Back for round 2...

That's right... you remember the inclusion of my joint It. featuring Poison Pen on the official Brooklyn's Finest DJBooth.net mixtape back in February? Well that was to celebrate the release of the feature film in theaters, and now it's time to roll out the red carpet for the release of the DVD!

This times around on Volume 2, you'll find the It. REMIX featuring Prince Po, Armageddon and Kyle Lucas of Vonnegutt. Click the pic below to be taken directly to DJbooth.net's page for the FREE DOWNLOAD!

Click the pic to download the
Brooklyn's Finest Vol. 2 mixtape for FREE.

I'm in good company on both volumes, so download your copies and let me know what ya think in my comments section below.

Big shouts to my homie Cory at Corner Burger on 5th Ave. here in BK, and I don't know how I missed this grand opening back in February, but if you're not in the mood for a burger and poutine in the Slope, do yourself a favor and head over to the classiest Arby's in America in the Heights! More on my unhealthy (yet marketable) relationship with good eats coming your way in the near future.

Far back,
J.J.

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Nineteen Ninety Now

Here's a pic of where I sit each and everyday, alongside my man Dan "The Deacon" Maier, in the captain's chair at 5G Studios in Brooklyn, NY:

Complete with gin & juice to the left there haha...

This room has been home base for almost 10 years now, so you can imagine the level of respect I have for the aura in here. Some of the finest talents hip-hop has to offer has graced us with their presence and talents here... Flavor Flav, Craig G, louis logic, J-Zone, Benny Blanco, the1shanti, RA the Rugged Man, Reef the Lost Cauze, Homeboy Sandman, Block McCloud, Travie McCoy, Kyle Lucas... the list goes on. It's not always easy to deal with the business side of this industry, but the creative side never gets old.

I'm proud to say that my partner and I can sit calmly at this console and confidently (and enthusiastically) handle whatever is asked of us. It's a challange that I don't think many are really up for. A lot of people talk the talk... do you have what it takes to sit here?

Danny begs to differ haha.

Recently a longtime music friend of the camp, Celph Titled, completed an album with the legendary producer Buckwild (Big L, Biggie, Faith Evans, OC... you know, that Buckwild) and flew in from Tampa for a week to mix with Dan and I. It's called Nineteen Ninety Now and this record is nothing short of incredible.

Ladies & gentlemen, Celph Titled is in the mix!

It was an honor to be part of the process. Complete with unreleased Buckwild beats from the 90's and a slew of guest appearances from Treach (of Naughty By Nature), Diamond D, Vinny Paz and more, this thing is gonna ruin a lot of careers haha.

Mista Sinista of X-Ecutioners fame
stops by to lay cuts for Celph.

I've also seen a lot more of my man Illus (from the Public Enemy camp) these past few weeks, who is adding to his EP to create an entire album fully produced by me. This week he brought over his friend (and YouTube sensation) Paul Dateh to work on a few tracks with us. He's a hip-hop violinist who sings, but it's no gimmick. He's freakishly talented, and working with him was a real pleasure. For an example of his work click on the pic I took below:

Click the pic to see this wizard in action!

Lastly, this week I also got the final edit of Jonny October's video for his song I produced called SRI. I've been working closely with Jonny for a few years now... he was a big part of my album Connect The Dots. behind the scenes, he just got off his first tour with my man Louis and Emcee Type, and he's about to earn the respect he deserves from the masses. Click on the pic below to see this cinematic work, artfully directed by my friends Ethan Blum and Jed I. Rosenberg. Stay till the end for a cameo from ya boy:

Click on this pic I took from the shoot
to watch the SRI music video NOW!

I go to work,

J.J.

5G | Twitter | MySpace | Facebook | YouTube

3 Parts ILL...

I'm proud to announce the formation and first performance of my new group 3 Parts ILL!

You may be familiar with the stuff that Danny and I have worked on with singer/songwriter Erin Barra (if you're not, get started by clicking HERE and check out the audio player on the right) which lead to an opening spot for her at my Connect The Dots. album release party at SOB's this past November. The performance felt so good to me, and the on-stage partnership so natural, that I asked Erin if she wanted to put together something more permanent.

Erin Barra housing the mic,
with me on the decks, at my album release party.

At her suggestion we added a third part to round out the musical backdrop, the freakishly talented Justin Goldner, and 3 Parts ILL was born!

3 Parts ILL consists of:

Erin Barra (lead vocals, keys, melodica)
J.J. Brown (DJ, backing vocals)
Justin Goldner (guitar, electric bass, backing vocals)

Click the pic to watch 3 Parts ILL in rehearsal
at 5G Studios, Brooklyn, USA

We've secured a monthly residency with Savalas nightclub in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and as the flyer (above) says, our first show is this Sunday, April 18th! The performance takes place at 10pm, but I will be holding down the decks all night, before and after our set, so come and join us for a full night of great music. I can guarantee it.

We will also have a jam packed merch table, which will feature free gifts and exclusive gear from our official sponsor, Brooklyn-based Wrecords By Monkey. I'm really excited about working with these guys... they specialize in jewelry made from recycled vinyl records! The perfect fit for a group with breakbeats as the backbone of our sound.

Click the pic to be taken directly to
the official website of Wrecords By Monkey!

Thanks to everybody who hit me up with all the love for It Remix. There's a lot more music and innovative collabos on the way,

J.J.

5G | Twitter | MySpace | Facebook | YouTube

When you rock & roll...

Peace internet fam, it's ya man J.J. Brown back for another one!

Remember how I told you to peep the new Cookbook & Uno Mas album C&U Music Factory because I got a few tracks on there? Well they made one of them their first single. It's called When You Rock & Roll and it features Evidence from Dilated Peoples. Check out the music video for the song below, I'm real proud of the way it turned out:

"WHEN YOU ROCK & ROLL" CookBook & UNO Mas feat. Evidence from AudioSketchBook on Vimeo.

In case you haven't seen it, I also have this little gem to share... the music video for a joint I produced for my man ILLUS from the Public Enemy camp. Look for cameos from the legendary Chuck D as well as the kid himself, along with an up-and-comer I've been working closely with (who is soon to be a household name) Jonny October. Ladies & gents I present to you... Feel Good Music:

This week me and my team also unleashed a remix to my song It. from my solo debut Connect The Dots. In keeping with the theme of the album, when I set my sights on remixing the song I wanted to create a sonic atmosphere suitable for guest artists ranging from fan favorites to newcomers. I called on Prince Po from Organized Konfusion, my newest rap alliance Armageddon (who I'm working with as he breaks out from the Terror Squad pack) and my homie Kyle Lucas from Big Boi's Purple Ribbon stable.

Here's a shot I took
of Kyle laying down his verse at 5G.

The outcome is exactly as I had envisioned. And with a perfected final mix from my longtime 5G engineer Dan "The Deacon" Maier, I really couldn't have asked for a more fulfilling remix experience. Click below to be taken directly to 2dopeboyz.com's post on the matter:

Click the single artwork to be taken
directly to 2dopeboyz.com
to preview and download the song for FREE.

Last but certainly not least, I recently had the pleasure of doing an in-depth interview for the9elements.com with my man I.G.O.D. It's extensive so it was broken into three parts, but all you have to do is click on the banner below to see them all:

Click on the banner to see my in-depth interview
conducted by I.G.O.D. for the9elements.com

More from Geddy and J.J. on the way...
J.J.
5G | Twitter | MySpace | Facebook | YouTube

Brooklyn's Finest

Hey guys,

Hope you had a great Valentine's Day with that special someone. A couple of real interesting projects I've had the pleasure of being a part of are now available, and I wanted to tell you about them...

First off, I'm a huge movie buff, so I was very excited to hear about the new Brooklyn's Finest film coming out March 5th starring Wesley Snipes, Don Cheadle, Ethan Hawke and more. And -as you can imagine- I was even more excited to hear that my song It. featuring Poison Pen off my album Connect The Dots. was selected to be a part of the official Brooklyn's Finest mixtape brought to you by the fine folks at Overture Films and djbooth.net! I keep some great company on there, so be sure and check it out...

Click the movie poster to be taken directly
to the DJ Booth website
for a FREE DOWNLOAD of the mixtape!

Next up, my homies from the left coast, L.A. Symphony's Cookbook & Uno Mas are back with a new one called C&U Music Factory. I got two joints on there, and they're both very special to me for different reasons. One is called When You Rock & Roll which features Evidence from Dilated Peoples. It's so ill to me to hear him on one of my beats because I learned a lot from listening to DP product over the years, and consider Ev to be one of the best doin' it right now. It's really an honor to have a song with him on my resume.

Here's Ev with another one of my pals,
the radiant and talented Eternia.

The other song featured on the album is called L.A. Times (J.J. Brown REMIX) which features the great DJ Rhettmatic from the mighty Beat Junkies DJ crew. I love this joint because I grew up totally immersed in the big, driven Gangsta Rap production sound. In fact, there was a time was I think I was more influenced by West Coast groups than those right here in my own back yard, so it was nice to get to use some of those hidden talents on a track haha. I got a lot out of my system on this one. So click on the album cover below and support that good shiyit y'all:

Click the album cover to be taken directly
to the C&U Music Factory page on iTunes!

Last but certainly not least, I've always had a passion for the visual arts as well, especially photography. I got a ill Cannon for my one year wedding anniversary from my lovely wife Kai, so I put it to good use by tagging along with her as the photographer on one of her styling gigs. This time it was for my good friend the1shanti's new group Bonita Applebum with the beautiful Shefali Kumar. They created a behind-the-scenes video blog of the photo shoot, and if ya wanna see yer boy throwing down in a way you never saw before, click the pic below!

Click the pic (which I took!) for a look behind-the-scenes
at the Bonita Applebum photo shoot.

All in a day's work haha...

J.J.

5G | Twitter | MySpace | Facebook | YouTube | imeem

Timothy where have you been...

To Irving Plaza, that's where! Timbaland's cutting edge Shock Value II show was so inspiring, from his choice of starting with the slower tempo stuff and then building all the way up to a Nirvana Teen Spirit cover, to the way he figured out how to bring all his high-profile guest appearances on the road with him via the latest stage technology, this jammy had it all:

There's Keri Hilson's hologram to the left,
just before she surprised the crowd
by hitting the stage in person.

A producer with this much star power doing a show in New York City can't help but bring some local pals out with him, and by the end of the night we were treated to short impromptu sets by a slew of artists including Lil' Kim and Puff Daddy. It reminded me just how many hits Timbaland has produced, and for just how many years his ever-evolving style has influenced me. Thanks for a memorable show! Now if I can just get my hands on one of his custom Open Labs joints he was demonstrating the powers of all night long...

Speaking of great stage shows, the consummate master of live musical performance Michael Jackson is still breaking records and changing the game from up there in the clouds... a special 3-D version of his Earth Song music video will air during the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards on January 31st, and all you have to do to get your free MJ 3-D glasses is hit up Target's electronics section. I got mines this afternoon, now get yours:

Click the pic for more info!

Also, by now you've all seen the artwork for my debut solo album Connect The Dots. posted here on my blog many times, but what you might not know is that it was all hand drawn by my man Adam "Illus" Wallenta from the Public Enemy camp. He does the official Public Enemy comic book series (which can be purchased right HERE) and he's also a budding recording artist in his own right. Well this business is all about who you know and how you connect those dots, so wouldn't it make sense that we work together on his Feel Good Music digital EP available NOW?

Click the album artwork to purchase Illus'
Feel Good Music EP through iTunes,
produced entirely by me.

Lots of exciting things happening here in the studio for 2010, but more on that later. In the meantime, keep enjoying the labors of my love, and know that your support does not go unnoticed fam. Oh, and here's a little something for all you cats who would rather pow-wow than perform... save the chit chat for the next man, suckas. Talk is cheap, and I'm a big spender.

See you soon,

J.J.

5G | Twitter | MySpace | Facebook | YouTube | imeem

J.J. Brown on BoomBox Radio...

Hey guys,

Hope everyone had happy Holidays! Here's a recorded stream of the Brooklyn College radio show I had the pleasure of being on just before the break...

Click on the pic
to be taken directly to the interview page!

Big shouts to my man DJ BlacKnight... a real knowledgeable cat. I had a lot of fun talking with him.

DJ BlacKnight and J.J. Brown

And for those of you who haven't heard, today Timbaland released his club tour dates in support of his Shock Value 2 album, featuring very special guests! Rumors include Drake, Keri Hilson, Nelly Furtado, Justin Timberlake and more. Now, the Justin Timberlake FutureSex, LoveSounds show my wife and I saw in Miami, featuring Timbaland, was one of the best shows I've ever seen, and next week I plan on doing it all over again at Irving Plaza! Who's with me?

Click on the pic for a tour date near you!

On a much sadder note, my pal R.A. The Rugged Man's father recently passed due to complications with cancer. If you would like to know more about his Vietnam war hero of a dad, read XXL's article HERE, and be sure to reach out to R.A. on Twitter or his Facebook page. It's so tough dealing with an untimely loss like this, and really all we got is each other. And I'm just finding out about this terrible loss of life in Haiti due to yesterday's earthquake. My prayers are with all the families touched by the tragedy.

Thanks for all the Connect The Dots. love and check back soon... 2010 is about to be legendary,
J.J.

5G | Twitter | MySpace | Facebook | YouTube | imeem