Jon Young is an unsigned hip hop artist and producer from Orlando, FL. He was born in Boston, MA but moved to Florida while still an infant after his father’s Post Office job transfer to Orlando. His parents felt Orlando would be a better environment for Jon & his brother to grow up in. Jon’s older brother is a guitar player and drummer playing in venues since he was 14 and would even host parties and play live at their house so music was always something he was surrounded by. Some of Jon’s earliest tracks were recorded on his brother’s Fostex 4-track recorder as far back as 1997.
Jon was heavily influenced by hip hop since the age of 7 when he was introduced to artists like Kriss Kross, Another Bad Creation, TLC, Snoop Dogg and Bone thugs n harmony by a childhood friend. He instantly fell in love with hip hop which lead him to begin writing and recording his own tracks over instrumentals on his tape deck while still in elementary school. Once in highschool, where he met current friend and collaborator J. Cash, he began to save up and invest in better studio equipment & even began creating on his own beats.
Jon’s parents divorced early in his life, when he was 8 years old, with his father living on the east side of Orlando and mom living on the west near Pine Hills so his influences began to diversify drawing inspiration from southern hip hop like Master P, 8Ball & MJG & Three 6 Mafia as well as New York artists like Notorious B.I.G. & Ja Rule. On the east side a more east coast style is preferred due to the large population of hispanic and northeastern transplant residents while west Orlando has a large demographic of Florida natives and island influences.
In 2001, an underground pirate radio station known as Clientel Radio began to take over the community. One of the stations DJs, Florida rapper and producer White Dawg, who Jon had been working with after a chance meeting at Lowrider Magazine’s Tampa, FL Car Show, had enlisted Jon as a street team member selling mixtapes for the station. Another station DJ, White Boi Pizal, whom J. Cash had befriended after meeting while working for The Wash at the Magic Mall in Orlando, began to take interest in the music Jon Young & J. Cash were creating and ended up being the first DJ to ever play their music on the air.
After these brushes with the music industry, Jon Young decided to put together an official release which became the “City I Luv” album in late 2005. With singles like “Doin My Thang”, “Don’t Wanna Fight”, and “City I Luv,” the CD spread quickly throughout Florida and eventually other states with the help of the new social networking site MySpace. Gaining massive notoriety throughout his hometown, being recognized in public nearly everywhere he went, only motivated Jon more and lead him to quickly prepare a new album with J. Cash which became “Slept On” featuring the singles “Listen To Your Heart”, “Just Chill” and “Sky Skrapin”.
After releasing their first 2 albums, labels were scrambling to work with Jon Young & J. Cash. A publishing deal was offered from Atlantic Records, distribution from Fontana and MySpace Records as well as constant phone calls and emails from other label A&Rs. They eventually settled on Defient Entertainment, an upstart label under the umbrella of Warner Music. Within a matter of weeks of inking the deal in 2007, they were already hard at work in the studio preparing their first major single “Post Up” which featured Asylum recording artist Lil Boosie.
The deal eventually fell apart due to irreconcilable differences. Since then they have continued to expand their movement from selling cds on their website to all online retailers like iTunes, Amazon and Rhapsody. They are always staying busy recording and performing shows all over the country. Deal or no deal, Jon Young & J. Cash will continue to follow their passion for music.
