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About
As a Los Angeles-based rapper, producer, singer and songwriter, Mr. J. Medeiros has carved his own path in Hip Hop. Known for his unique poetic rhyme style, cinematic story-telling, and strong social commentary, Mr. J’s sound is genuine, timeless, and profound.
Medeiros got his start when he formed the Hip-Hop group, The Procussions, in his hometown of Colorado Springs, CO. Following the buzz of their first single, Medeiros spearheaded their relocation to Los Angeles. The band would go on to enjoy five successful years in Hip Hop's underground scene, touring the world and garnering critical acclaim for both their recorded and live performances. Some of their more notable achievements include touring with Hip Hop icons A Tribe Called Quest and The Roots, and collaborating with Talib Kweli on their single "Miss January". The trio had two independent releases, "As Iron Sharpens Iron" and their EP "Up All Night". Their sophomore album, "5 Sparrows for 2 Cents", was the first release on Rawkus Records’s revamped label. The group disbanded in 2007 on good terms.
Later that year, Mr. J. Medeiros dropped his debut album, "Of gods and girls", on Rawkus Records. Challenging himself to grow as a musician, Medeiros used this time to take on the roles of both producer and rapper. These two facets came together brilliantly on the ground-breaking single “Constance”, where Mr. J. took aim at the ills of human trafficking and internet pornography. To help raise awareness on this issue Medeiros formed the iamconstance.com campaign, which partnered with international non-profit organizations to fight human trafficking and sexual abuse. Being the first song of its kind, “Constance” gathered enough attention to land itself on the CBS Evening News in an expo on sex trafficking. Though the music video was considered by MTV to be "too controversial to air", Medeiros found commercial support via VH1 and a guest appearance on TLC’s T.V. show "Miami Ink". “Of gods and girls” is considered by many Hip Hop enthusiasts to be a classic album and provided a strong foot forward for Mr. J.’s emerging career.
In 2009, after a two-year standstill with record labels, Mr. J. Medeiros decided to take his career into his own hands. He formed De Medeiros in the spring of that year and released an EP titled “The Art of Broken Glass” soon after. Produced by YouTube phenom Boonie Mayfield and distributed exclusively through Mr. J.’s website, the EP found critical acclaim, praising Mr. J.’s heightened lyrical ability, along with Boonie's “Golden Era” production style.
In the summer of that year and building on the word-of-mouth success the EP achieved, Medeiros released his highly anticipated sophomore album, "Friends Enemies Apples Apples". Medeiros partnered with former bandmate, Stro, on the production while he focused mainly on perfecting his skill as a songwriter. Being crowned a “Rapper’s Rapper” this album served as proof that Mr. J. Medeiros is a career artist and not a one-album wonder. “Friends Enemies Apples Apples”, was widely celebrated and landed stellar reviews in major music publications, which is a testament to the strength of Mr. J.’s music.
With the ever changing music industry, and the race to find new ways to promote independent music, Mr. J. Medeiros took a creative approach to releasing his third full-length album “Saudade”. In the summer of 2011 he worked exclusively with “indiegogo”, a crowd-funding resource site, and handed the role of executive producer to his fans. In three months Mr. J. fans gave triple the asking amount, an event large enough to be referenced in a “Business Insider” article on crowd sourcing. MTV also got involved with the release as the music video for the lead single, “Neon Signs” won the MTVu.com Freshman Video challenge, putting the video into regular rotation on MTVu, yet another testament to the strength of Medeiros’s fans base. From an artistic perspective, “Saudade” reveals a wealth of musical and personal experience. Written by himself and introducing his production team “The Stare” (consisting of Mr. J. Medeiros, Stro Elliot, and Luke Atencio) “Saudade” received high honors from numerous publications sighting the albums diverse yet cohesive nature and frequently describing the result as “beautiful” and “original”.
Mr. J. Medeiros is considered one of Hip Hop’s most innovative and insightful artists. He has spent his career building a name that is synonymous with quality and consistency. His forthcoming EP, “Pale Blue Dot”, will prove to be his greatest work to date, exposing his artistic prowess as he takes brave steps into a new sound.
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When Your “Cool” The Sun Shines On You 24 Hrs A Day - “My Science Project” (Taken with instagram)
:::The making of “Hip Hop” with Hocus Pocus::::
Produced by 20syl for Hocus Pocus
Almost 3 million views later we have the first collaboration between my old group The Procussions and French Hip Hop group Hocus Pocus.
I met Hocus Pocus in ‘04 on tour in Europe. Our tour manager, Francois, had been telling us about an independent Hip Hop group he knew from Nantes, France that had a similar vibe, goal, and hustle as us and that he wanted to introduce us.
By that time we had already toured quite a bit of Europe receiving CD’s from fans, had some after and pre-show freestyle sessions, and a lot of European radio. It was a bit of a culture shock. It wasn’t till we met with Hocus Pocus that we felt “at home”.
We met with 20Syl at his home studio. One of the first things I saw was a “Gold” record he had earned from producing for another French artist- which seemed to sit casually amongst his records, live instruments, egg crate sound proofing, and various other art projects he was working on.
SIDE NOTE: I think Hocus Pocus’s “Place 54” went “Gold” too, which means…I think I’m on a “Gold” record…awesome.
20Syl is a lot better at speaking English now, ha- but back then there were times we needed hand signals and a little help from Francois. Which is to say, we “The Procussions”, were obviously horrible at speaking French- and we still are!
20Syl played some instrumentals for us and we were all pretty blown away. We started rapping and producing as a group in 1998, we already met a lot of people by ‘04, and I can tell you it is very rare when you run into someone who takes their craft as serious as you do in the same ways that you do. It reminds you that caring about the art in your craft matters.
He got to the “Hip Hop” beat, explained the songs premise, and asked us if we wanted to write to it, of course we said yes. At the time, I don’t think any of The Procussions had any “same day” writing under our belts, which means: getting a beat, writing and recording to it the same day- so this was a first for all of us. It helped that it was a beautiful day in Nantes, in a beautiful home, and with a quick trip to the “boulangerie” we were ready to go.
“Your remarkably designed your equal is hard to find, if your unsatisfied take it up with the Divine”
The video shoot happened on one of our other tours to Europe, I think almost a year later. Guess who directed this one? Arthur King…the same guy who did “Holding On”, can you see his talent?
SIDE NOTE: Maybe It’s a “grass is greener” situation, but I’ve always felt like in France, the way their social system is set up, and with their views on art/culture- you have a greater chance of running into someone who takes their work seriously, and does so because they love what it “means”, outside of it’s “monetization”. <— which is a word yes?
Two independent groups, two different languages, and one culture= over 2 million views.
I’m grateful!
You can pick up Hocus Pocus’s music on iTunes, this song might be a little hard to find in the US version though, have a look. http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/16-pieces/id479111834
Like?:::The making of “Holding On” off “Friends Enemies Apples Apples:::
Produced by Stro
If you follow my blog then you’ve already heard the first draft of this song, which was originally recorded to feature Imogen Heap. Yeah, haha…before she blew up we were in touch with her management and had a meeting set up in London (while on tour) to go over the collaboration. However, “Hide and Seek” dropped in the US and everything got crazy for her- as it rightfully should have.
In my opinion there was no musical loss using Tara Ellis. I have always loved her voice, choice in harmonies, and her personality. I asked her to take over the chorus and “do her thing” and I am very grateful for her gift.
I think this is the only chorus I haven’t written the lyrics to. I wanted to go with something that “breathed” a little, both in content and structure. At the time I hadn’t really written any non-underground Hip Hop hooks so I needed help. Sure, I think the chorus has more of a “pop” feel. (I never said I hated pop, I just hate pointless pop ha.) “Pop” wasn’t something I really knew how to do, so I was happy to collaborate.
I hadn’t heard a rap cadence like the one I wrote to this song and was hoping it would take it out of the “pointless pop” zone. It was my first step towards compromise, a little for the audience a little for myself.
SIDE NOTE: I feel strongly about cadence, it plays a crucial part in defining your artistry and distinguishing your “instrument”. For a rapper, outside of your lyrical content and voice there is your cadence and it’s as important as the song itself.
Lyrically I wanted to develop some type of poetic swing- but balanced, not so poetic or “swingy” that it fell into the realm of slam, or PM Dawn-ish ha. However, I am not ashamed to say I love PM Dawn’s “Set A Drift”…in fact…if you listen to “Holding On” you can hear the slight influence.
Back to cadence, you can read the rhythm I was working on:
“If just for now you could focus on the roses at your feet and all the poses that we keep hold them frozen in a mental picture
So when you sleep the only messages that creep from that part of you that speaks are the words, I am a gentle creature”
I kept this signature for the whole first verse. It’s something I haven’t really done again, but I’d like too if I could find the right music. I think it encompasses everything I like about rapping and poetry.
“Holding On” was written in the van on tour with Tribe Called Quest. Actually, Ali Shaheed asked if we had new music to share and this was the first song we played him. He said this seems like the logical next step for you- you don’t forget stuff like that.
By the way, best advice I got from Ali about “making it” in the music industry… “keep making and putting out music, that’s it- you got it, just keep doing it.”
I think he was talking about The Procussions.
Looks like we didn’t take that advice.
HEEHAW.
Stro really came through on the production tip, another song without samples. I don’t know what it is, but I just don’t get the same sense of accomplishment using samples…there is something about playing instruments, well, that- and not always watching your back for a law suit
HEEHAW. again.
I flew in French Director Arthur King to do the music video. It took countless hours (from him) to cut out every single word, two days of filming, thousands of pictures, two months to edit, and no money to put it out. There are no effects.
Arthur King is currently working for a big production house in France…I am very happy to have worked with him before his budget went through the roof. ha.
SIDE NOTE ON WHY “FRIENDS ENEMIES…” WAS SO POORLY RELEASED:
Rawkus was still together and expressed interest in pushing “Friends Enemies…” but before it was finished they had quit so I signed with Quannum Projects (DJ Shadow, Blackalicious,Pigeon John). Of course, this album sat on Quannum for over a year and a half with no hope of a release, so I legally pulled myself off the label. Without any knowledge of putting out a record, I put out this record
Hee
Haw
Pictures Of Self By Self Seems Self Centered But It’s Not As Weird As Asking Someone To Take A Picture Of You Is It? (Taken with instagram)
:::The making of “This is Not a Home” off the “Saudade” album:::
Produced by The Stare
If you’ve been keeping up with my blogs then you know I’ve already revealed the sample to this song, which is one of 3 samples found on this record.
I originally made this beat using the ASRX, my first piece of musical equipment ever bought on my first credit card (I was 19yrs old). I chopped the sample, put some bass to it, added some drums then handed it over to Stro for some fine tuning. You may recognize some of the production “style” from other beats I’ve made, “Constance”, “Silent Earth”, and “Keep Pace”. Stro came through with the big beef up and made this one hit harder…of course Luke came through with the triple beef mix, and now it’s produced by “The Stare”.
Listening back I wish I would have added a live vocals over the chorus singing “Home”- but maybe it was better to keep it a little elusive, as was the theme of “Saudade”. Hmm, still not sure.
Lyrically this song is about “homelessness”, not so much a man sleeping on the street, but without a sense of home in ones self. I think I’ve always had this tiny struggle to “belong”, as I’m sure most people have- mine however seems to root itself in my career as well.
For Example:
Race- You look latino/latin with a hard to spell and say last name, but your not “Hispanic”, which in America means your somewhere in “Latin Limbo”. Which means throughout school you get called “white washed” while simultaneously getting called out of class to take part in “Minority Studies”- which was cool. When your older and in a business that involves “marketing” yourself, these things manifest themselves into “adult” “concerns”…like, “who are you speaking for?, Latino rappers? White rappers?
I have no clue. I am Ameircan. Half 3rd generation Portuguese and half Scottish/English probably came over here on the Mayflower who knows. Though, I think the Scottish side is like 4th generation in some parts. Basically… American, which means there is a story of immigration there, and probably complex.
Origin- Born in Colorado to two East Coast parents straight outta New England and living in Los Angeles. Am I a West Coast rapper? East coast rapper? Colorado rapper? Even living in all of these places I couldn’t claim one fully. I can claim my hometown of Colorado Springs I guess, but I can’t forget my family, my childhood in good ‘ol Rhode Island, or my 10years in Los Angeles.
“It aint where you from, it’s where you at.”- Rakim
Well said, but really? Everywhere you are at, so is your history. No?
So so far I can’t “market” myself using race or city. Next.
Religion- Yes, I’m a Christian, am I a minister? no, do I view my music a ministry? no. I have no physical church or denomination to claim, and yes this includes Evangelical. I am just not religious really, or if I am it’s extremely personal. I like empty churches on off hours and silent secret prayers. I seriously do not feel fit to “lead” anyone into a relationship with their own belief or faith. However, if I am to be honest…there is not a lot out there more important to me then my own understanding of the origins and meaning of life. God, family, friends, people- “us”, agape, forgiveness, sacrifice, you know…all that cosmic moral stuff, so that comes out in my music. Does that mean I need to subscribe to the “Christian Music Market”- absolutely not. I didn’t write “Constance” (which really got me in that arena) for anyone particular. I didn’t write Keep Pace as a church song, just a peoples song with my beliefs in it. I could def be wrong about a ton of things, though I feel pretty certain about others ha, this does not make me fit to be a “pastor”, and I didn’t ask to be.
So marketing my “religion”, “race”, and “city” is out of the question. Now what?
Well there’s pop vs underground, activist vs social commentary, the question of “genre”, and a whole list of wagons to hitch too- but I will spare you the conversation.
I don’t mind being hard to pin point, I think that’s the nature of real life. When you find yourself in a place built on one dimensional concepts, the depth of self is deprived. Which is a disorganized way to say, when you don’t “fit in” you have to decide if it’s worth shaving off your character to do so, if fitting in requires as much.
There is always more to any story.
Excuse my rant, I need to eat lunch- I get grumpy.- :::The making of "Her Wings '04:::
:::The making of “Her Wings” off the “Of gods and girls” album:::
Produced by Headnodic
I originally wrote and recorded this song to a “Samba” rhythm which I sampled from a cheesy Brazilian “Dinner Party” type record back in ‘04. It’s cra…zy how old the tunes are on “Of gods and girls” - most songs were written between ‘02-‘04. I was still working two jobs, one serving pizza and the other, the stock room at J. Crew.
In the stock room I was able to bring my own music. I was listening to a lot of Incubus back then. I would always carry a tiny note pad in my pocket and write lyrics down as they came to me. The overall lyrical “vibe” to this song was inspired by Incubus’s “The Warmth”. I hadn’t been in Los Angeles long so I was still very detached from everything I knew, it was easy to get lost in my own head- lonely etc, and this song had an impact on me at the time.
I think, as with most my former songs about women/girls, it was me imagining someone I hadn’t met yet.
As stated the song was originally recorded to a different beat I made, but it just wasn’t capturing the content.
I went on one of my first U.S. tours with a band called “Crown City Rockers” and got to hear some of the music the bassist, Headnodic, was making. I was really impressed at his solo work and he offered to help with the song.
The cool thing about “Her Wings” is that he recorded the Saxophone for the chorus at one of our shows on tour, backstage. I am really surprised all the atmospheric noise around us didn’t show up in the recording. It might have added something invisible to it’s “live” feel though.
I think the spiritual message in this song is pretty clear and to the point. It’s unfortunate however, that through songs like these of my past, I’ve come to understand a certain “zealousness” that follows this type of “clarity”, and because of this- I have sought refuge in metaphor since.
Hmm, maybe not so- no, not “because of this”, but because of life revealing itself a little differently with age maybe. It’s a habit in music today, religious or not, to create quick and easy pamphlets of artistic expression, motto’s, and advertisements, all centered around a concept of “branding” an idea. I think of art as something living now…not an idea that commands the mind and forces itself onto your conscience, but rather - like all human relationships worth having- it takes time, effort, sacrifice…and a little less self-centered-ness.
Maybe.
This song is on iTunes. :::The making of “Swallow” off the Saudade album:::
Produced by The Stare
I wrote this song after a heavy dose of Shakespeare on film. I am pretty easy to please when it comes to these. The idea of them usually being corny and poorly funded never really crosses my mind, I’m just happy I’m not reading them.
I am unashamedly influenced by his work- and having never really went to College/University, I often wonder what it would be like to study him and the other “great” poets, writers, and philosophers.
This is one of those songs I constructed on the piano, writing the lyrics as I go. Is it an amazing piano piece? No- it’s Pop, it’s simple, but I dug it. I originally sang the hook, then I heard Logan’s voice and decided to never sing again. Haha.
Logan spent sometime in the American Idol arena and if you ask me, I think his voice is too original for that scene (in a good way). He sang a few chorus’s on my friends, Deux Process’s album and that’s how I met him.
Stro took my rough draft of the song, made it hit, gave it a better swing, and sent it off to Logan. The crazy thing about the vocals is, after hearing Logan’s take (I was blown away) I asked him, “What type of filters, effects, and find tuning did you use?” and he said, “None, it’s my voice.”
Yikes. Awesome.
“Say the eyes she reads
Through his lips come lies of the life he leads
And the cup he holds
With his lust comes woe and yet her mind concedes
Till the body follows
Till the body lay hollow
Till it’s hard to swallow”
I wrote this song to tell a tale of desperation and the fantasy’s that tend to keep people there, meanwhile reality is looming- as always.
on iTunes.
:::The making of “Miss January” feat. Talib Kweli off the “5 Sparrows…”:::
Produced by Stro
Funny thing about this beat, is it was originally created for someone else. I don’t know who, but Stro was commissioned to make a beat for someone and they turned this one down. So, good for us- ha. I wasn’t about to let this one end up in the “Nah” beats section. I’m sure Stro still has some gems in there I don’t know about.
The Japan version of this song has Stro’s verse in place of Talib’s. The album got picked up by Rawkus after we had already made a deal in Japan, so they (Rawkus) suggested we beef up the American version. We decided to add a few features and made a list of people we’d like to collaborate with. Our first choice? the “Beastie Boys”, you would be surprised who, label owners, Brian and Jarret know.
Obviously that didn’t go through, so we thought- it’s Rawkus’s first release of their “come-back”, how about keeping it within the Rawkus fam? That’s when we hit up Talib with a couple tracks off “5 Sparrows” and he landed on Miss January.
Side Note: I always thought it was weird to run into people who seem “astonished” “we got to” work with Talib Kweli. Of course we are VERY grateful for anyone we respect to want to collaborate, but why so “astonished”? It’s almost like a diss wrapped in a complement. (IMO) Looking back, I wonder how many people only peeped the record because of that feature- sad.
Miss January, as far as the title, you’ll have to hit up @stroelliotmusic on twitter about that. I have my theories… haha.
There is also a theory about Talib not being o.k. with us doing a clean edit of the song, but that was all in another post…
The subject of the song is pretty straight ahead, love and loss. This is one of the more “lighthearted” songs I’ve ever written, it was good to have this under my belt.
“I know it hurts to question, but were we a curse or blessings? I guess it’s worth confessing, maybe then we’ll learn our lesson.”
Didn’t meet with Talib in the studio since the original version had been recorded for some time. We did meet Talib in ‘02 when we played one of our first shows with him and then again just after “5 Sparrows…” release at the Okayplayer Grammy party. It was good to have some personal interaction surrounding the collab.
I still shout Rawkus, I think it was a great label, and I still believe it could have had a serious impact if it would have stuck to it’s game plan.
Any questions? Write them on my facebook wall.
And of course this song is on iTunes.:::The making of “Little People” off The Procussions “5 Sparrows for 2 Cents” album:::
Produced by Stro
If I remember correctly, Stro knocked on my door and said he had a new beat.
SIDE NOTE: At the time, we all lived two people, sometimes three, in one bedroom apartments. Basically, living rooms become rooms and you respect the invisible lines. It wasn’t bad though, it was cozy in a way haha.
I walked two doors down to where he and Rez’s apartment was. Stro played the beat and I was like…”whoa”. When he shows me his work I almost always think “wow”, but sometimes I think “whoa”. There’s a small difference but it matters.
Based on the general emotion and the pitch of the sample and me being as depressing as I am, I thought hey, let’s make this song about “Child Abuse” . Stro came up with the hook and we recorded this track down in Silver Lake at one of the coolest home studio’s I had ever seen at the time.
Lyrically I was working on a new rhyme pattern, which I haven’t really been able to duplicate since then- mostly because I haven’t had a beat that shares the same drive/pocket as this one.
“Invision the prison of age, where thee apparent disposition is that of a parrot commissioned to live in a cage. Who hits the parents when decisions are made, to not listen- and they got their fist in opposition to fair play”
Listening back, I really do sound dfferen’t, maybe it’s age? experience? ha. Do you want to know were the sample is from? Absolutely not. Haha.
The cool thing about this song is it has been in a couple movies, commercials, and T.V. shows. Most recently it was featured in “Blue Mountain State”. I put this song up on youtube 5 years after the group split up and in less then a year it had almost half a million views. Which is crazy because it only had 10k views when we were a group. Do views really matter that much? Who knows…
If you have any questions hit me or just hit the “like”.
and of course this song is on iTunes.
- :::THROWBACK THURSDAY::: Full Live Concert From '07
The procussions live by ownerzAhahahaha, I can barely watch this. Excuse my language, over abundant energy, self-indulgents, and over all goofy dancing. Ahahahaha. I don’t know if I would be any different now, but it doesn’t make it easy to watch.
Something about the music I guess.
This was us, The Procussions without Rez in France with De La Soul, trying to win over a crowd of new faces who really didn’t know what to do with us at first.
Turns out we actually made a lot of fans, even if some of them couldn’t keep up. Haha.
Wow. 4:50 AM Just Got Home From Studio Session With Stro-New Music In June (Taken with instagram)
:::The making of “Change” feat. Strange Fruit/Rez off the “Of gods and girls” album:::
Produced by Illmind
If I remember correctly S1 from Strange Fruit and Illmind were producing their “Art of One Mind” album and wanted to feature The Procussions. We got a couple options for beats and we wrote to two of them, “Change” being one and “High Powered” being the other, (which landed on the “Art of One Mind” album) PEEP HERE:http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/high-powered-featuring-procussions/id181322106?i=181324210
We were on tour and in Texas at the time and were scheduled to record both songs in S1’s studio spot. I remember being in the van and not having a verse for “Change” yet, stressed out about it, and writing on the way there. It was a 2 hour ride, so I had that long to write something, and with that awesome stomach sickness you feel when staring down in a moving car.
The crazy thing about this collaboration is that both producers, Illmind and S1, went on to create music with major artists. If you didn’t know, S1 produced Kanye West’s “Power” and Beyonce’s “Best Thing I Never Had” among other tunes. While, Illmind went on to work with 50Cent. Not bad to have on your resume huh?
Well, to put it short they picked “Higher Power” for their album and I took “Change” for mine.
SIDE NOTE: I understand my “beliefs” show up in my music at times. Now, this is not to take away from the music of my past, but to shed some light on my stance today- but, I wish I had known more about the on-goings of the “Christian Market” back then. There were a few decisions I made along my career regarding this issue which have hindered more then helped I think.
I say this to bring up a small incident which helped form my opinion about the “Christian Market” today. This song was used in a compilation with some “Christian Hip Hop” artists and my lyrics…
“…smooth sailing till we fell of the boat, now we swimming in sin, treading waiting for our ship to come in…”
The word “ship” was edited out without consulting me, assuming the “p” was a “t”.
“Change” on iTunes
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/change-feat.-strange-fruit/id314155308?i=314155361
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