J. Stalin

This article is about Jovan Smith. For the Georgian leader of the Soviet Union, see Joseph Stalin. For other uses, see Stalin (disambiguation).
J. Stalin
Background information
Birth name Jovan Smith
Origin Oakland, California, U.S.
Genres Hip hop, west coast hip hop, Gangsta rap, hyphy
Occupation(s) Rapper
Songwriter
Years active 2002 - present
Associated acts Mistah F.A.B., Keak Da Sneak, Richie Rich, Philthy Rich, Joe Blow, the Jacka, Mozzy

Jovan Smith (born January 25, 1987), better known by his stage name J. Stalin (also stylized as J Stalin or J-Stalin), is a rapper from the Cypress Village housing projects in West Oakland.[1] In 2007, he signed to Zoo Entertainment Production Company run by artist Mekanix, who described his style as a variant of Hyphy known as "Go".[2] He is also the Owner of Livewire Records, President of Town Thizzness ENT, which is a sub-division of the late Mac Dre's Thizz ENT.

Biography

J. Stalin was born into poverty and earned money as a child by selling candy bars on the BART trains. Around age 16, he began recording and selling rap music.[3] As a youth he sold drugs in his local housing projects and spent eleven months on parole for drug dealing.[1]

Musical career

Although young and boyish-looking, J-Stalin adopted a tough rapper persona.[4] He references Joseph Stalin in his stage name because they shared the same initials, and "he was short like me, but he was always smashin' on everybody."[5] In a recent interview he remarked about his home and lifestyle, "This is West Oakland, man. This is the bottoms right here." He went on to say that the crime rate in his neighborhood was so high, the city had remodeled the housing units in his housing project to remove the back doors so that criminals could not escape from home raids by the police.[6] His major influences Stalin claims came from a small town named Castroville. He claims he can relate to the poverty and hardships the town has to deal with and has major respect for the town. Stalin was also in the internet sensation video "Cupcakin" with J-Nash.

J. Stalin's first widely released performances arose when a DJ Daryl, a local recording studio owner, placed him on a track he was recording.[1] A colleague of Daryl's, Richie Rich was impressed enough to put J. Stalin on three tracks in his 2002 album Nixon Pryor Roundtree album and two more as a member of Rich's group, the Replacement Killers.[1] He later recorded and performed with artists such as G-Stack,[7] Beeda Weeda,[8] Keak Da Sneak and San Quinn,[9] E-40, The Luniz, The Team, The Frontline, Mob Figaz, Yukmouth, Numskull, Shock G, and others. As of 2006 he had released roughly 7 mixtapes and had four releases scheduled for 2007.[1] Mekanix and Zoo Entertainment released "On Behalf of the Streets" in early May 2007.[10] J. Stalin is the President of Town Thizzness, and the owner of Livewire Records. He is also the front man in his group, Livewire Da Gang The Livewire Gang consists of many artists from various neighborhoods in North, East, and West Oakland. Some of these artists include, Shady Nate, Jay Jonah, Philthy Rich, Stevie Joe, Lil Blood, Ruben Stunner, R.O.B., Ronald Mack, Kiwi, and Mayback.. Retro and TD slaps from Sacramento . Jon Jon on the beat from the 209. The Livewire R&B singer is L'Jay. Nano is the President Of Livewire From San Francisco

J. Stalin discography

Studio albums

Compilations

Collaborations

Mixtapes

Livewire Da Gang discography

Studio albums

Mixtapes

Music videos

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Garrett Caples (25 April 2006). "Column: Ruling Party: Rising hip-hop star J. Stalin morphs from d-boy to Go Boy". San Francisco Bay Guardian.
  2. ↑ Black Dog Bone (June 2007). "The Mekanix (Dotrix & Tweed)". Dog Magazine.
  3. ↑ J. Stalin, Early Morning Shift (album notes), Demolition Man Records
  4. ↑ Rachel Swan. "MP3 of the Day: J. Stalin's "Banga Dance"". East Bay Express. Retrieved 25 February 2008.
  5. ↑ Kimberly Chun. "2006 Best Of The Bay: A Vision Of The Future". San Francisco Bay Guardian. Archived from the original on 16 February 2008. Retrieved 20 February 2008.
  6. ↑ "Love in these streets: West Oakland". SLASH magazine. 10 March 2007.
  7. ↑ Minister of Information JR (26 June 2007). "Purple Mane: an interview wit’ G-Stack of the Delinquents". San Francisco Bayview.
  8. ↑ Russell Morse (10 July 2006). "Oakland is the New Oakland; Stem cell research and the Oakland rap revolution". Youth Outlook. Retrieved 25 February 2008.
  9. ↑ Garrett Caples (21 November 2007). "Out of the shadows: Shady Nate, the number two rapper of West Oakland's Livewire crew, emerges as a boss". San Francisco Bay Guardian. Retrieved 25 February 2008.
  10. ↑ Garrett Caples. "The post-2Pac pack: Did the death of Tupac Shakur throw Bay Area hip-hop into a tailspin? And is there really a "New Bay" rising?". San Francisco Bay Guardian.

External links

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