Many don’t know about a phenomenal emcee by out of Chicago by the name of Juice. This is not to be confused with DJ Ju-Ice out of Jersey, or any other rappers (like the one Game signed), with the same name. THIS Juice has established himself as one of the best freestyle lyricists in HipHop. He has beaten mainstream rappers Common, and even Eminem in a 1997 battle called The Scribble Jam. Both rappers have publicly admitted to being defeated by Juice in battles. He has also been featured on Sway and King Tech’s Wake Up Show in Los Angeles, and has constantly impressed them with his freestyle skills.

Despite his success he is not signed to a major label, but because of his own determination to advance HipHop, he continues to make lyrical innovations and stretch his abilities. On the path of a lyricist, he’s also had to prove himself to HipHop fans and artists alike, who have doubted his skills and said his freestyles were pre-written. He always shows and proves, but is now focusing on putting songs together, instead of freestyling. He released a full length CD of songs called All Bets Off in 2005. Explaining when he decided to start writing, Juice said, “I realized when it came to rap, artists who are good at freestyling usually aren’t good at writing lyrics, and artists who write songs can’t freestyle worth a shit. Even though I was accused of writing my freestyles, I actually wanted to master song writing and put concepts together.”

The independent artist has his own label, Conglomerate Music Corp, and has formed his own group, called Juice and the Machine. The Machine is made up of various musicians who play his tracks live. They have a CD out from a live show they did at a club called The Party, which comes with a DVD of the same show. The Live from the Party CD/DVD is put together by Bandit Productions and The Conglomerate Music Corp., and is SLAMMING!!! Juice and the Machine bring out how HipHop should sound. It’s a mixture of songs and freestyles, and when Juice freestyles, it’s like the band freestyles with him in musical melody. I was even more impressed when I found out the band only practiced twice before the show!! Juice said he formed a band to further establish himself as an artist. “People seem to see you as more credible and take to you more if you have a live band with you. I got fans who say they don’t like Rap, but like my music because of the universal appeal.” The CD/DVD can be purchased on the Bandit Productions website.

Juice says his main goal with his music is to stay successful as an independent artist, and break a few stereotypes some fans have about underground artists. “Just because an artist is underground, doesn’t mean they can’t be well off. Some fans think if an artist is well off and not struggling, it means they’ve lost their underground musical flair. That’s not the case at all – actually a lot of underground cats are more well off and have more money in their pocket than some of these mainstream artists who claim to have money.”

QUICK STOP EXCLUSIVE: For those who would like to hear Juice’s freestyle skills, we have two freestyles he did for Quick Stop Entertainment. The first one he did after I gave him three phrases to put in the verse; “Kenneth Plume,” “Kevin Smith,” and “Quick Stop Entertainment.” Due to my shitty phone connection he thought I said “Quick South,” but I’m sure you’ll forgive him. This is the freestyle he left on my voice mail after we hung up.

The second is actually a freestyle interview. This is the first of its kind, where I asked Juice five questions – he had no idea I would ask beforehand, then he freestyled the answers. Now, you got a distinction from other rappers who call themselves “Juice” and “The Real Juice” – kind of like how back in the day there was the Ghostbusters cartoon, then another copy cat cartoon came out, so the first Ghostbusters cartoon changed it’s name to The Real Ghostbusters.

Quick Stop Entertainment’s always bringing the good shit for that iPod!!

–Copyright 2007 Keneteph Entertainment

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