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JMatth

Sound description

Hip-hop

RIYL

Kurtis Blow, Run-DMC

Inception

Lemon Grove , 1990

Influences

Kurtis Blow, Run-DMC, CeCe Peniston, Montell Jordan
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SD native JMatth (born Jason Matthews) has been rapping since he was 9. By age 15, when he was known as JROC, he'd shared the stage with Run-DMC, CeCe Peniston, and Montell Jordan.

"My mom was my manager," says Matthews, who turned 26 in 2007. "She got me in at 4th&B and Spreckels Theaetr." When Matthews was a junior at Helix High, he moved in with his father.

"One of the rules of moving into Dad's house was I had to go to church every Sunday. I wasn't with the Spirit until I was 16."

Rap pioneer Kurtis Blow now leads a hip-hop congregation in Inglewood. The Crystal Cathedral in Orange County hosted a "Hip-Hop America" meeting in October. A megachurch known as FaithDome in South Central L.A. attracts 7000 followers to its hip-hop church service. Matthews says Christian rap has yet to bloom locally.

"It's San Diego, what can I say? Shows that sell out anywhere else don't sell out here." Matthews rails against the hip-hop culture portrayed in MTV videos.

"The so-called gangster rapper raps about stuff that they never even experienced. A lot of that is corporate America telling them, 'Put on a chain, grab this microphone, and rap these lyrics. It's guaranteed to go platinum.' And America is eating up this image of what they think a gangster should be....

"When you know someone is not rich, it looks funny when you try to portray that you are. The big chains you buy at the mall aren't real. It's like makeup, like a costume. It's irritating when I see my little brother [wear chains]. He said, 'It's just the style.' I ask him, 'What's the point?'"

Matthews works in customer relations for a major airline and raps at Greater Victory Baptist Church in Lemon Grove. Sample lyrics: "Now breathe it in/ Let it permeate the thought of your deepest sin/ Let the way I play the mike be your medicine/ A vaccination for that poison."

Though he'd like to do holy hip-hop full time, he says, "Christian rap has a bad rap.... I want to give it my all after my album comes out. My main focus will be to bring purity back to hip-hop."

-- "Blurt," 12-14-06

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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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