Johnny J

Early life

Johnny "J" grew up on 103rd and Budlong in South Central, Los Angeles, the oldest of three children. His father, John Sr., was a mechanic by trade who worked for the naval shipyards and now works for the U.S. Defense Department. His mother, Lidia, was a bilingual school teacher. His parents bought him a drum machine and made a break-dancing floor out of tile for him, and his aunt and uncle helped him build a makeshift studio.

Johnny's interest in hip-hop escalated while he was at Washington Preparatory High School. He played on the drum line and hit it off with the aspiring rapper Candell "Candyman" Manson; future artists such as Yo-Yo, WC and Sir Jinx, of Da Lench Mob, also attended Washington Prep around that time, in the mid-1980s. Soon after high school, Johnny got his big break, producing "Knockin' Boots" for Candyman. The song went platinum and reached No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in summer 1990, pushing Candyman’s debut album, Ain't No Shame In My Game, into gold status.

Early productions (1989–1992)

In late 1993, Big Syke, a member of 2Pac's group Thug Life introduced Johnny to 'Pac. They quickly gelled, recording "Pour Out a Little Liquor", for the Above the Rim soundtrack, and "Death Around the Corner," which would appear on Me Against the World. The partnership was derailed, though, when Tupac was sent to prison in February 1995. After his release that October, the pair reunited at Can-Am Studios in L.A.. Tupac felt very secure with him in the studio. 2Pac and Johnny J recorded more than a hundred songs together—11 of them, including "How Do U Want It" and "All About U", ended up on All Eyez on Me; the rest composed the bulk of 2Pac’s posthumous work.

He produced his classmate Candyman's 1989 EP Hip Hop Addict and his 1990 single "Knockin' Boots" for his classmate Candyman's album Ain't No Shame in My Game, which went platinum thanks to the single. He also produced the early work of recording artist Shady Montage who eventually went on to become Shade Sheist.

Tupac Shakur, Death Row Records and solo album (1993–1996)

After the numerous nominations for Candyman, Johnny J met 2Pac and recorded nine tracks with him in three days. Following these recordings Johnny produced "Pour Out a Little Liquor" which appeared on the Above The Rim soundtrack and 2Pac's Thug Life album. The soundtrack eventually went Double Platinum and won the Soundtrack of The Year Award at the 1995 Source Awards.

Johnny produced the track "Death Around The Corner" which ended up on 2Pac's third solo album entitled Me Against The World That album eventually went to the top of the Billboard 200.

Johnny J recorded and released his debut rap album I Gotta Be Me in 1994, which spawned two singles: "Get Away From Me" and "Dig Um' Out". A music video was shot for "Get Away From Me". Jackson produced the entire album, and even showcased his singing abilities on such tracks as "Love's the Way". The beat for "Better Off" would later be recycled for 2Pac's "Picture Me Rollin'" in his 1996 album All Eyez On Me. I Gotta Be Me is now out of print and hard to find.

After 2Pac's release in late 1995, the two began collaborating for 2Pac's Death Row Records debut All Eyez On Me. The double album was released early next year, and Johnny J produced the chart topping hits "All Bout U", "How Do U Want It" and "Life Goes On". He also produced "Thug Passion", "Shorty Wanna Be A Thug", "Wonda Why They Call U Bitch", "Run tha Streetz", "All Eyez on Me", "What'z Ya Phone #" and "Picture Me Rollin'"

The album is one of the most influential albums in hip hop history, and according to the RIAA, nine million copies of the album were sold in the United States alone by June 18, 1998.

According to 2pacworld.com, Johnny J. "co-wrote and helped produce 11 songs on All Eyez on Me and was never paid the $100,000 advance or the per song royalties of 3% he was supposed to receive." This financial dispute has led some to believe Death Row was somehow responsible for his death; preferring to have him killed than to pay royalties which would number in the millions because of the commercial success of 2pac albums he helped produce.

Miscellaneous ventures (1997–2005)

Prior to Tupac Shakur's death Johnny produced over 150 tracks for the rapper, a great deal of them unreleased. Many of Johnny's collaborations with Shakur ended up being remixed for his posthumous releases such as "Until the End of Time", "Better Dayz", and "R U Still Down? (Remember Me)", while only a select few remained in their original form.

Johnny had composed a few music scores in such films as Gridlock'd. The first artist Johnny collaborated with after 2Pac's death was Bizzy Bone from Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. Johnny produced "Thugz Cry" and "Nobody Can Stop Me" off of the Heavenz Movie album, a release that went Platinum. In 2009 Klock Work Entertainment confirmed that Johnny produced a whole album for Bizzy, but it never got released.

Along with Napoleon from the Outlawz and Val Young, Johnny released "Never Forget" in 2004, a tribute song to 2Pac. A music video was shot for the song, and includes many guest appearances from many of Shakur's close friends.

Final years (2006–2008)

In mid-2006, Johnny J premiered a 10 year anniversary Tupac tribute track on a charitable compilation by Mutulu Shakur entitled A 2Pac Tribute: Dare 2 Struggle. The song was written by a new artist working with Klock Work at the time named T-Jay.

In mid-2008, Iranian-Canadian rapper Imaan Faith collaborated with Deejay Ra to release Imaan's debut album Let The Truth Be Known on Universal Music Canada, featuring an opening track with Johnny J entitled "Goin 2 Da Top", which was recorded at Johnny's studio in California in mid-2006. Johnny's name was mentioned in billboard, radio and TV advertisements across Canada as one of the album's producers during a 3 month advertising campaign, and the album charted at #6 on the Nielsen SoundScan top ten in Canada the week of its March 11 release.

Johnny J had been recording for most of 2008 with actress/singer Tatyana Ali on her sophomore music album The Light.

DUI arrest and death

On July 27, 2008, Johnny J was arrested in Los Angeles, California for DUI, and sentenced to 3 years in prison during a trial three weeks later.

On October 3, 2008, while serving his sentence at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility located in Los Angeles, California, Johnny allegedly jumped off an upper tier of the prison in an apparent suicide at about 6:45PM. He was found lying on the ground unconscious minutes later, and was rushed to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 7:22PM.

Solo album