John Jackson was born in Chicago, IL, raised in the south suburbs...Matteson to be exact. He began his musical journey at a very young age playing trombone in the concert and jazz bands. While expanding his musical knowledge and experience, John started to compose his own songs and writing poetry. By the time he was 10, he already had 10 notebooks full of his rhymes. Around the time he was 13, he began to record his music independently using only a tape recorder and instrumentals. Once high school started, John already had recorded a full length album with a group called The Untouchables. After The Untouchables disbanded due to group complications, John and Alias (one of the previous members of The Untouchables) formed The NeXX Movment. Together the two emcees produced one full length album entitled Real Hip Hop 101 while John, who then changed his name to B!g J after experimenting with many names; recorded the full length opus entitled Big Man On Campus. After little recognition, but enormous respect from fans, The Nexx Movement finally disbanded while the two emcees were attending Columbia College. John is still the best of friends with his previous group memebers, just in case you were wondering. After spending a year at Columbia College, B!g J linked with super-producer DJ Cid and started the duo Heroes for Hire. B!g J also formed great relationships with everyone from the funky jazz keyboardist Charlie, to the turntable giant DJ Perception, to the lyrical beast J Mega, to the musical genius Nils Nilson. After a crazy year, B!g and DJ Cid dropped out of Columbia and moved to Los Angeles, CA for more musical inspiration while also forming the group Krazi 88 with J Mega. B!g J is currently in the lab daily back in Chicago and working hard as hell everyday to create that new sound...stay tuned.
