J-ZONE
INTRO JACLYN MARINESE
INTERVIEW ROK ONE
PHOTO ABBEY BRADEN
DATE JULY 22, 2004
J-Zone used to walk the streets of Jamaica, Queens where he was raised, rockin’ a hi-top fade and a Walkman he refused to part with. While his hairstyle has changed since then, his love for the music never did. After doing a short summer internship at Power Play Studios in Queens where watched people like Large Professor work on albums for Roxanne Shante and Akinyele, he decided that music was the life for him. At the age of 17 he started interning for Slick Rick’s DJ, Vance Wright, and learned the basics of engineering and beat-making. J-Zone says that in between running errands to buy Greg Nice turkey sandwiches, he was able to listen to the production on albums for artists including Nice & Smooth and Grand Puba.
A Job Ain’t Nuthin But Work, J-Zone’s current, entirely self-produced album, is the fifth in a series of independent releases off his Old Maid Entertainment label. His other albums include Music For Tu Madre (1998), A Bottle Of Whup Ass (2000), and Pimps Don’t Pay Taxes (2001). His fourth LP, $ick of Bein’ Rich, released in 2003, was a joint venture with Fat Beats Records. While having produced beats for artists including Biz Markie, Akinyele, Casual, Prince Po, RA the Rugged Man, Vast Aire, and 7L & Esoteric, J-Zone is also a skilled lyricist whose songs self-admittedly are pretty much the furthest thing from conscious hip-hop as it gets. ‘Sup sat J-Zone down with longtime DJ and MC Rok-One to find out the scoop on life in The Zone.
What up, J? How’s life?
Can’t complain. I’m still lookin’, feelin’ and bein’ spectacular.
So I know that you’ve been going on tour a lot. Where have you been recently?
I did five dates on the Vans Warped Tour, which was D.C., Pittsburgh, Philly, New York and New Jersey. Then I went to do a show in Amsterdam, and I just came back the other day. That space candy ain’t no joke in Amsterdam!
Did you get into some crazy shit out there?
Man, did I? Like I said, that space candy ain’t no punk. I was eatin’ them chocolate candies with the hash in ‘em and drinkin’
Bacardi and Southern Comfort straight, right out the bottle, amongst other ignorant activity that I chose to be involved in.
Did you stroll into the infamous Red Light District and set up shop?
Red Light District, no, but there was plenty of settin’ up shop. It’s freaky out there.
Always on point J, that’s why I like your style. Now let’s talk about this album A Job Ain’t Nuthin’ But Work.
Yes. Album number five. As always, entirely self-produced. I rhyme on all but one song. It will offend you if you have a pulse, but if you got a sense of humor, you’ll dig it.
That intro “The Zonettes” is bonkers! You’ve always been able to master the difficult art of making funny skits. Where do you get your sense of humor from?
From bein’ in a lot of fucked-up situations. I used to be shy and kind of a party pooper as a kid. But with a lot of social mishaps, you learn that to laugh at yourself and your surroundings is the only way to survive. Now, I just find humor in anything and go all out.
A most excellent philosophy. Now tell me about that fur coat you wear at shows.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) will be picketing at all my shows when they see it! It’s like 12 different species of animal all processed into one fur coat. Everything I wear has been previously living, so animal rights activists will be very upset. I got that coat from my homeboy Dick $tallion’s mama. She let me have it, and now it’s my fly mink. Ho’s love to touch that coat, it has an effect like ecstasy. And it has an asbestos lining if you try to throw fire at me onstage.
Awesome. Dick $tallion came through in the clutch! How’s he doin’, anyway?
He’s changed his name to Black Je$u$ (the artist formerly known as Dick $tallion). He can be heard singing a Pharrell-like falsetto chorus on my song “Disco Ho” off the new album.
“Disco Ho” will set a new standard for hip-hop storytelling! Do you really hate dancing, or will I catch you doing the Steve Martin at a party someday?
I only dance when I’m drunk. Chicks like that shit, so sometimes you gotta move a little bit. But I fuckin’ hate dancing. Bitch, my name ain’t Baryshnikov. I’m J Muthafuckin’ Zone! And I’m too cool to dance.
I’m really glad you made that song “Bullshit City,” because New York’s been getting progressively lamer each year.
Oh, God. Man, fuck this city! I have so much to bitch about, you just gotta hear the song. I’ll take up your whole fuckin’ magazine with the list of complaints.
Feel free to complain.
That’s why I be at home getting rich. Savin’ money, clippin’ coupons and findin’ hobbies in my neighborhood. Bad roads that fuck up my car, high taxes, ticket blitzes, too many girls wanna be actresses, every fuckin’ body at your show is a rapper themselves, Times Square looks like Hanna Barbera fuckin’ Disney World, girls are high maintenance, the weather sucks, attitudes are rotten, the Knicks ain’t been good in years, St. John’s was like 4 for 22 last year. Fuck this shit.
One of the things I’ve always admired about your music is your total disregard and lack of respect for anything politically correct or socially appropriate. The idea behind “Edit These” is nothing short of sheer genius! How did that idea come about?
‘Cause these radio station reps would meet me at CMJ and say they love my shit. Askin’ me for promos and shit. I’d give it to ‘em and they’d never play it. When I’d confront ‘em, they’d say, ‘Oh, the tempo is too slow; it’s not mix-show-friendly.’ I began to notice that whenever I pay to have a record worked to college radio, it would get played. When I solicited the record myself, it didn’t. This is college and underground radio. Politics like that you’d expect at Hot 97, not at some little-ass station. I could give a fuck about radio play, so I did a song where I reversed all the regular words and kept the curses intact. Just to be an asshole and say, ‘fuck you, your chart, your radio show, your mama, your baby’s mama, your cousin with the Jheri curl and everybody that knows you. Beeyotch!’
What’s the most brilliantly ignorant song of all time?
Wow. Probably “I’d Rather Give U My Bitch” by Suga Free, “Bad Influence” by Poison Clan, “Sorry Louie” by Eazy-E, or “Ketchup On My Hot Dog” by Section 8 Mob. Four-way tie!
I could be wrong, but I detect some Ice Cube influence in your work, circa AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted and Death Certificate. Am I right?
Oh, hell yeah. AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted is my favorite rap album of all time and Death Certificate is in my top 10.
I knew it! Death Certificate is in my Top 5.
Shit, it’s in my top 5, too. I didn’t think about it that way. Four of my top five are either Public Enemy or Ice Cube albums.
They sure don’t make shit like that anymore. But I get a similar feeling when I listen to your albums.
That means a lot, man. Thanks.
That same feeling of the album being one big story as a whole.
Like a movie. You can see the story as the album unfolds. Nowadays, albums are just a collection of singles and guest spots.
That’s my problem with 95 percent of all this other crap out there. It’s not cohesive.
Twelve different producers. That’s why I always produce the whole album myself. All the classics, except Illmatic and maybe a few others, had one to three producers.
Yeah, and that’s why people remember your records. You take them on a journey to another place, no matter how comical or degrading a place that might be. I never figured you for a lightweight drinker.
Oh, hell yeah! Two real man drinks or four girly drinks and it’s over! I’ll try to kick it to somebody’s mama! I done scooped some nasty broads when I was drunk, so I gotta pace myself. I don’t drink often, I drink fast and I’m skinny. That spells disaster.
I know exactly what you mean. Do you smoke?
Not really. No cigarettes whatsoever. Weed, maybe three times in a year and not enough to get high. I’m not big on smoking, that’s why I ate the space candy in Amsterdam, so I could get the feeling without smoking. I don’t like puttin’ shit in my lungs, but when I’m celebratin’ real hard, I’ll take a puff of that dank for sure! I have trouble breathin’ at times, so I stick to that liquor.
You’re constantly being commissioned to do beats for different projects, and have built quite a reputation as a producer. I’ve noticed that your beats have a kind of old-school flavor. How do you feel about all these contemporary Neptunes-sounding keyboard beats?
I like some of ‘em. I actually dig the Neptunes ’cause they got their own sound. I enjoy a lot of the West Coast G-Funk keyboard shit, too. But the New York-sounding keyboard beats are horrible and people did that Chipmunk/soul sample shit to death. Enough already!
I appreciate the fact that you use samples in this day and age.
Yeah, takin’ shit and makin’ something new. Not even looping, just manipulating old sounds that you can’t duplicate anymore. I use a keyboard too for bass sounds, sound effects and analog synth sounds, but I fix ‘em so they sound dirty and you can’t tell. A lot of the shit on the new album is synth sounds mixed with samples and altered to the point where it sounds like some whole other shit!
It reminds me of back when beat-making was a real craft that you spent a lot of time on, not just a bunch of Triton sounds slapped together.
Yeah, diggin’ for sounds recorded in different studios, different eras, by different musicians and makin’ ‘em sound like they go together. That’s a challenge that I’ll never tire of doing.
The switch-ups, bridges and vocal samples – all that makes for a dynamic listen. For the most part, that style has all but disappeared.
It’s all about cookie-cutter hits now. I can’t get mad at it, I’m a just keep doin’ my thing and hopefully people will take notice.