J-Mar Da Sik

night life music scene seattle - seattle times

Both of J-Mar’s upcoming Off With They Heads mixtape...I wish the first one didn’t have all those producer tags on it...but I’m saying tho, where is “Pimp Shake” at?? - Rain Drop Hustla - Larry Mizell

J-Mar Da Sik is back with Du4Self Records to hit us with another mixtape, Off With Their Heads. The mixtape drops May 27 and will be available on datpiff.com and du4self.com.

Da Sik is celebrating the release of the mixtape with a ridiculously packed album-release show at the Gruv Lounge (also May 27), featuring Chris Crazy, Leezy Soprano, Second Family, Island Trybe and KNM. Naturally, there will be hard copies of the album available at the release show. Da Sik will also be opening for Naughty by Nature in Seattle at the Showbox May 23.

Off With Their Heads features Da Sik spicing up industry beats. The best songs on the mixtape are the original tracks produced by C-Note who hails from Seattle. Shuford from Atlanta adds some original touches as well. The only guest MCs on the album are Black Anger and the current king of the streets, Leezy Soprano.

Da Sik explains the title of the mixtape as having to do with "being the real heir to the throne." So what is he talking about?

Well, Da Sik is on Du4Self Records - a label started by Black Anger. Black Anger was the most revolutionary, progressive, street hip-hop this city has ever produced. No group has stepped up in their place to mix politricks with the streets like Black Anger did. They were like our city's version of Dead Prez, minus the annoying college-kid fan base.

Da Sik is the descendent of this movement, honing his skills under the guidance of E-Real, Kendu and DJ Sayeed. In fact, DJ Sayeed mixes and hosts the entire album; it's just as much his record as Da Sik's. Tacoma has a history of powerful street-based, black-revolutionary music - a result of the consciousness, creativity and struggles in neighborhoods like Hilltop. It started with Criminal Nation, moved to Black Anger and now J-Mar is claiming his spot. As a city we should be proud of the hardcore, yet politically-minded, hip-hop Tacoma has produced. - Weekly Volcano

I posted this earlier, but I thought I’d bump it since now you can stream it from Bandcamp. I fux with J-Mar, so should you; also, old folks like me should be stoked to see the name DJ Sayeed, he of NW legends (to me) Black Anger of course. - Rain Drop Hustler - Larry Mizell

As a listener your ideals on rap will change as you get older but to youngsters it is a fad that will live on and change like the seasons. What used to be easy to classify is now a smorgasbord of styles that go from hot to cold every few years. The divide between what classifies an artist to a certain style varies by the ever changing fan base but what never changes is relatable music. J-Mar Da Sik has been at it for some years now really building his Du4self Records label up with at least three releases since 2006. While J-Mar has to stay relevant at times his best attribute is a lost fundamental which is the art of storytelling. With the ease of putting words on beats artists have gotten lazy and simple rhymes with clever wordplay have taken over what used to be storybook tales any listener could envision. Building anticipation for his next solo album “Cognac Lounge” J-Mar releases a mixtape with a message called “Off Wit They Heads” with DJ Sayeed whom some might remember from Black Anger. Without much contest J-Mar is one of the better rappers locally when it comes to overall package and its easily seen on the mix as it ranges from mainstream jacks as well as a host of brand new original songs including a few leaks from the upcoming solo. Guest spots include Sharonda Shaw, Black Soul, Big Mark, Tishauna Crockett, and many more.

- Tha Northwest

As a listener your ideals on rap will change as you get older but to youngsters it is a fad that will live on and change like the seasons. What used to be easy to classify is now a smorgasbord of styles that go from hot to cold every few years. The divide between what classifies an artist to a certain style varies by the ever changing fan base but what never changes is relatable music. J-Mar Da Sik has been at it for some years now really building his Du4self Records label up with at least three releases since 2006. While J-Mar has to stay relevant at times his best attribute is a lost fundamental which is the art of storytelling. With the ease of putting words on beats artists have gotten lazy and simple rhymes with clever wordplay have taken over what used to be storybook tales any listener could envision. Building anticipation for his next solo album “Cognac Lounge” J-Mar releases a mixtape with a message called “Off Wit They Heads” with DJ Sayeed whom some might remember from Black Anger. Without much contest J-Mar is one of the better rappers locally when it comes to overall package and its easily seen on the mix as it ranges from mainstream jacks as well as a host of brand new original songs including a few leaks from the upcoming solo. Guest spots include Sharonda Shaw, Black Soul, Big Mark, Tishauna Crockett, and many more.

- Tha Northwest

Du4Self Records announces the release of Seattle MC J-Mar’s second solo album, “Be A “G” About It,” the follow up to his freshman release, “Go Get It.”
J-Mar, originally born in Spokane, moved to Seattle, Washington, where as a teenager, he developed a passion for hip-hop. Through his gift of story telling in rhymes, J-Mar, who with his cousin, Young’n formed the group the Northwest Heathens, eventually became one of the sickest MC’s in the Northwest, hence the name, J-Mar Da Silk. A graduate of Evergreen State College with a degree in Marketing Music, J-Mar eventually became the co-owner of Du4Self Records.

Currently, Du4Self is promoting “Be A “G About It,” a slang phrase that J-Mar and his camp use which means to stop hating and tripping over trivial matters. “It also means handle your business according to whichever way you see fit. Don’t let nobody dictate how you should act,” explains J-Mar. “Be smart and think before you react in any situation.”

“The single, ‘I’m On The Grind (Hustlin’),’ represents exactly who we are as Du4Self Records Bonnifide Hustlers. That’s just what we are known for up here,” says J-Mar. “We on every block, at every popping spot/event doing us. We up early and late, no sleep!” The accompanying video, which can be seen on Youtube.com, was shot in the Eastside and Hilltop Tacoma neighborhoods, and participants included Du4Self artists as well as residents of the community. Good Fellas Barbershop sponsored the realistic barbershop scene in the video which is attracting attention on a regional and national level.

Music listeners who are ready for a change will gravitate toward J-Mar’s style. “I feel that the NW (Northwest) style of music is diversified because the NW is a diverse place. This is a place where you go out to a club and every race of people may be there jamming to hip-hop. So musically, you have your conscious rappers, political, hardcore, street, laid back, hyped up, etc. All styles sometimes are pulled together as one. The NW music is a movement. Everyone is waiting on a representative to be in the spotlight to tell their story of what really goes on in the NW. The NW wants to be heard,” J-Mar concludes. J-Mar is staying on his grind and being a “G” about it. For more information about the Northwest’s sickest MC, visit www.myspace.com/du4self.

For more information regarding interviews and product request, contact Gregory Williams at 818 357-5852 or Cynthia Horner at 732 406-4093 or via e-mail at switchhousepress(at)yahoo.com, or cynthiamhorner(at)gmail.com. Additional: To all Press: If you intend to use and/or place this news item, click on switchhousepress(at)yahoo.com to provide name, media outlet and other specific information. Thank you for your interest and support.
- Fast Pitch

The Year — she’s up
Ahhh, The final installment of The 25360 for 2009. I’ve been at it since August 2008, hopefully providing some news, info, philosophy and insight about our Tacoma/Olympia hip-hop scene as it grows at a patient pace.

The 25360 Awards 2009 — vote now!
A flash in the pan ain’t what it is. Last year’s awards sparked some conversation and some controversy — it’s your thang. Below are the categories up for the awards. If dropped a few suggestions, although it’s your call. Take a look at the list below:

MC of The Year — Jay Barz, XP and J-Mar Da Sik
DJ of The Year — DJ Drastic and DJ Dragonfish Killswitch
Man of The Year — Eddie Sumlin
Woman of The Year — Stella Haioulani
Promoter of The Year — Homeland Security, Crowd Control and Gerzee
Album of The Year — Be A G About It (J-Mar), Where In The World Is Taylor Jones (Junkyard Gang) and Truth & Medizine Muzik (Savage Family)
Song of The Year — “’80s Baby” — LA Swagga
Video of The Year — ?
Producer of The Year — Big Squigg
Best Come Up — ?
Best New Artist — LA Swagga
Hustla of The Year — Jay Barz (Can’t stop… Won’t stop!)
Nightclub of The Year — The Royal and Masa
Organization of The Year — Hip-Hop for The Homeless, Hip-Hop Congress (Evergreen Chapter)
Best Radio Show/Host — DJ Kalambre (KAOS), DJ Luvva J (KAOS) and DJ La Pointe (KAOS)
Model of The Year — Miss Lady
Best Athlete — Jonathan Stewart (Carolina Panthers)
Best Music/Vinyl Shop — Rainy Day Records (Olympia)
Best Eatery — ?

Please submit additional nominees for The 25360 Awards at Hiphop@weeklyvolcano.com. The award recipients will be announced at The 2010 Hip-Hop for The Homeless Benefit on Saturday Jan. 30 at The Cherry Loft from 4-10 p.m. The benefit recommends a $5 donation for entry or canned foods and/or clothing items to benefit those in need.

Happy New Year!
Oh, yeah … Happy New Year! Hopefully, you can reset yourself and go hard for the things you aspire to achieve in 2010. It will be what you make it! Rest in peace to all of the law enforcement officers recently murdered in the line of duty and also to DJ Omega Supreme of Organized Konfusion.

Winners Train, Losers Complain… Do Yo’ Thang!!!

Peace & Love

Jose S. Gutierrez Jr. aka DJ LUVVA J is an award-winning editor, writer, producer, educator, music director and consultant. A graduate of Washington State University and student at The Evergreen State College, he writes and edits the Pacific Northwest section of Ozone Magazine and hosts and produces Live From I-5 Radio (since ’89) every Friday at 3 p.m. on KAOS 89.3 FM (www.kaosradio.org / Comcast Ch. 982 / TCTV Ch. 22) in Olympia.
- Weekly Volcano

Local rapper J Mar Da Sik has a new album, tour dates lined up and big plans for the future.

J Mar lived in Spokane until he was about 13, then moved to Seattle. As a teenager he was in a rap group called Northwest Heathens with a cousin. J Mar has played keyboard and made up beats since he was young.

He went on to play basketball at Evergreen State College and a college in St. Louis. He earned a degree in marketing and spent several years living in Atlanta.

He eventually returned to this area. He decided to live in Tacoma because of friends here he met through music and basketball.

Two longtime friends, E-Real and Mark Matthews, have a label called DU4Self Records.

About three years ago they asked him to become one of their business partners. J Mar finds his education quite useful. “It helps a lot in making good decisions,” he said, noting he still breaks out his college textbooks to review.

J Mar has opened for Method Man and toured with Devin the Dude and E-40. “We have been moving pretty steadily, but there is still a long way to go,” he remarked.

J Mar just released his second album, “Be A G About It.” He spent more than two years working on it. “It is a blessing to see it come out,” he said. A few songs are getting radio airplay in Seattle and Atlanta.

Many of his lyrics are inspired by real life. Some reflect the financial situation he is in at a particular time.

“Super Dave” is about living lavish when one is doing well, while “I Need Money” is about barely scraping by.

“The album is a storybook tale,” he said. “Listening to it takes you through my life. Writing songs is an outlet for me.”

He has done a number of gigs in clubs around the Puget Sound recently to promote the new album. He plans to do some shows in Portland later this month and also in Oakland, where he will shoot a music video. A tour of colleges in Alabama is coming up later this year.

He realizes he has to take his show on the road to move his career to the next level.

“Tacoma is a hard place to break out of,” Mathews observed. There are not many venues that will book rappers and there is minimal support from local radio. In cities like Atlanta, a local rapper may get a song played right after a tune from a major artist like Jay-Z during morning or afternoon drive time, J Mar noted.

“It makes it tough. No one has really come out of this scene since Sir Mix-A-Lot.”

J Mar is also working on a jazz/hip-hop album. “I think it is a nice blend,” he said of combining the two styles. For that album he will have musicians playing bass, drums and other instruments.

“I am at my best with music played on instruments,” he said. “My writing and creativity come out better. It is a very promising project.”

When not busy with music, J Mar enjoys spending time with his 8-year-old son. “He keeps me on my toes.”

For more information visit du4self.com.

- Tacoma Weekly

Check out universal NW soldier J-Mar Da Sik, born in Spokane, lived in the South End (peep the overpass in front of Franklin High on the cover), the Eastside, Atlanta, and more, soaking game. J-Mar just dropped Be a G About It, the full-time grinding MC's definitive statement that he and Du4Self (what up E-Real!) are a movement to be reckoned with. You gotta listen to this album's whole stylistic arc, front-loaded with buck chants and blippy space bangers ("Get Low" is crazy), courtesy of producer Young Native. But B-side wins again—the second half is part cold-ass rider music, part soulful, full-disclosure melancholy ("Dead Wrong," produced by AJ, and the DJ Sayeed–laced swing low of "Hustler's Anthem") that completes the album's portrait with depth, breadth, and heart. The CD release for Be a G is at Nectar on Wednesday, August 26. Judging from what I heard him do at the Corner a while back (D'Angelo instrumentals, the prerequisite signature-drank ditty "Pimp Shake" off his upcoming jazz-hop project The Cognac Lounge), there's more good to come. I tried to told you! This shit is too cracking right now.

- Stranger

By Josh Rizeberg
One of the best times of Tacoma Hip-Hop was when Black Anger was dominating the entire Washington State Hip-Hop scene. It was so incredibly refreshing to hear and witness beautiful, militant, intelligent, revolutionary, quality Hip-Hop emerge from Tacoma, WA from the youth of our city. Black Anger has never left the Culture and from that tree, a branch has grown incredibly strong. This branch is none other than J-Mar Da Sik. Backed by Black Anger themselves and with the crew’s former DJ and manager steering this ship, J-Mar has produced some of the best Black Power, soulful Hip-Hop that we have ever heard.

The new EP is titled Simba and features a breathtaking photo of a woman in a gorgeous dress holding a chain, leashed to a lion – WOW! J-Mar is always one to put total thought into his projects and releases full-themed cohesive albums. Simba is no different. J-Mar tells us,

“Simba takes you through a journey of a lost man who later finds out that he’s Royalty. Being sometimes referred to as Black Gold, because to own an African prisoner of war (slave) was worth more than gold. This EP lets us know that stolen African people brought to the US are indeed Kings and Queens, and that we should step into our light.”

The title track, “Simba” begins the project with a touching, R & B sounding, slow and smooth beat, but once you hear J-Mar Da Sik’s syrupy, gruff voice, the track turns into something royal. The hook is, “While ya’ll argue ‘bout who’s album sold the nicest, return of the King and my melanin is priceless.”
Check out this quotable:



“I’m mentally afraid of my mind these days.
They killed George Floyd and I hide my rage.
If they did mine like that they’d have to dig more graves
‘Cause I’d be outside the precinct with a loaded AK”



This is the genius of J-Mar Da Sik and in fact the second evolution of Black Anger. Where Black Anger was all street knowledge and smarts, militancy, and well-versed political thought, J-Mar is more of an old soul: sipping on something, raising a family, and bucking the system by being an absolute King. Black Anger exemplifies revolt and a need for change, J-Mar is that change embodied. He is able to lead by example and strength and add more musicality like singing to his music.

Track 2, “Not Trippin’“, has more of a player, cooling vibe. It is grown-man rap with a hint of mature R & B. Even when J-Mar Da Sik is on his playeristic-tip, he still shouts out his heritage and knowledge. Instead of saying gold on his neck, he will say Kemet on his neck. If you do not know what Kemet is, then now you have some googling to do after reading this article!

Song 6, “Gettin’ to the Money“, is a hustler’s anthem, where we hear J-Mar focusing on his profit and teaching us the value of financial independence and Black economics. Touching on everything from real estate to multiple streams of income – It is a valuable lesson put to music.

“Rock-a-Bye Baby“, is the 7th song and happens to be my favorite. It is a funky, loopy Hip-Hop beat with ill DJing going on throughout the whole track. This song has J-Mar Da Sik going absolutely in with a total breakdown of history from Mansa Musa all the way up to the New Jack City era. It is J-Mar, his label Du4Self, and Hip-Hop at its finest.

The rest of the album stays comfortably in this lane. All in all, it is more of an R & B vibe than some of J-Mar’s previous albums. However, the content is still firmly placed in Knowledge-of-Self, Black Liberation, with a hint of grown-up fun going on. Listeners and fans of J-Mar Da Sik know he can sing but this album he really goes for it and it does not disappoint. It is 7 songs perfect for summer listening. Check for the album dropping July 25th.

CHECK OUT MORE J-MAR AT THESE STREAMERS BELOW

Via website jmardasik.com - Razor Tongue Media