J-Zone
Halftimeonline: It seems like the industry is taking a hit overall where nobody is really buying records like that. You can’t even totally blame downloading for it. I think it’s the over saturation more than anything.
J-Zone: It’s over saturation, it’s the economy, and it’s downloading. The quality has gone down on so much shit that when a good record comes out it’s like fuck it I know there’s only going to be 3 good songs. Even if they download it and they like it if it’s old news they won’t buy it just because of that. Plus it’s mix cds on top of mix cds. It’s just so much shit. When I put out “Tu Madre” there were 19 other records on the wall at Fat Beats. So I knew it was only a matter of time before someone threw on my shit or said yo that’s an old lady smoking a joint let me get that. But now there’s just too much shit. On one hand I’m lucky because I came in early enough that I established a name and a fan base where whenever I put something out I can get on the front page of Sandbox and Hiphopsite and I have press connections. At the same time I’m competing with so much other shit it’s like I’m set up but only for a week. I’m convinced this is the last record I’m gonna do on vinyl cuz vinyl is dead. I’m an old school dude but I’m trying to adapt. I don’t want to fight technology but at the same time I’m not gonna adapt by spending a lot of money on ads. I’m gonna still keep the Fondel Em approach where the only thing I’m paying for is manufacturing. I’m doing the publicity and mail outs myself. I’m doing everything in the crib and I’m not borrowing money from anyone. So I’m keeping the old school approach but I want to add some new ways of doing shit. If I ever put out a record again, as much as I’m a vinyl dude and a DJ, is it even worth it to press the vinyl? I know that’s DJ blasphemy for me to even say that kinda shit but if you’re struggling to sell 500-1000 pieces of vinyl you’re struggling to break even. You don’t want to lose money so it’s like damn do I just have to Mp3 it up? Right now records are failing and nobody knows what to do. I’ve never seen it like this. You look at the major label shit and it’s all failing.
Halftimeonline: Talking about your experiences it’s evident you’ve put a lot of time in the game. Where did you expect yourself to be at this point and if you’re not there how far away are you?
J-Zone: Wow, that’s a good question. Honestly, I didn’t know where I would be at this point. I never thought more than one year ahead. I would just do music and think about now and the next couple of months. I wouldn’t think that far ahead. Even with Boss Hog it came out in March and I planned a tour for the year but I had a back injury and Celph didn’t want to tour. Then a week later I got inspired to work on some instrumental records. If you would have spoken to me in December and asked my plans it was Boss Hog that was it. But that shit just fell apart, I had the injury, went into a little depression and just got tired of doing the J-Zone shit so I just said fuck it. Then I did two instrumental records off the beaten path. They just happened. I had no planning. I just said I’m gonna turn this movie idea into a record and do this limited edition “Experienced” shit. I just decided to do those one day and just got up and did it. So for me to see that far in the future I never know. I just go where the wind blows. Who knows maybe a year from now I might just be doing TV commercials and behind the scenes shit like with the Superbowl ad and the porno. I might just do shit like that and make beats for fun making 500 copies to sell to my fans on Myspace through Paypal. Go get money on the corporate side and save my beats with the wild samples to sell on Myspace and once they’re out they’re dead. I might just do that. I’m perfectly content with becoming a music teacher or whatever. Something in music away from this underground hip hop shit. When you’re 23-25 you don’t really see that. I’m getting older and even though I love Europe, I don’t want to be going to do tours where I’m sleeping on the promoter’s floor and selling merch to survive. That’s cool when you’re 22 but now I have bills to pay and I’m cutting that corner in terms of age where it puts shit into perspective. I got IRAs and mutual funds that I’m getting started. When I’m thirty I want to live like I’m in my thirties, laid back not on no hiphop shit even though I’ll make beats until the day I die.
Halftimeonline: You mentioned the licensing for commercials how did that actually come about? It seems like it’s the perfect time cuz they are using hip hop to promote everything. I keep hearing Nine on that Jeep commercial. I’m like wow.
J-Zone: Oh yea. But you know what hip hop has always been used to sell stuff. I remember back in ’89 they had Daddy-O from Stetsasonic doing the Polly-O string cheese commercial. He was the Polly-O rapping parrot.
Halftimeonline: Haha
J-Zone: And I guarantee you he is living well from that and not from “Blood, Sweat, & No Tears,” “On Fire” and “In Full Gear” royalties. Haha. Doing those kinds of things allows you to make these little records like “To Love a Hooker” where you know you’ll break even if you sell a little bit but you can’t really survive on it. Yet I can do a 1.5 second beat for a Sprint commercial and I’m almost good for the year. I gave them the rights to a whole song but they only used one piece. They were gonna make a ringtone out of it but I don’t think they ever did. So it wound up being a snippet in a Sprint commercial during the Super bowl and the revenue you get from that sets you up for the year so you can do stuff like Hooker and Boss Hog where you’ll make a few gs of profit.
Halftimeonline: Doing it for the love like Stephon Marbury’s $15 kicks.
J-Zone: Oh god those are disgusting, they look like orthopedic shoes.
Halftimeonline: Still at $15 I might cop a couple.
J-Zone: Yea, you can’t go wrong. You can get a pair to ball in. Shit like that is a good idea. You make your money doing other things. I woke up one morning and realized I wasn’t using all my talents. I’m a producer not just a hip hop producer. I can read music a little bit and I’ve played instruments for years. I can chop up shit and play beats without samples. Even though I’m not rhyming no more I can still write lines and jingles for shit. So I’m like why am I limiting myself to what’s on a J-Zone record. I could get in here and do music for car commercials. That’s not selling out that’s being smart. That enables me to make records to put out that you won’t buy anyway.
Halftimeonline: Haha
J-Zone: You know what I’m saying. I’m gonna keep doing it. Even with the porno shit. I didn’t make much money off it…
Halftimeonline: Yea, tell me about that. I remember you having a beat saying it was for a porn movie on one of your other albums.
J-Zone: Yea, ‘Sleazy Listening.’
Halftimeonline: Haha
J-Zone: I was foreshadowing. Shid used to always tell me my stuff sounded like porno music especially when I started messing with more digital samples and sounds. So I was like yo I could really do some porno music. Then my homeboy was working on his first porno so I was like fuck the money let me score your shit. To this day I still haven’t seen the porno cuz I’m not really a porno guy. He was like I want the shit to sound simple, evil and sleazy. That’s all he had to say. It’s called ‘Asian Bangs’ so he said with a little Asian flavor. I gave him ten tracks and he used like six of them. But that’s dope cuz it shows I have range.
Halftimeonline: I know cuz you said pimps don’t pay taxes but evidently now they can act.
J-Zone: Nah man I just tried out for a role. It’s like this crazy ass horror movie called ‘Bad Biology’. I tried out for a drug dealer role and I got a call back. I don’t know if I’m gonna be in it or if it will even come out. I don’t know what’s gonna happen but the bottom line is I got a callback. The director was like you have a different look and you’re a natural on camera you just bug out. That comes from the J-Zone character. Even though the stuff I rap about is in me a lot of that stuff is acting. I’m taking certain stuff and exaggerating it to be entertaining. Being on camera is the same thing. I just got the script, read it and they loved it.
Halftimeonline: Did you take any acting classes or anything?
J-Zone: Hell no! R.A. the Rugged Man called me one day and was like yo I got a role I think you’d be perfect for, it’s a bugged out drug dealer selling Viagra and shit and all these crazy sex drugs. He was like do you want to come down and read? I was like fuck it and went cold. He gave me the script and told me how he wanted me to read and I did it. Apparently he showed the clip to the director and the guy loved it. I may not get it but the guy was like there were a lot of trained actors and they didn’t do as well as you. It’s just another avenue to pursue. I rap, DJ, produce, engineer for people, I was writing in magazines and now I’m gonna pursue acting. I don’t want a day job so for me to be self employed I gotta be diverse cuz records ain’t selling. Until my records start selling big I’m gonna do what I have to do to make money. So for all you actors I’m coming to fuck up the game, all you porno producers I got what you need, if you’re doing commercials I’ll handle that, if you need me to rap about yogurt I’m on it. People are gonna buy my records just to keep me out of all of these other fields.
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