Jovan Smith (born January 25, 1983), better known by his stage name J. Stalin (also stylized as J Stalin or J-Stalin), is a

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

from the Cypress Village housing projects in

West Oakland West Oakland is a neighborhood situated in the northwestern corner of Oakland, California, United States, situated west of Downtown Oakland, south of Emeryville, and north of Alameda. The neighborhood is located along the waterfront at the Po ...

. In 2007, he signed to Zoo Entertainment Production Company run by artist Mekanix, who described his style as a variant of

Hyphy The term hyphy ( ) is Oakland slang meaning "hyperactive". More specifically, it is an adjective describing the hip hop music and the culture associated with the area. The term was first coined by Oakland rapper Keak da Sneak. History The hyp ...

known as "Go".

Biography

J. Stalin was born into

poverty Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects. When evaluating poverty in ...

and earned money as a child by selling candy bars on the

BART Bart is a masculine given name, usually a diminutive of Bartholomew, sometimes of Barton, Bartolomeo, etc. Bart is a Dutch and Ashkenazi Jewish surname, and derives from the name ''Bartholomäus'', a German form of the biblical name ''Barthol ...

trains. Around age 16, he began recording and selling rap music.J. Stalin, ''Early Morning Shift'' (album notes), Demolition Man Records As a youth he sold drugs in his local housing projects and spent eleven months on

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

for drug dealing.

Musical career

Although young and boyish-looking, J-Stalin adopted a tough rapper persona. He references

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

in his

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

because they shared the same initials, and "...He was short like me, but he was always smashin' on everybody." 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 Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authorities, government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the d ...

to remove the back doors so that criminals could not escape from home raids by the police. J. Stalin's first widely released performances arose when a DJ Daryl, a local

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enoug ...

owner, placed him on a track he was recording. A colleague of Daryl's, Richie Rich was impressed enough to put J. Stalin on three tracks in his 2002 album ''

Nixon Pryor Roundtree Richard Serrell, better known by his stage name Richie Rich, is a rapper from Oakland, California. He currently runs his own record label, Ten-Six Records. Music career Early years (1987-99) Richie Rich first entered music in the late 1980s wi ...

'' album and two more as a member of Rich's group, the Replacement Killers. He later recorded and performed with artists such as G-Stack, Beeda Weeda,

Keak Da Sneak Charles Kente Williams (Birth name, né Bowens; born October 21, 1977), better known by his stage name Keak da Sneak, is an American rapper from Oakland, California, Oakland, California, known for his scratchy, gruff voice and for coining the ter ...

and

San Quinn Quincy Brooks IV (born October 24, 1977), better known by his stage name San Quinn, is an American rapper from San Francisco, California. He is the cousin of Messy Marv, Stevie Johnson, and Ya Boy. Early life Brooks was born in Oakland, Califor ...

E-40 Earl Tywone Stevens Sr. (born November 15, 1967), better known by his stage name E-40, is an American rapper. He is a founding member of the rap group The Click, and the founder of Sick Wid It Records. He has released 26 studio albums to date, a ...

The Luniz Luniz (formerly the LuniTunes) is an American hip hop duo from Oakland, California, formed by Yukmouth and Numskull. They were signed to Virgin Records, Noo Trybe Records, and C-Note Records. They were the flagship act for C-Note Records. The g ...

, The Team,

The Frontline The Frontline is an American rap duo from Richmond, California, consisting of Left and Locksmith, also known as Lock.Hildebrand, Lee (2005)RICHMOND VIOLENCE FUELS HIP-HOP DUO, ''San Francisco Chronicle'', June 26, 2005, retrieved 2010-07-06 Th ...

, Mob Figaz,

Yukmouth Jerold Dwight Ellis III (born October 18, 1974), better known by his stage name Yukmouth, is an American rapper from East Oakland, Oakland, California. He is the founder of The Regime, Smoke-A-Lot Records and Godzilla Entertainment. He is a mem ...

Numskull Luniz (formerly the LuniTunes) is an American hip hop duo from Oakland, California, formed by Yukmouth and Numskull. They were signed to Virgin Records, Noo Trybe Records, and C-Note Records. They were the flagship act for C-Note Records. The g ...

Shock G Gregory Edward Jacobs (August 25, 1963 – April 22, 2021), known professionally as Shock G and by his alter ego Humpty Hump, was an American rapper and musician who was best known as the lead vocalist of the hip hop group Digital Underground. ...

, and others. As of 2006 he had released roughly 7

mixtapes A mixtape (alternatively mix-tape, mix tape or mixed tape) is a compilation of music, typically from multiple sources, recorded onto a medium. With origins in the 1980s, the term normally describes a homemade compilation of music onto a cassette ...

and had four releases scheduled for 2007. Mekanix and Zoo Entertainment released "On Behalf of the Streets" on October 31, 2006.

Discography

Albums, mixtapes, collaborations, compilations

*''2006: J Stalin & The Mekanix - On Behalf Of The Streets'' *''2008: Gas Nation'' *''2009: J Stalin & Guce - Giants & Elephants'' *''2010:

Prenuptial Agreement A prenuptial agreement, antenuptial agreement, or premarital agreement (commonly referred to as a prenup), is a written contract entered into by a couple prior to marriage or a civil union that enables them to select and control many of the leg ...

'' *''2012:

Memoirs Of A Curb Server ''Memoirs of a Curb Server'' is the seventh studio album by American rapper J. Stalin, released on July 10, 2012 via Town Thizzness & Fontana. It peaked at #54 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, #16 on the Heatseekers Albums chart, and at the top ...

'' *''2013: J Stalin & DJ.Fresh - Miracle & Nightmare On 10th Street (Deluxe Edition)'' *''2021: Wired In 3'' *''2021: Early Morning Shift 4'' *''2021: Diesel Therapy 3'' *''2021: On Behalf Of The Streets 3'' *''2022: J Stalin & DJ.Fresh - The Real World 6''

References

External links

J-Stalin Official MySpace page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stalin, J. Living people Rappers from Oakland, California 1976 births West Coast hip hop musicians Gangsta rappers 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians