Instrumental Album: Jansport J: The 2 AM Tape

Wow.

I haven't been in the game for a while, and THIS is what I miss? A combination of many different beats all tied together by one thing, Jansport J's well known soulfulness. The song titles pretty much drive how you feel while listening to the songs, and I found myself freestyle to most of the beats(no you'll never hear it).

This has to be hands down one of the best instrumental albums i've heard in a while, with very few weak beats, and no bad ones. If anybody want's to jump on one of the beats, just do it and get at me, I might post it up. I'm actually pretty anxious to hear what people can put on these great tracks.

Here's what Jansport J has to say about it:

"On January 5th, 2009, I released my latest effort called "The 2 AM Tape". This project is an instrumental concept album revolving around all of the common characters, events, and thoughts that take place in the middle of the night...2 AM. The album provides a soundtrack to these events, and takes the listener through a journey through the goings on of 2 AM."


TRACKLISTING:
1. The 2 AM
2. The Kickback
3. The Sweet Nothings
4. The Sex
5. The Munchies
6. The Grind
7. The Anxiety
8. The BreakUp
9. The OutLook
10. The Dippin Corners
11. The Pressure
12. The Wyno
13. The Shooter
14. The Get Her Back
15. The Prayer
16. The Death
17. The 6th Hour (6 AM)

Download

Jansport J Interview

So here's the deal, I did this interview wayyyyyy back in October. That was around the time I fell off the blogosphere, hence the no-post, but I'm back. My apologies to Jansport J for taking so long to post this, he's super cool, and he didn't hassle me once to put this up, and 6 months is a long time.

Now that that's out the way, here's the longggg awaited interview with super soulful, LA producer, Jansport J .

So let's kick it off with a little introduction.

Okay...I go by Jansport J, and I'm a hip hop producer based out of Covina, CA.


It says in your biography that you used to write. Will we be hearing any bars from Jansport J any time soon?

I'm actually writing now for this new Bench Mob project next year. It's a group I'm in with my boy BE.water and LabCat. So that's my rappin outlet. My boy would kill me if I never spit with the way I write, ha, but besides that, I'm zoned out on production.


Speaking of BE.water, he was one of the many artist featured on your album The Carry-On Experience. How did you hook up with all those MCs?

Some of them stem from personal relationships. Me and Water have been boys since second grade, he moved towards the end of elementary school, but we hooked back up in '05 to do music. Cov' Originals is a crew that I show love to, we're both grindin in the same city, so we wanted to show unity. Everyone else where artists' that I came across on myspace and really loved their style. I kinda played A&R for 6 months and established contact with these specific artists. P.A. blessed me with the opportunity to do the official remix with him, Kool G. Rap, and B.A.G.I.


You speak about "Stepping Stone Beats", can you explain what those are?

Basically, every 3 or 4 months, I kinda notice a progression in my production, so a lot of times I'll do a beat, and I'll get really hyped about it, and feel like I can continue to produce on that level, kind of like benchmarks that show how much you've improved. I believe the actual beat for the track "Carry-On Experience" and the actual intro were stepping stone beats for me. With the intro, I had to figure out a way to set the tone for the album, create something beautiful but simple.


That beat was one of your best, and one of my favorite on the entire album.

Appreciate that.


Let's mix it up a bit. If you could choose one single super power, what would it be?

It used to be mindreading, but I don't know, that would be really wild, might catch feelings haha. Probably to be able to fly, especially with all of this LA traffic. I do a lot of commuting to studios and going back home. LA traffic is something the devil created.


Ha, How's LA right now? In general.

Man, the hip hop scene out here is amazing right now. There are so many artists on the comeup, and we're startin to get our recognition, beyond the gangbangin rap. It just feels like a renaissance out here, the music is doing well, the clothing lines are coming up and showing love, artists are coming up, and it's all together. You'll find the hip hop dudes at an art show or fashion show, we're all supporting each other right now.


It's about time you guys get recognized for something passed gangbang rap.

Yeah, and it's not a slight against that scene at all, there's a lot of gang activity, and that's what put us on the map, we can't ignore it. But there's no need for me to break into that circle, if thats not me, and I think a bunch of these artists felt the same way.


You were pretty lucky to find so many artist that can be considered lyrical and portray a positive image.
Yeah man, to me, it wasn't about the name, it was about the skill, and that kind of fit in with the concept of the album.


For those who haven't downloaded the album can you explain the whole concept?

Yeah, the concept of the album was based out of looking at the hip hop scene right now, there's a lot of rap about the cars, the jewels etc, which is all good with me, but alot of these dudes that are coming up now are rapping like that, and they don't have those things.
So I would talk with a lot of different artists about the need to put out an album full of realness, like the different stories we tell each other, or concerns we have, let's put them on tracks. So the concept is, that we're always told that baggage is a negative thing to have in life but that baggage from your past, made you who you are today. So whenever you become successful in whatever you do, or you take flight, bring that baggage with you, that "carry-on" luggage, and so the album, as you listen to it, covers situations that the average person goes through, love, dead end jobs, anger with people crossing you, the desire for your music to be heard, stuff like that.


So what is your favorite backpack that you own?

Haha, contrary to popular opinion, I only have 2 backpacks at the moment, and my favorite is definitely my tan camoflauge jansport. I'm about to cop the new new jansport gear for next year though, I got a sneak peak at some of the backpacks and im excited. But the name came from me rocking my backpack everywhere, usually with my laptop in there full of my beats, and my boy BE.water did a track to Little Brother's "Get Up" for a mixtape, and he said "This one is for Jansport J", with me bein a huge LB fan, it kinda stuck.


Let's run through The Morning Tilts top 5
Movies:

Off the top of my head... The Godfather 1 & 2, The Omen (original), Childs Play 2, Scarface.

Bands

The Beatles, The Doors, System of a Down, Queen and a band called Local Natives.

Ice cream flavors
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Butter Pecan, Neopolitan, Cookies and Cream, and Dulce De Leche.


Before we go, any last words or shout-outs?
Yessir, download "The Carry-On Experience" through my myspace page. "The Love EP" with P.H.I.L.T.H.Y. is on its way...January 09!

And with that, I end this interview. It was a great talk, with a great producer (I still mellow out to The Carry On Experience). Once I again, I apologize for the delay. Stay Tuned/

Mixtape: Jansport J- The Carry-On Experience

Wow. Now this is my type of music, just chill, deep, lyrical, and overall soothing. This entire album consists of different tracks produced by Jansport J, each featuring a different artist. Here's what Jansport J has to say about it

"In life, we've always been told that baggage is a bad thing. It holds you back in relationships and progression, or so we've been told. However, when you succeed in whatever you do at life, or "take flight", it's important to bring that baggage with you. That baggage made you who you are and prepared you for the successes to come...hence the concept of "the carry-on" baggage.

On this album, you'll be hearing rappers from all over America rappin' about their present situations and perspectives on life. Everything that the common man goes through is on this album."
-Jansport J

Each of these artist's can spit, and Jansport J makes some captivating beats, no, not even beats, he makes instrumentals, the word "beat" is just too simplistic for them. Not to say that his beats are overly multi-dimensioned, they're just right. Just right, that's the perfect way to describe his instrumentals.

If you want to have something chill to listen to, something to just relax to, this is it.

TRACKLISTING:
01 - Intro - Jansport J
02 - Just Listen - Velosity
03 - Cold Hearted - Avi, Poetic Force, Funk Logik
04 - Carry On Experience - Prophit
05 - Happily Ever After - Youngs
06 - She's Picture Perfect - Be.water
07 - In Love - The God Sincere, Hawdwerk
08 - Maximum - Be.water
09 - Tales From The Hood - The Cov' Originals
10 - Ya Dig - Velosity
11 - The Cold Train - Soul.Ill.oquy
12 - Hip Hop - Velosity
13 - Sheep - Kongeror
14 - The Choice Is Yours - Avi, Hawdwerk, Funk Logik
15 - The Baggage Claim Outro - Jansport J
16 - Bonus: Hoodfellaz Official Remix - Kool G Rap, P.A., B.A.G.I.

Download