J-Zone: “Here’s my hour set from Beatminerz Radio’s Mix Master Weekend. Slight pitch control and ground issue with one turntable (at 4:30 and 17 minutes, respectively), but it only adds character to the raggedness of funk 45s! Enjoy.”

Redefinition Records sat down with the multi-talented J-Zone at his Queens NY studio for a conversation about his musical roots, why he started playing drums, and the ideas behind his latest project, “Lunch Breaks”
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ABOUT J-ZONE’S LUNCH BREAKS (a 45 RPM 12″)

These are must have drums, especially for sampling producers, DJs and production enthusiasts. Includes 9 bonus tracks not available on the digital version.

Video conceived, directed and edited by Kevin Young.

J-Zone pens a brilliant piece for Cuepoint about the term “hater,” and how we now ostracize people for having an opinion. This goes with his new song “Mad Rap,” which you can also hear below.

Can We Finally Bury the Word “Hater?”

J-Zone tells us:

Many of you are musicians and producers, but if you’re not, this e-mail will be of little interest to you. Sorry.

I’ve been studying and playing drums and researching old recording equipment for two years. I decided to put all the hours of practice and nerdery to use and just released a digital download of 31 drum breaks I played and recorded for your sampling pleasure. They sound just like the old records you spend hundreds of dollars on just to sample the drums. I don’t believe in lawsuits when it comes to music, so feel free to use the drums for your projects. If you buy it, it’s open season. If you do make a few million for a beat that samples some of the drums I played, just buy me a second couch so I can have something new to fish pocket change out of.

Purchase and listen to (lo-fi) snippets of Lunch Breaks here (at The Drum Broker).

From the album Peter Pan Syndrome, available now. Directed by Kevin Young. “For all of you (old) people who taped your videos on VHS back in the day. And keep your bathrooms clean.”

On this episode of J-Zone’s Rhythm Roulette, Mass Appeal linked up with the “king of the dollar bins,” J-Zone. Since releasing Music for Tu Madre in 1998, J has been keeping it one-doubly for more than 15 years now by continuously releasing quality material like his ’03 release $ick of Bein’ Rich and his recent album Peter Pan Syndrome.

J-Zone checks in with Red Bull’s Music Academy for this episode of their Fireside Chat series with Chairman Mao. It chronicles his musical journey told through clips of music, including stories from his oddball childhood as a self-taught bass player through his stint in hip-hop. And in his words, “Also included: quitting music and becoming a working stiff, realizing I have a 0% chance of success as a working stiff, writing my book and eventually returning to music.” Check it out here and enjoy.

J-Zone has teamed with vinyl purists Chopped Herring Records for The 1993 Demos EP, which includes 7 never-heard-before tracks from his early years, five years before his 1998 debut, Music For Tu Madre. Although his voice sounds exactly the same on these twenty-year old recordings, his flow definitely fits the year, as rapped under his “Mr. Bomb” alias. The project will be limited to 350 copies and is available at www.choppedherringrecords.com. Check out snippets below.

It’s been said, famously, that there’s no 401k in hip-hop. That might not be completely true for the Jay-Z’s of the world, but certainly for the J-Zone’s. It’s been almost a decade since Zone’s last proper solo album, A Job Ain’t Nuthin But Work, and his latest album, Peter Pan Syndrome, suggests that it’s been a long, hard decade. But like the rest of Zone’s catalog, he’s carved out an almost Dolemite-esque persona for himself, that is able to pick the mic back up, slip back into character, and poke fun at things like he never left.

J-Zone has had a decade to hone his craft, and in that time he’s picked up a new skill – playing the drums. So while his earlier sample-rich works founding him borrowing beats from various different sources, his new material finds him looping his own drum kit, giving the album a sound all it’s own. However the rest of the record is still heavily rooted in samples, with heavy influence from producers like Sir Jinx and Prince Paul, as Zone brilliantly puts together a concept album about getting old in hip-hop.

J-Zone was quite prolific in his earlier years, dropping albums almost annually, however the schtick almost began to wear thin, despite attempts to try something different, such as his instrumental LP, To Love A Hooker, or a collaborative record with Celph Titled, as the Bo$$ Hog Barbarians. However with such a long absence between records, hearing a new album from him is refreshing, as he hasn’t missed a step. He’s sharper and funnier than ever, making poignant observations about class, race, sex, and the music business.

“Gadget Ho”, a song about girls addicted to their smartphones, is one of those tracks that wouldn’t have been able to come out ten years ago, as the technology wasn’t there yet. The same can be said for “Trespasser”, which examines the gentrification of formerly scary parts of New York City, something that wasn’t an issue back then. The time off has given J-Zone a variety of new topics to cover.

But the most interesting of these is the idea of a failed rap artist, something covered at length in his 2011 autobiography, Root For The Villain. While he wrote the book with a distinct voice, here it’s put into poetry, making his observations all the more interesting. The album’s intro, “It’s A Trap”, is an unapologetic rant about the post-rap lifestyle, while “Rap Baby Boomers” puts it into rhyme form, sampling (and destroying) the already-irrelevant Soulja Boy, who ironically is a victim of his own vitriol. The album’s title track, “Peter Pan Syndrome”, is almost an autobiographical account of his time in the industry.

The solution comes on tracks like “Jackin For Basquiats” and “An Honest Day’s Robbery”, which finds Zone and his alter ego, Chief Chinchilla, turning to a life of crime to make ends meet. It’s a story all too familiar, but it’s presented humorously here like we’ve never heard before. Songs like these will make you laugh out loud, yet if you were ever involved in the music industry in any form or fashion, they will sting a bit too.

J-Zone also spends a great deal of time examining the “post-racial America”, on songs like “Opposites Attract” and “Miscegenation On Ya Station!”, and even takes a look inward on “Black Weirdo”, with some of his own theories about why he can’t get a date. Also deserving of mention are Zone’s instrumental interlude tracks, like “Molotov Cocktail”, “Gimmie A Hit”, and “The Drug Song (Remix)”, which help sew the album together nicely.

Peter Pan Syndrome is one of the most original and honest records of the year, one that will resonate with many hip-hop fans that grew up in the 80′s and 90′s. Today’s generation may lack the frame of reference to early Ice Cube, De La Soul, or 3rd Bass records that this album is clearly influenced by, however Zone’s brand of humor is likely to strike a chord with just about anyone. Hopefully that’s true, and Zone can finally live off of his art.

J-Zone’s first ever actual music video that he’s actually in! 15 years too late. Stop sending emoticons. From the album Peter Pan Syndrome, available now.

J-Zone avoids technical perfection and uses outdated, obsolete and broken equipment to record his new album, Peter Pan Syndrome. Pre-order Peter Pan Syndrome at j-zone.bandcamp.com. Release date 09.05.2013.

Peter Pan Syndrome is due Sept. 10th.

J-Zone tells us:

“What inspired my return to music? Reality! Ever try getting on Linked In or going to a job fair with a Gumby haircut and your primary experience being running around a stage in a rabbit fur coat? I did. Ever enter the work force for the very first time in your mid-30s and try to “behave,” “assimilate,” “move up” and “grow up,” only to go broke, become a misanthrope and go postal after 7 months, write a book and become even less willing to grow up? I did.

That’s why my new album is called Peter Pan Syndrome and it comes out in a few weeks.”

J-Zone writes: “I took some time off from music (4 years to be exact), but recently returned to it and started working on some stuff for fun. thebeeshine.com caught me in my element (aka my basement studio) making a beat, fishing through black and white TV soundclips, playing drums and continuing down the road to Peter Pan syndrome. But shit, it was fun!”