Jbez

Being born and raised in a town with a population of 5,000 people in the middle of farm country doesn’t exactly sound like a hip hop story in the making, but then again few of the things in Jbez’s life do.

Spending his formative years around music in the church, and then later around the songwriters of Nashville, most people wouldn’t have guessed that J’s path would be so different, but still so close to where he started.

It was in Nashville, where his mother worked on the Ralph Emery Show, that J’s love for music began to grow. Inspired by country music legends Hank Williams and Johnny Cash, J began seeking out his own music identity, away from the traditional sounds of his country upbringing.

Influenced by the classic country of his childhood, as well as artists including Outkast, B.O.B., and Eminem, Jbez has created a sound that reflects his laidback, small-town lifestyle, while still managing to step well outside the confines of the “dirty south” hip hop movement.

Since 2004, when J won the Florida Freestyle 1 Mic 1 Shot Freestyle Battle and the Tennessee Freestyle Battle Royale, he has released two self produced albums, with a third planned for release in 2010.

Jbez has shared the stage with national touring artists including Brooke Hogan, Bubba Sparxxx, Kill Hannah, Action Reaction, Love Arcade, Tone Loc, The Pink Spiders, Young Buck, and Willa Ford.