Words by: Ilyas Nashid
Tell me more about your latest release Live @ The Liqua Sto? How’d it happen?
It’s a collection of malt liquor commercials (60-90 seconds) based on the old St. Ides commercials that Ice Cube, King Tee and them did in the early 90′s. I did it with my alter ego Chief Chinchilla and it’s more of a comedy album than anything. The beats are funky and its put together with a lot of detail, but we really wanted to just have fun doing jingles for all kinds of malt liquor…even brands that don’t exist (laughs). I don’t even drink, but I’ve always been a fan of the old malt liquor commercials so I thought it would be fun and worth a shot. It’s also making a mockery of how ridiculous malt liquor ads really are. I produced the whole thing but Prince Paul, RA The Rugged Man, E-Swift (of Tha Alkaholiks) and a lot of other people make cameos peddling their liquor of choice or offering words of malt liquor wisdom.
I saw your myspace page, what do you hate about the saggin’ prince tight jeans style that we’re seeing everywhere?
My question is, how you gonna run when the cops come? Like around here kids wear them spandex jeans saggin below the ass and have to walk like a duck to keep them from falling off. Lookin like a real foul 1982/1993 hybrid. But then the kids throw gang signs and dress like Boy George. You can’t judge a book by its cover, but am I supposed to be scared of a kid dressing like Tito Jackson in 1983? Get the fuck outta here! It’s just odd, or maybe I’m just old (laughs).
Whats your favorite performance/show memory?
My best show memory was my NYC retirement party in 2006. That was the last time I ever performed in my hometown and one of the final shows I ever did, even though I still DJ a lot. All my good friends showed up, Gnarls Barkley came through and performed a song with me and I was on the bill with a lot of artists I respected. It just felt like performing in my living room for family, but it was star studded and I left it all onstage that night. It was also the final rap show for the legendary CBGB’s nightclub before they tore it down.
What were you for Halloween?
I normally don’t do holidays but this year I was a pimp (laughs). My home girl invited me to her Halloween party and it was $20 to get in without a costume, $10 with a costume. I’m cheap as hell, so I was gonna roll in a costume but I didn’t want to buy one. I have a fine collection of endangered species fur coats and this suit I just bought last year for $85, so I rolled in on pimp status (laughs).
What are your thoughts on Barack Obama being elected?
It’s beautiful. As a Black American, I have to say it was a great feeling when he won the election. I remember in the 5th grade, me and a friend of mine were chillin on the playground talking about what we wanted to be when we grew up. Another kid walked up and heard us talking about being president and said “they’ll never let a Black person be president, don’t be stupid”. It kinda stuck with me ever since and when you see the racial injustices that go on in America, you tend to believe that it could never happen. I didn’t think he’d win, I thought he’d lose on a technicality or the red states in the south would just pile up. I had no faith in the majority, I’ll admit it. It’s a shining moment in Black history, American history and world history in general. But he’s gonna get bombarded immediately with all the shit that Bush fucked up and he’ll be under a microscope the whole time. I also hope they can protect him, because don’t forget this is still America. This country has a piss poor track record for being able to protect it’s leaders that are advocates of change. It’s a huge and beautiful victory but don’t get it twisted. The war is just starting, racism is still very prevalent in America and unfortunately he’s not above facing it during his term.
What’s next for J-Zone?
Just promoting this Liqua Sto album, teaching a music course at a college, Djing and covering high school basketball in the New York area. Basketball and journalism are my two biggest hobbies. I can be honest and say I’m at a crossroads and I have one foot in the music industry and one foot out. I’ve been in it for 10 years and it can wear you down, but it’s also what I love most. So it’s tough to quit, but it’s tough to stay in it! Basically living by the day and keeping an eye out for what will be my bread and butter for my grown man years (laughs). There’s always fast food jobs. I look suave like a muthafucka in a greasy apron!
