneck as a kid, and attending SUNY Purchase (where he wrote and produced his debut album Music For tu Madre). Anyway, I remember sending J-Zone a copy of a live show I did at the Kaffa House in D.C. He actually listened to it, and he showed me love when we talked on the phone, but we never really linked up beyond that. Still, I was always a fan, and thought he was a talented dude. Here’s a throwback off his first album called “So Pretty” featuring his boy Al-Shid. This shit brings me way back…
Now it’s over ten years later, and J-Zone, who regularly contributes to Ego Trip’s website, just released a book titled Root For the Villain. It’s an autobiography of sorts, chronicling his successes and failures as a hip-hop artist, and contains some stories about his time spent in Westchester County. Definitely go cop this asap. You won’t be disappointed. Get to know the man behind the music below in this promo for the book, as he shows us the rules of Pay Phone Pimpin’…
And peep this episode of The 10s we did on UpNorthTrips with J-Zone, highlighting his 10 personal favorite outside productions…
Shout to J-Zone for being a true hip-hop artist and scholar. It was a pleasure catching up with him for the UpNorthTrips piece. We spent about a half hour or so talking about old school White Plains spots like Sam Goody and Music Plus, which was quite the trip down memory lane. Again, I encourage you all to check out his book. It’s excellent.
*BONUS*
Here’s a couple other episodes of The 10s I did recently…
UpNorthTrips Presents The 10s | Make The Music With Your Mouth: 10 Beatbox Bangers
UpNorthTrips Presents The 10s | MPC | MC x Producer Combination | Prodigy x Alchemist
Westcheddar 