Jipsta

Early life

Born in Brooklyn, New York and raised in Queens, Jipsta is of Scottish and Italian descent. He studied music at Bayside High School (New York City), in Queens, where he was the Valedictorian of the 1992 graduating class. Other notable alumni of the performing arts high school include Olivia (singer) and Action Bronson.

2007: "Don't Act Like You Don't Know"

Jipsta began releasing music on MySpace in 2007, including an early demo version of what would eventually become Jipsta's debut single, "Don’t Act Like You Don’t Know." Released independently on Juiced Up records, the song quickly became a breakout and spent 4 weeks on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart in 2008, peaking at #42. Its inclusion on the February 2008 issue of the Promo Only Mainstream Club disc alongside mainstream artists such as Mary J. Blige and Natasha Bedingfield was based on the positive response the track received from club play.

2008: "Middle of the Dancefloor"

The success of "Don't Act" caught the attention of Ranny, a Boston-based DJ who himself has charted on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart, and DJ Mike Cruz who both contributed mixes for Jipsta's sophomore release,"Middle of the Dancefloor." Ranny, who had established an independent label of his own, RockBerry records, signed Jipsta to the label, and "Middle of the Dancefloor" was the first official release on the RockBerry imprint. "Middle of the Dancefloor" rapidly jumped up the Billboard chart, peaking at #6 for two weeks, making it Jipsta's first Billboard Top 10 single The song spent a total of 14 weeks on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart, and is also noteworthy as it is the first time an openly gay white rapper earned a Billboard Top 10 single on the Dance Club Songs chart. The success of "Middle of the Dancefloor" paved the way for Jipsta to work with more well-established and commercially successful remixers and producers for his third single.

2009: "I Want Your Sex"

Jipsta's breakthrough moment came with the release of his third single, a progressive, genre-bending cover of the George Michael classic 80's single, "I Want Your Sex." Chris Cox (DJ) (one half of the Grammy-Nominated remixing duo Thunderpuss) signed Jipsta to his Provocative Music/Interhit Records label, and "I Want Your Sex" quickly hit the Billboard Dance Club Songs Chart with a vengeance, with the song entering the chart as the Hot Shot Debut at #43, and then jumping to the #29 spot as the Power Pick in its first two weeks of release. The song climbed to the #4 position, making it Jipsta's first Top 5 Billboard single The single also did well in the international market, making its impact on Billboard's "Global Dance Tracks" chart based on worldwide club play alone. Jipsta filmed his first official music video in support of the single, which aired in heavy rotation on Logo's Click List Top 10 countdown as well as on Logo's NewNowNext Pop Lab program.

2010: "Nasty Boy"

Jipsta released his fourth single called "Nasty Boy" in March 2010. Serving as an homage/re-invention to the classic Vanity 6 song "Nasty Girl," the track featured house singer Inaya Day, who herself had covered the song in 2004. The song remains Jipsta's most recognizable single in terms of club play, longevity, and sales. Although the song never broke into the Top 10, peaking at #13 on the Billboard Club Play chart, it spent a total of 14 weeks on the chart. A large part of the single's widespread appeal and chart success longevity was attributed to the white label bootleg Mashup (music) by San Francisco-based Billboard reporting DJ Jamie J. Sanchez.

Bandoozle Beatz

In order to gain more creative control over his debut album and future releases, Jipsta founded his own independent label, Bandoozle Beatz.

2011: Bandoozle

Jipsta released the highly anticipated debut album, entitled "Bandoozle" in May 2011 to positive reviews. It entered the iTunes Charts Top 200 dance albums in the Top 50 and remained on that chart for over five months. Bandoozle contains the album versions of the previous released stand-alone singles "Don't Act Like You Don't Know," "Middle of the Dancefloor," and "I Want Your Sex" plus 11 new songs recorded for the album.

Jipsta sought new musical collaborators to help extend the reach of his music to a wider audience. The first official single release from "Bandoozle" was "U Got (What I Need)," which featured production from DJ John Rizzo. This was the first of Jipsta's singles that was not promoted to the Billboard panel as a shift had occurred in the market favoring EDM style dance music, a style that was not represented on this release. The single received significant support, however, based on the strength and crossover appeal of the music video, which featured cameo appearances by Pandora Boxx, Sahara Davenport, Jessica Wild, and Milan, all of whom appeared as cast members of the television program RuPaul's Drag Race. The video was serviced to video bars and clubs throughout the United States by its placement on the Promo Only video compilation entitled "Dance Mix Video: November 2011" alongside mainstream artists including Katy Perry, LMFAO, and Katy B.

To further support the Bandoozle album, Jipsta released an original song featuring legendary dance diva Sandy B called "Party of the Year," which marked the first musical collaboration between Jipsta and Grammy nominated producer/remixer Chris Cox. In an interview Jipsta explained that the song was written with the intention of becoming a song that would be played annually on New Year's Eve and at all LGBT Gay Pride events. The song peaked on the Billboard Dance Club Play chart at Number 10, earning Jipsta his third Billboard Top 10 record. A video concept was discussed but never came to fruition due to scheduling conflicts at the time.

The third and final single to be released from the Bandoozle album was "Too New York." In a similar vein to the Jay-Z and Alicia Keys collaboration "Empire State of Mind," the song is an homage to New York City and takes the listener on a journey through the city as seen through Jipsta's eyes. The video is a fast-paced, colorful, and fun tour-de-force through Brooklyn and Manhattan, and helped to boost sales of "Bandoozle" as the video increased in popularity.

2012-2013: Collaborations with Ranny: "Moombah Zoombah" and "Body Pop"

Capitalizing on the success of the "Bandoozle" album, Jipsta's long-time friend and musical collaborator, Ranny, suggested that the two pair up to record songs for Ranny's debut EP entitled "Party Crasher," which was released in December 2012 on Ranny's Rockberry imprint. Ranny wanted to push Jipsta into new musical directions to gain a wider group of listeners. The first collaboration, "Moombah Zoombah," saw Jipsta switching up his style from fast-paced, intricate lyrical verses to a greater focus on stronger, more memorable hooks over a slower BPM moombahton track, a very popular musical style of the time. At the same time, Jipsta was recording another song with Ranny called "Body Pop." Due to the longevity of the run that "Moombah Zoombah" had in the clubs, a decision was made to push back the release of "Body Pop." "Body Pop" appears on Jipsta's second album, "Turnt Up," and reached #11 on the Billboard Dance chart in December 2014.

2013: Turnt Up

Wasting no time, Jipsta returned to the studio to begin work on his next album. Jipsta's sophomore album, entitled "Turnt Up" was released in August 2013. The album's songs reflected a progression and maturation in Jipsta's song lyrics and overall sound, with a greater focus on hip-hop tracks. The album included the two collaborations with Ranny, "Moombah Zoomah" and "Body Pop," as well as the lead single from the album "Lover Who Rocks You," a collaboration with Reina (musician). The song is a cover version of the version originally recorded by salsa singer La India in 1990. The second single from the album, "Abracadabra" features vocals by singer Joe Thompson from the NYC-based group Undercover.

2016–present: Ban2oozle

After taking a self-imposed hiatus in the wake of the subway attack in 2014, Jipsta recently began hinting to fans on Twitter that he was at work in the studio on his third studio album, which is to be entitiled "Ban2oozle."jipsta (22 July 2016). "Major progress in the studio today! The vibe of this album is SO incredible. Can't wait to share it with you guys!! #Ban2oozle" (Tweet) – via Twitter. 

Outside Collaborations

Hate crime

In March 2014, Jipsta was the victim of a bias attack in a New York City subway station as he and his partner were celebrating their 10-year anniversary. The assailant hurled vicious homophobic slurs at the couple, and following a verbal disagreement, Jipsta was brutally beaten by the unidentified subject, resulting in multiple fractures to his face. As a result of the incident, Jipsta required surgery due to seven broken bones sustained to his nose and eye socket, which forced him to cease promotion of his sophomore album Turnt Up.

Albums

Music Videos

Jipsta has filmed several music videos in support of the release of his singles which have aired on the MTV network and Logo, a US cable channel geared towards the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community.