Energy, excitement, triumph, thumping bass, pounding drums,
street level grit set against soaring melodies with a touch of soul.
These are just a few of the elements that you are bound to experience
in a Just Blaze production. One of the few producers in hip-hop to
remain relatively behind the scenes yet have a flourishing career,
Just has been keeping heads nodding, dancefloors rocking, and
providing soundscapes for artists to express themselves on for over 13
years and counting.
Born in Hackensack and raised in Paterson, NJ, He developed a
love for music at such an early age, a running family half- joke is
that he was the DJ at his own first birthday party. Just was highly
influenced by his older cousin who introduced him to early 80's hip
hop culture and by 14 years old, was DJ-ing local parties and small
nightclubs in New Jersey. As he got older, inspired by greats such as
Marley Marl, The Bomb Squad, Erick Sermon, Pete Rock, Large Professor
and RZA, his interests transitioned from being a DJ to production, and
by 17 was learning his way around the Ensoniq ASR-10. He attended
Rutgers University for three years before dropping out to pursue his
dream of making records when offered a chance to intern at New York
City's Cutting Room Studios by his childhood friend, and later
manager, Neysa Camacho, an NYU student also from Paterson who'd
recently begun working at the facility. This experience was
invaluable as he was able to learn his way around studios and the art
of engineering, a major key to developing his sound and later success.
In the late 1990s, while still learning his craft and working at
the studio, a chance encounter with Mase while he was working on his
"Harlem world - The Movement" compilation album led to him producing
the project's lead single "I Really Like It", which went on to sell
500,000 copies. WIth a new inspiration instilled, Just began to push
his production work forward and landed records with Killah Priest, Big
Pun, Shabam Shadeeq, Mr. Cheeks, and a slew of underground New York
artists. As word of "the kid from The Cutting Room with dreads"
spread, his grind earned him a meeting with Roc-A-Fella records and
later, a spot on Jay-Z’s The Dynasty: Roc La Familia. His production
on this album, along with the work of Kanye West earned them both
positions as go-to producers at Roc-A-Fella Records for the remainder
of the decade. He went on to produce for many of the acts signed to
the Roc-A-Fella roster, and in 2001 he was a cornerstone of Jay-Z's
groundbreaking classic album The Blueprint, which is widely regarded
as his best work.
In 2002, Just Blaze became a household name for the production of
Cam’ron’s summer smash “Oh Boy.” Smith went on to produce for Snoop
Dogg, Notorious B.I.G., Usher, Mariah Carey, Kanye West, Christina
Aguilera, Janet Jackson, Faith Evans, P. Diddy, Talib Kweli, Busta
Rhymes, Jadakiss, Memphis Bleek, Cam’ron, Saigon, Young Gunz, Grafh,
Shawnna, Beanie Sigel, The Game, DMX, T.I., Fat Joe, Juelz Santana,
Rhymefest, Ghostface Killah, Jin, Fabolous, Freeway, Joe Budden, MF
DOOM, Kool G Rap, Rah Digga, Teriyaki Boyz, Asian actor/recording
artist Edison Chen, and big UK MC’s JME, Skepta and Klashnekoff. At
the same time, Just became a go-to guy in the video gaming world,
producing and scoring soundtracks for EA Sports NBA Street Vol 2, NBA
Live 2003 and 2004, Tiger Woods Golf, Madden, and Midway's NBA
Ballers: "The Chosen One", as well as lending production to MTV's 2005
re-release of the Korean martial-arts classic "Volcano High".
In 2003, "Public Service Announcement", Just's last minute addition to
Jay-Z's "The Black Album" cemented him as THE man to go to for hard,
in your face, classic New York hip-hop that still maintained a
mainstream appeal. Sometimes referred to as "The Hip-Hop National
Anthem" by Jay himself, it remains the hallmark record from that album
to this day. When Jay "retired" later that year, and his run at the
famed Baseline Studios was over, Just found himself with the
possibility of losing the studio he'd called home for the past 5
years. So he took the lion's share of what he'd earned over the years
and did what he calls "one of the craziest, irresponsible, yet best
things I've ever done": he bought it.
At the close of the decade, and after nearly 15 years in the
business (when most producers in the urban world have faded away),
Just has actually gone on to produce some of the biggest records of
his career. T.I.'s "Live Your Life" (featuring Rhianna), which he
produced and co-wrote was an inescapable worldwide chart-topper
throughout 2009. He immediately followed up with Maino and T-Pain's
"All the Above" (which he also co-wrote and produced) which went on to
quickly sell over 1 million copies. He then returned to his
underground hip-hop roots and went on to introduce the world to the
budding talent of indie artist Jay Electronica, when their "Exhibit C"
collaboration took the rap world by storm and quickly hit #10 on the
iTunes hip-hop charts. After receiving phone calls and requests for
meetings from every label executive imaginable, they've decided to
stay the indie route and see how far they can take things on their
own.
around the world, while continuing to be highly productive in the
studio with various other projects such as scoring commercials for the
2010 Capcom release Super Street Fighter IV for Xbox and Playstation
3, remixing the infamous "A-Team" theme for Fox for the release of the
2010 movie, and helming production on four songs for Eminem's
comeback phenomenon "Recovery" (including the recently released single
and video "No Love feat. Lil' Wayne). Most recently, Just was tapped
to host and score "Master of the Mix", a Smirnoff-sponsored DJ reality
competition show airing Q4 on the BET and Centric networks, showcasing
heavyweight DJs from around the US competing for a shot at a the title
"Master of the Mix", a world tour, and a grand prize package worth
over $250,000. Amidst al of this, he still manages to hold down a
weekly Friday event at Santos Party House, NYC, one of the city's
premier nightlife venues, and has recently completed construction on a
new recording studio named Rebel Base, within New York's Stadium Red
Studios facility. While this dizzying workload would daunt the average
person, Just shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. As he puts it,
"It's all in a days work.. i'll sleep later"
Live Session - Just Blaze