Pure grind...

Believe it or not, I'm finally sitting here blogging in one of my new MJ 02 concert shirts from the official merch store! It took a hot minute for the box to arrive, but it's understandable... no one expected for this to be a mail order situation, just as no one expected to lose the icon so soon. Still having a hard time shaking this off...

Thank you for the years of inspiration Mike!

As for other areas of my life though, this has been one of the most exciting time periods on record...

I GOTTA say peace to my homie Tonedeff for putting on one of the greatest artist showcases I've ever attended at Highline Ballroom here in NYC last weekend. It was quite an experience for me to finally feel like my friends and I have carved out our own piece of hip-hop history. My Big Apple heads, remember going to those rap shows at Tramps, and even if it was a KRS show you'd also get to see Fat Joe, Lord Finesse, Kane, etc. because they were all part of the fabric that made up the New York underground scene? Well I got that same warm, fuzzy feeling last Friday night at Tone's QN5 Megashow, only this time I was part of this tight knit group which included opening acts louis logic (obviously a longtime associate of mine) and Poison Pen (I produced for and sequenced his current album The Money Shot IN STORES NOW!!!!) as well as incredible full sets by the artists that make up the QN5 roster, who have mostly all played a part in my career at some point. All this while I watched the show sharing a booth with the next crop. I was even booked for the official afterparty but that's one of those showbiz stories I'll save for my book. Haha. Oh, and I would share pics of this event but there were NO CAMERAS ALLOWED, sorry! You'll just have to join us next year if you still don't know what the fuss is about...

AND KNOWING IS HALF THE BATTLE!
(NOTE: See G.I. JOE if you haven't already,
it's THE TRUTH.)

This past weekend we also shot our first music video in promotion of my debut album Connect The Dots. (now dropping this fall, exact date will be announced very shortly) for the track Pure Grind featuring my man Reef The Lost Cauze. I don't want to give too much away, as this is one of those "presentation is everything" moments in my timeline, but I will say that you're in for a treat, and me and my team are about to remind the industry how it's done. Here are some exclusive shots from behind the scenes...

Reef (at 5G Studios)
is ready for his close up...


Shooting at the piers in Long Island City, Queens!
L - R: Ethan (camera), Jed (director), Jonny (playback),
Reef (gangsta) and Danny (playboy)


Luis "Big Lu" Valbuena
(executive producer and overlord)

I promise to blog sooner next time... it's been a crazy week of sessions and I actually have to get back to work now... but please follow me on Twitter for more up-to-the-minute accounts of my journey (I'm addicted to that shit!) and do stay tuned because we're just getting warmed up!

There it is baby paw,
J.J.

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