J57 is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, record label owner, and music video director that infuses hip hop with indie rock, pop, folk & Americana music. He is a member of the

Brown Bag AllStars The Brown Bag AllStars is an American rap group made up of J57, The Audible Doctor, Soul Khan, DeeJay Element and DJ E Holla. The group's repertoire of East Coast hip hop and underground hip hop blended with hard-core rap lyrics won them a sp ...

, a group of emcees he helped create while working at Fat Beats in 2004, and Jamo Gang, a hip-hop group along with

Ras Kass John R. Austin II (born September 26, 1973), better known by his stage name Ras Kass, is an American rapper. He is a member of the hip hop Supergroup (music), supergroup The HRSMN, along with Canibus, Killah Priest, and Kurupt in 2014. He is als ...

and El Gant. J57 cites DJ Eclipse and his mentor

DJ Premier Christopher Edward Martin (born March 21, 1966), known professionally as DJ Premier (also known as Preemo), is an American record producer and DJ. He is considered one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time. He was half of the hip hop duo ...

, as his musical influences. He owns a record label called FiveSe7en Collective which is the home of a lot of new, promising talent in different genres of music.

2003–2007: Early beginnings and Brown Bag AllStars

Born and raised in

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

, New York, J57 started his music career

freestyling Freestyle is a style of improvisation, with or without instrumental beats (Mystrodamus), in which lyrics are recited with no particular subject or structure and with no prior memorization.Kevin Fitzgerald (director), '' Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme' ...

battle rap Battle rap (also known as rap battling)Edwards, Paul, 2009, p. 25. is a type of rapping performed between two or more performers that incorporates boasts, insults and wordplay. Battle rap is often performed or freestyled spontaneously in live ...

ping and

beatboxing Beatboxing (also beat boxing) is a form of vocal percussion primarily involving the art of mimicking drum machines (typically a TR-808), using one's mouth, lips, tongue, and voice.

in high school under the stage name JLOG1C with a group of friends. In 2003, he started producing and went on to record his first recording with his crew. In 2004, JLOG1C started working at Fat Beats, a popular record store in New York where he met the Brown Bag AllStars and went on to record songs with the group at

Jesse Shatkin Jesse Samuel Shatkin (born 1979) is an American songwriter, producer and engineer. He has worked with Sia, Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Lopez, Fitz and the Tantrums and One Direction, among others. Shatkin was nominated in 2014 for Grammy Awards a ...

's record studio.

2008–13: ''2057'', ''The Ports'' and ''The J57 Collection''

In 2008, JLOG1C changed his name to J57 before Brown Bag AllStars released their first mixtape ''The Brown Tape,'' exclusively at Fat Beats. On May 14, 2010 he released the ''Digital Society'' mixtape through Balanced Records, featuring vocals from

Homeboy Sandman Angel Del Villar II (born September 24, 1980), better known by his stage name Homeboy Sandman, is an American rapper from Elmhurst, Queens, New York, United States. Career Homeboy Sandman recorded and released his first EP, ''Nourishment'', in M ...

, the Brown Bag AllStars,

Soul Khan Noah Weston, better known as Soul Khan (born April 18, 1985) is an American rapper and songwriter. Born in West Hollywood and raised in Woodland Hills, California. He currently resides in Brooklyn, New York City. After a short career in battle ra ...

, Andrew Reid,

DJ Brace Michael Topf (born 1980), records under the name DJ Brace, is a Canadian DJ and producer.

and many notable acts. In 2012 he released his

DJ Concept DJ Concept is DJ and music producer from Long Island, New York. He is the co-founder of The Bash Brothers DJ Crew along with DJ Mickey Knox. Biography Between 2001 & 2007, Concept linked up with producer/mc Undefined to form the group Crisis Cente ...

-promoted mixtape ''The J57 Collection'' and two solo EPs ''

2057 In contemporary history, the third millennium of the anno Domini or Common Era in the Gregorian calendar is the current millennium spanning the years 2001 to 3000 ( 21st to 30th centuries). Ongoing futures studies seek to understand what is l ...

'' and '' The Ports EP'', all which did well to gain him grounds and further led him to being ranked No. 20 in ''

AllHipHop AllHipHop is a hip hop news website founded by Greg Watkins and Chuck Creekmur in 1998. History The website was founded in 1998 by Greg Watkins and Chuck Creekmur. In 1997, Watkins registered the allhiphop.com domain to promote the artists on ...

''s list of "Top 50 in Underground Hip-Hop". After overseeing projects for

Koncept Keith Michael Whitehead (born October 10, 1985 in Queens, New York City, United States), popularly known by his stage name Koncept, is an American rapper, emcee and songwriter. A former employee at Fat Beats, Koncept started out drawing graffiti ...

, Sene and other artistes, including Homeboy Sandman's fourth studio album titled '' First of a Living Breed'', he went on to release ''Walk in the Sun'', a collaborative album he did with Blame One which was released in 2013.

2014–2017: ''I'm the J57''

In 2014, J57 was featured in

DJ Rhettmatic DJ Rhettmatic (born Nazareth Nirza) is a producer, DJ and member and part creator of Southern California's first turntable band, the Beat Junkies. Rhettmatic began his DJ career in 1983, with Double Platinum, a DJ group based out of Cerritos, C ...

's single titled "Louis Vuitton Wallets" and made vocal appearance and record production credits in the 2014 release of the annual Brown Bag AllStars ''A Year in Review'' mixtapes. In mid-2015, he produced "Purple Tape", one of the lead singles from

Method Man Clifford Smith, Jr. (born March 2, 1971), better known by his stage name Method Man, is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is known as a member of the East Coast hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan. He is also half of t ...

's fifth studio album ''

The Meth Lab ''The Meth Lab'' is the fifth studio album by American rapper and Wu-Tang Clan member Method Man. The album was released on August 21, 2015, under Hanz On Music and Tommy Boy Entertainment. His first album since 2006's ''4:21... The Day After'', t ...

'' which went on to peak at No. 57 on the US ''

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of art ...

'' and was received to positive reviews. On November 20, 2015, J57 teamed up with

to release a joint EP titled '' The Fuel'' which was positively received among music critics. On January 19, 2016, J57 released his first solo album titled '' I'm the J57'' to positive reviews. before he went on to produce the entirety of ''Elixir'', a 7-track gritty hip-hop studio album by Aaron Rose which gained multiple media attention. In an interview with

HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of hip hop music criticism and news. The website's current president and publisher is Sharath Cherian and the Head Of Content is Jerry L. Barrow. ''HipHopDX'' is the flagship publication of Cheri Media Group. ...

, J57 revealed that 5 hip-hop albums including '' Moment of Truth'', ''

Madvillainy ''Madvillainy'' is the only studio album by American hip hop duo Madvillain, consisting of rapper MF Doom and producer Madlib. It was released on March 23, 2004, on Stones Throw Records. The album was recorded between 2002 and 2004. Madlib cre ...

'', '' Be'', ''

Below the Heavens ''Below the Heavens'' is the debut studio album by American hip hop duo Blu & Exile. It was released by Sound in Color on July 17, 2007. It serves as Blu's debut album, while Exile had previously released his solo album ''Dirty Science'' and two ...

'' and ''

Ironman Iron Man, Ironman or Ironmen may refer to: *Nathaniel "Iron Man" Avery (1939–1985), American caddie for Arnold Palmer *Travis Fulton (1977–2021), American mixed martial arts fighter *Gunnar Graps (1951–2004), Estonian musician *Mick Murphy ...

'' inspired him in creating the beats for the album. The beginning of 2017 saw J57 become a member of hip-hop group Jamo Gang which DJ Premier formally announced in January. In June, he released the music video for "Legacy" as a promotional tool to mark the release of the deluxe version of ''I'm the J57'' and further decided to donate all proceeds earned from the album to people who were affected by the Flint water crisis. As part of the group Jamo Gang, J57 produced the entirety of their debut project ''Jamo Gang EP'', an 8-track hip-hop,

boom bap Boom bap is a subgenre and music production style that was prominent in the East Coast during the golden age of hip hop from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. The term "boom bap" is an onomatopoeia that represents the sounds used for the ba ...

EP ''HipHopDX'' described as "intoxicating".

2018: FiveSe7en Collective

June 2018, J57 launched his record label FiveSe7en Collective. Jamo Gang (

, J57, El Gant)'s debut self-titled EP was released, featuring DJ Premier,

Snak the Ripper Snak the Ripper is a Canadian rapper from British Columbia. Affiliations Snak the Ripper is one of the founding members of the Stompdown Killaz hip hop collective (SDK). As of 2018 Snak is no longer affiliated with SDK. In 2010, he became a ...

and more. J57 released 3 albums and 3 EP's; one of which titled "LP2" an avant-garde release available exclusively for one week on J57's website.

2019-2020: DJ Premier, Atmosphere, Jamo Gang

In 2019, J57 released self-produced “VOLTAIRE.” EP as well as the Heem Stogied & J57 “False Guidance” LP, capping the year off with his 2nd studio album “We Can Be Kings” which features Sid Wilson from Slipknot, Jay Jennings from Snark Puppy, Jamo Gang & more. 100% of the proceeds from the VOLTAIRE. limited edition CD release went to the Flint Water Crisis. J57 released/was a part of over 400 songs released in 2020; over 20 albums, over 10 EP’s & over 30 singles. The debut album from Jamo Gang “Walking with Lions” released in May 2020 via Fat Beats Records which is where J57 made his directorial debut for the single/music video “The 1st Time” featuring DJ Premier & Slug from Atmosphere. As a joke he created an EP as Tiger King’s Joe Exotic in under an hour and released it. A couple of the songs went viral on TikTok, Instagram & Twitter. He also created a new sub-genre; DRILL BAP which is a cross between boom bap hiphop and Brooklyn Drill. J57 donates 100% of the proceeds from a Bandcamp-only EP to the NAACP LDF and 100% of the proceeds from one of his singles to 540W Main (an online hub for antiracist education & events that promote justice for all).

2021-2022: Chavez Sound, solo projects, ''CHROMESTHESIA EP''

In 2021 J57 produced lead singles and key album tracks for

Skyzoo Gregory Skyler Taylor (born December 24, 1982), known professionally as Skyzoo, is an American Songwriter and rapper. He has released a number of notable solo and collaborative albums, including '' Cloud 9: The 3 Day High'' with 9th Wonder in ...

Blu (rapper) Johnson Barnes III (born April 15, 1983), better known by his stage name Blu, is an American rapper and record producer from Los Angeles, California. He is best known for his group Blu & Exile and their debut album ''Below the Heavens'' (2007). H ...

, & Mon Rovîa. He and Ric Chavez launched their new record label, Chavez Sound, which is a subsidiary of FiveSe7en Collective and Soulspazm. Then in 2022, J57 released three self-produced vocal EP’s; "Death By Astral Projection" (featuring

Lil B Brandon Christopher McCartney (born August 17, 1989), professionally known as Lil B and as his alter ego The BasedGod, is an American rapper. Lil B has recorded both solo and with Bay Area group The Pack. His solo work spans several genres, ...

), "Anti-Social Media 2 EP", and "CHROMESTHESIA EP" (featuring

, Skyzoo, Blu & more). In early 2022, J57 released one beat tape per week for the entirety of January, February and March, totaling 13 beat tapes/instrumental albums; one per week for 3 months straight.

Upcoming projects

J57 is currently working on solo projects that include a collaborative EP with Homeboy Sandman and a solo hip hop album that he first started working on while in Australia where he linked up with

Joey Bada$$ Jo-Vaughn Virginie Scott (born January 20, 1995), known professionally as Joey Badass (stylized as Joey Bada$$), is an American rapper, singer, and actor. A native of Brooklyn, New York City, he is a founding member of the hip-hop collective Pro ...

Discography

Studio albums

*''Digital Society'' (2010) *''The Analog Tape'' (2011) *''The Analogue Tape 2'' (2013) *''Walk in the Sun'' (2013) *'' I'm the J57'' (2016) *''I'm the J57 Deluxe Edition'' (2017) *''LP2'' (2018) *''Instrumentals Vol 7 (2019)'' *''Instrumentals Vol 8 (2019)'' *''Instrumentals Vol 9 (2019)'' *''Cobra Instrumentals: Crimson Guard Bangers, Vol. 1 (with Rob Viktum) (2019)'' *''57 Seconds (with DeeJay Element) (2019)'' *''FiveSe7en Collective Instrumentals Vol 1 (2019)'' *''FiveSe7en Collective Instrumentals Vol 2 (2019)'' *''We Can Be Kings. (2019)'' *''False Guidance (with Heem Stogied) (2019)'' *''Instrumentals Vol 10 (2020)'' *''Precious Stones (with Shabaam Sahdeeq) (2020)'' *''Precious Stones nstrumentals(with Shabaam Sahdeeq) (2020)'' *''Walking with Lions (as Jamo Gang) (2020)'' *''Stargazers (2020)'' *''Collection (with Ric Chavez) (2020)'' *''The Palette (with Dr.Doppler) (2020)'' *''My First Beat CD 2003 (2020)'' *''My First Beat CD 2003 Deluxe (2020)'' *''2005 Beat CD (2020)'' *''The Analog Tape 3.4 (2020)'' *''Halloween Volume 1 (as Any Stranger) (2020)'' *''Halloween Volume 2 (as Any Stranger) (2020)'' *''Sugar Dose (as Any Stranger) (2020)'' *''San Remo Britanica (as Any Stranger) (2020)'' *''Hours (as Any Stranger) (2020)'' *''Contra Search (as Contra Search) (2020)'' *''Hypno (as Contra Search) (2020)'' *''Black Flags (as Dream Fountains) (2020)'' *''The Downward Fall (as March Captains) (2020)'' *''Marzo (as March Captains) (2020)'' *''Saturn de Mourning CarTunes Vol 1 (2021)'' *''Collection 2 (with Ric Chavez) (2021)'' *'' '83 Kids (with Dillon) (2021)'' *''The Lord of Sleep EP (Sleep Music Album) (2021)'' *''XERO Beat Tape (2022)'' *''MOON BAP Beat Tape (2022)'' *''j.exe & J57 Beat Tape (with j.exe) (2022)'' *''Ric Chavez & J57 Beat Tape (with Ric Chavez) (2022)'' *''Boricua Sandy & J57 Beat Tape (with Boricua Sandy) (2022)'' *''magnanimous Beat Tape (2022)'' *''ALONE IN MY GHOST TOWN Beat Tape (2022)'' *''KATANA Beat Tape (2022)'' *''The Audible Doctor & J57 8bit Beat Tape (with

The Audible Doctor Mark Vincent Woodford (born May 24, 1984 in Madison, Wisconsin), better known by his stage name The Audible Doctor, is a Brooklyn-based American record producer and underground rapper. The Audible Doctor has been credited as producer in criticall ...

) (2022)'' *''BROWN BAG ERA BEAT TAPE (2007-2013) (2022)'' *''Ash of Pompeii Beat Tape (2022)'' *''VERUCA Beat Tape (2022)'' *''FURIO Beat Tape (2022)'' *''The Lord of Meditation - 57BPM (Meditation Album) (2022)''

EPs

*''Eye Don't Dream...But I Do'' (2010) *''

'' (2012) *'' The Ports'' (2012) *''Malt Disney (J57 Remixes)'' (2013) *''Trill Cunningham'' (2013) *''Wax Aesthetic'' (2014) *''Mute Dialogue'' (2014) *''Instrumentals Vol. 1'' (2014) *''The Sample-Free Remix'' (2015) *''Instrumentals Vol. 2'' (2015) *'' The Fuel'' (2015) *''Sock Money'' (2015) *''There's No I in Antcs'' (2016) *''Landmines'' (2016) *''Element 4 President'' (2016) *''Elixir'' (2016) *''Instrumentals Vol. 3'' (2016) *''The Aware Wolves'' (2017) *''

Sonic Boom Bap ''Sonic Boom Bap'' is the ninth solo EP of American record producer and rapper, J57. It was released on September 27, 2017 through his imprint FiveSe7en Music and features several artistes including Tenacity, Exile, Blame One, Toki Wright, amo ...

'' (2017) *''Instrumentals Vol. 4'' (2018) *''Instrumentals Vol. 5'' (2018) *''Instrumentals Vol. 6'' (2019) *''Anti-Social Media (2019)'' *''VOLTAIRE. (2019)'' *''The Analog Tape 3.1 (2020)'' *''The Analog Tape 3.2 (2020)'' *''The Analog Tape 3.3 (2020)'' *''Joe Exotic / Tiger King EP (2020)'' *''All Proceeds From this EP Go to the NAACP LDF EP (2020)'' *''2004 Beat CD (2020)'' *''2006 Beat CD (2020)'' *''2007 Beat CD (2020)'' *''2008 Beat CD (2020)'' *''Nuclear Wintour (2020)'' *''FiveSe7en Christmas (2020)'' *''DRILL BAP (2020)'' *''The Invisible Boy (as Dream Fountains) (2020)'' *''Summerisle Catharsis (as Any Stranger) (2020)'' *''Element57 EP (with DeeJay Element) (2021)'' *''Element57 Remixes EP (with DeeJay Element) (2021)'' *''Ecto-1 EP (2021)'' *''All Proceeds From This EP Go to UNICEF EP (Bandcamp Only) (2021)'' *''All Proceeds From This EP Go to the NAACP LDF Part 2 (Bandcamp Only) (2021)'' *''6057 (60 East & J57) EP (with 60 East) (2021)'' *''All Proceeds From This EP Go to the NAACP LDF Part 3 EP (Bandcamp Only) (2022)'' *''Anti-Social Media 2 EP (2022)'' *''Anti-Social Media 2 (Remixes) EP (2022)'' *''DEATH BY ASTRAL PROJECTION EP (2022)'' *''CHROMESTHESIA EP (2022)''

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:J57 1983 births Living people Rappers from New York (state) People from Long Island American hip hop musicians Hardcore hip hop artists East Coast hip hop musicians Record producers from New York (state) 21st-century American rappers