The tides of dance music have been taking a long-needed turn, and Jipsta is a stand-out artist riding the waves in the new movement. An openly gay dance artist, Jipsta successfully fuses traditional circuit music with homo-hop sensibility in his songs.
A New York City area native, Jipsta (born John Patrick Masterson) quickly fell in love with hip-hop music that he was first exposed to in the 8th grade. He cites artists such as Big Daddy Kane, Rakim, Salt-N-Pepa, and Kid-N-Play as rap artists who influenced his style and taught him the importance of delivery, rhyme patterns, and witty lyrics. When asked about his favorite song of that era, he cited “Set it Off†from Kane’s “Long Live the Kane†album as he commented that he had never heard a hip-hop record that came alive to a dance influenced track in such a powerful way.
The early 90’s produced revolutionary songs in the “hip-house†movement which continued to nurture Jipsta’s musical style. Songs like K-Yze’s “Stomp,†Lidell Townsell’s “Nu Nu,†Doug Lazy’s “Let The Rhythm Pump,†and Techontronic’s “Get Up (Before the Night is Over)†are songs which Jipsta feels had the most impact on his career and made him determined to become an artist that could create a new breed of dance music. Today, Jipsta hopes to capitalize on the progress made by traditional hip-hop artists gaining a flood of acceptance in the gay community including Missy Elliot and Lil’ Kim.
Jipsta prides himself on his confident, outspoken, and infectious personality. His honest and no-holds-barred approach to song writing has helped break down some walls in the relatively homophobic musical landscape. His debut single on Juiced Up Records: “Don’t Act like You Don’t Know,†which tackles the subject of being in a gay relationship and being tempted by seeing other attractive men in a club, has received a flood of positive attention and fan support from all age groups. The song quickly became a breakout and spent 4 weeks on the Billboard Dance Club Play chart in February and March of 2008. Remixes by Edson Pride, Diva Nation, and Orangefuzzz have fueled the success of the single. “Don’t Act Like You Don’t Know†was chosen to be part of the legendary “Promo Only†Mainstream Club series on the February 2008 edition. The song has charted in the Top 10 on DJ Record Pools across the United States and in Australia and has done well on internet radio shows such as Beyond Radio. “Don’t Act†has been played on Chris Cox’s “Boys Night Out†on BPM and Mike Rizzo’s XM Radio mixshow as well. Jipsta has done a number of appearances at clubs throughout the country in support of the single. “Don’t Act Like You Don’t Know†is widely available on various download sites including itunes and Napster as well as in traditional CD format on Amazon, Target, and CD Baby.
The follow-up single which is bound to garner even more attention is “Middle of the Dancefloor.†Executive produced by legendary DJ Mike Cruz, and featuring mixes by such world renowned DJ’s as Oscar Velazquez, Dena Cucci, DJ Ranny, and Edson Pride, the song is guaranteed to be an anthem for dance floors everywhere. Featuring the catch phrase “Make your way to the dance floor!†the song is already drawing significant attention and requests to DJ’s in both straight and gay clubs across the country and overseas. The song has universal appeal and is very likely to see chart action.
Jipsta is currently hard at work completing his album entitled “Explosive.â€
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