Eazy E and J-Zone - Rockaway and Crenshaw 2005
Project Pat - Bitch Witta Weave (J-Zone remix) 2005
J-Zone - Hog Luv (snippet) UNRELEASED BOYEEE

Yall know about J-Zone. About his bugged out chop-happy beats. About how he sold his debut album at his graduation. About how he’s a connoisseur of ignorance. If you need a bio, check his myspace page. If you know the deal, check this conversation we had.

-who are some of the biggest influences on your production style?

There’s a lot. Im pretty big on arrangement and makin the track tell a story along with the rhymes. A lot of movement in the beats. I would say definitely the Bomb Squad for that. Also, DJ Pooh, Sir Jinx, Mr. Mixx from 2 Live Crew, my mentor Vance Wright and Hollywood Impact. Listen to “Do It To The Crowd” by Twin Hype. Hollywood was beastin on that. Also, DJ Pooh’s work on King Tee’s Triflin album. They were all very underrated to me, like with soundbites, dialog, changes and the whole makin the songs feel like a movie when you hear em. Their tracks told stories, completin rappers sentences with vocal samples and shit. I took that from them. DJ Muggs too, that first Cypress album was one of my main blueprints back when I first started. 45 King too, cause he always used bizarre funky ass samples that had personality, like you had to pause for a second when his beats would drop cause it always had some odd sounds. But they was funky! “900 Number”, “Get Funky”, and all the shit he gave Lakim Shabazz! Whew! Both his fuckin albums was loaded on beats. I won’t say beat scholarship cause Lakim was nice, but those are some of the greatest beats I ever heard. “When You See A Devil Smash Him”! That’s all I gotta say. Total Trak was dope too, they did the Sylk Smoov, Mad Flava and AMG shit back in the day. Just funky ass breakbeats, but dope.

-talkin about total trak, muggs, pooh and jinx…it’s interesting that you came up on the east coast and yet you’re bringin up all these west coast names. you’re known for your wide view (from the “ignorant mix” and shit like that), in pretty stark contrast to the generally xenophobic new york hip-hop scene. how did you get into all that outside shit?

I was the type to watch MTV raps or video music box or read the Source (when it was good) and be open minded. Good music is good music. I’d buy EVERYTHING. Dressin bummy, spendin all my loot on tapes. I’d even walk up in Tower Records and cop shit based on the label or album cover. I was just hungry for good shit. I love the DITC/Native Tongue jazzy shit, but I also love the Rodney O & Joe Cooley type shit with Atomic Dog P-Funk samples all over the album. I love it all.

-as a rapper, who do you most want a beat from?

Haha, thats hard to say. I’d want a Manny Fresh beat! Dead serious. I think it would be an ill twist to my sound, but it would work.

-who’s out there that you feel is underrated?

Manny Fresh dog! He’s not underrated in mainstream circles, but in the circles Im in, people hate on him cause he don’t really sample or whatever. But his programming, musicianship and arranging is crazy! I like Rick Rock too on some pimped out west coast shit. I think Da Beatminerz are underrated too. They got that grimy basement shit that everybody is scared to do now. They just gutter. Jake One is underrated, DJ Sebb is too.

-yeah I did a post on Mannie a lil while back on some old Gregory D shit, and it all sounds like early Dre, samples and all. do you think dudes who hate even realize he started out that way, with breaks, and moved past that? why do you think this glorification of sampling as the end-of all beats has been so persistant?

Yeah man, the Gregory D album had beats! I think people are scared to admit itll never be golden age again. Like a dope beat is a dope beat. Sampled or live. But with the majors avoiding sampling, its like theres no balance, so people are fiendin for some sampled beats, at least I was. Sampling is re-emerging in the mainstream, but its artists who can afford to clear em. I think people spend way too much time focusing on how the beat was made and not enough on how it sounds. You can tell Mannie knows his shit by his programming, he just dont sample much. If Kon and Amir gave him their crates and one week, he’d be the biggest producer in the underground cause he’d flip the samples so dope and make us all look dumb.

-you ever have any problem clearing samples? you definately use your share.

got busted once back in the day, but ive gotten smarter with it. chopping, making shit unrecognizable, flippin shit. i pkay all my basslines too. i always did that naturally cause i used to use an sp1200 when i first started producing. it had 10 seconds of memory so i had to break shit up and it became a challenge and altered the way i make beats. i could have perfect loop now and ill still fuck with it and try to make it doper, put my stamp on it. that drives people crazy, but its the way i like to make beats. to take some shit and totally rearrange it.

-what’s your favorite beat you ever made?

My favorite beat of mine? Definitely “J-Zone Hoggamix” or “Hog Luv” off the upcoming Bo$$ Hog Barbarian$ album. But if i had to pick somethin thats already officially out, it would be “Rockaway & Crenshaw” or “Bitch Witta Weave” from my remix album. “Heavy Metal” from A Job Ain’t Nuthin But Work is another favorite. 5 way tie, im bad at pickin absolute favorites of anything!

-what was it like workin with biz markie?

Workin wit Biz was probably the highlight of my career. The song I produced for him was called “Chinese Food” and the first thing he said to me when we met was “Yo man, I thought you’d be Chinese!” I played him like 30 beats cause he was lookin for more for Weekend Warrior. He picked 2 beats but they wound up bein on my $ick Of Bein Rich album instead because of time issues, but he played me like 40 joints he was workin on. There was classics in there man. Fuckin sample clearance screwed that up, they never came out. He has a rep of bein guarded, but he was real cool and down to earth. He signed my copy of The Biz Never Sleeps for me (cause I’m a fan before I’m an artist), we did the session and I broke out. He was a big influence on me in terms of bugged, bass heavy beats and goofball humor, so it was an honor to meet and work with him.