Highlights of CTR2, Part 2: Ladii Goddiva & Balan Braxton

Check The Recipe 2 is my latest mixtape which features 18 musical talents from the 781 area and beyond. I'll be giving some background info on two of the people involved in CTR2 in this entry. Sit back and take in some insight on the Recipe.

Ladii Goddiva wears many hats. Not only is she a lyricist, but her catalog spans a long list of achievements. Born in Dorchester MA, Goddiva has written artist biographies for up and comers around her. She has also started the Ladii Diva Team, an all-female street team that cater to different events and needs in the Boston area. This female emcee can spit on any kind of beat and plays different instruments, making her one of the more well-rounded talents on Check the Recipe 2.

Networking is a major strength of Ladii Goddiva, as well as Balan. Ladii Goddiva linked up with G. Jonz because Balan was the mutual acquaintance for the three.

Balan, or Ξәƞῼβλα (zen-OH-bee-ah), is a multi-talented singer who has the distinction of being featured on Check the Recipe 2 more than anyone else. She is a musician-professional singer who writes screenplays in her spare time. She plans to put them into action through the making of machinima films & comic strips. Miss Braxton is a beacon of creativity and ingenuity, which is demonstrated in all her creative outlets. Whenever you press play on one of her songs, you will immediately be drawn in by the power of her voice. Balan is currently working on her own music project.

Here is a song featuring both of these musically-moving women: You're All I Need

2012: Most of the Year In Review, Part 3

December 19
ITM Performs at the Halftime Show for the Boston Celtics
As some of you may know, Sunspot's original R&B crooner, Runna, is the Director of the In The Mak'n (ITM) Step Squad and Dance Team. ITM has been relentlessly practicing and rehearsing their performance for weeks. I, G. Jonz, had the honor of putting this mix together. I've done this many times in the past for countless ITM shows, but I could see the fire in these young dancers eyes. For many of them, this was the first time they'd perform in front of an audience -- an audience of 18,000+! The young lions had something to prove. The veterans of the team knew what to expect and gave it 110%, like they do every time they step foot on a stage. Everyone did an amazing job! Here are a few pictures from that night. (Also, as an added bonus to the night, the Celtics won this game against the Cavaliers and this is also the game where Paul Pierce scored 40 points!)

December 24
DJ Seth Chaos Releases Volume 1 of his Certified Mixtape Series
This was actually a nice Christmas surprise to us on the Sunspot team. Seth Chaos, who has worked with us on a number of different projects, has taken songs from many Sunspot releases and mixed them into a unique experience. Chaos has also included the very first S.O.U.L. Music/Sunspot collaborative track as a bonus. You can take a listen below.

Download Mixtape | Free Mixtapes Powered by DatPiff.com

December 28
Last Friday with Sunspot

Yep, this isn't happening until tomorrow night, but it's been mentioned it in the other two parts of the Year in Review, not to mention Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, texts, LynnHappens.com, smoke signals and Morse Code. It will truly be a night to remember and a great way to kick off the last weekend of 2012. Thanks for reading this series. To close out, I'd like to paraphrase a quote by Shawn Michaels:

"We will give you a show like you have never, ever seen before. Why? Because we can."

Year In Review, Part 1
Year In Review, Part 2

2012: Most of the Year In Review, Part 2

Mid-July
Boston Community Showcase

Female MC Ladii Goddiva invited us to perform at an event she was hosting in Boston. We got in contact with Goddiva thru Ξәƞῼβλα, who is shown here with G. Jonz performing I Dare You.

Runna lighting up the stage with Sunspot's remix version of Turn It Up

This event is actually the first time that Runna and Balán Braxton (Ξәƞῼβλα) met each other. They recorded their song Thinking About You at different times and never spoke to each other before until this day. This picture shows them performing a snippet of it together with G. Jonz for the first time.

September
Not Sure Community College

Pretty self-explanatory, but I'll go ahead and explain it anyway. G. Jonz and C.Luk are in a band and no, Sunspot has NOT disbanded. (Disbanded... punny.) This is the first of many videos showcasing what the band can do. Be sure to Like the band on Facebook: Not Sure Community College
If you're on Twitter, so are we: @notsureband


HAVE A HAPPY AND SAFE HOLIDAY SEASON!

Year In Review, Part 1

Highlights of CTR2, Part 1: Walnut & Mara Bettencourt

Check The Recipe 2 is my latest mixtape which features 18 musical talents from the 781 area and beyond. I'll be giving some background info on two of the people involved in CTR2 in this entry. Sit back and take in some insight on the Recipe.

From left to right: Walnut, G. Jonz and Blak C admiring the beauty of Mara Bettencourt.

Walnut is a veteran in hip-hop culture. For over 20 years, Da Lyrical Geni has solidified in his name in the Boston area as one of the most diverse and conscious lyricists to ever hold a mic. CTR2 isn't the first time that Walnut and Sunspot have crossed paths. Walnut made an appearance in C.Luk's Extradimensional album as well as the critcally-acclaimed short film, "Captain Asian America." G. Jonz and C.Luk also lent a hand in producing two songs ("Next On the Mic" and "You Need to Stop") from Walnut's 2011 release - "Love Is In Your Face." C.Luk performs on "Next On the Mic" along with Big Brotha Sadi and Zullo Crew.

During the calendar year, Walnut hosts a series of Community Building parties where artists of all genres come together and promote positivity, have jam sessions, and generally have a good time. This is how G. Jonz met the vocalist/musican/songwriter Mara Bettencourt.

The Chef brought up the idea of making a second mixtape and explained that he wanted to expand his skills as a producer and delve into pop. Bettencourt agreed to help with this and stated that she wanted a sound that would be reminiscent of a "celestial" dance pop sound. About a week later, the beat was brought to Mara and the aural artist of Azores went to work on creating the lyrics. Soon, Love At First Sight was created and was instrumental (ha.) in leading the pop sound on CTR2. Mara's newest CD is scheduled for release sometime in January 2013.

You can listen to Walnut and Mara and get free downloads right now! Keep checking for updates as I highlight the remaining 16 voices of Check The Recipe 2!

When No One's Looking, I Be Doin Some Thangs...

...like this. GoAnimate.com: CTR2+promo1 by GJonz


Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

For more singles from Check The Recipe 2, click below or click this link and press play! Free downloads too! Tell the WORLD!

Some Music Insight and Reflection

As I prep the finishing touches to Check The Recipe 2, I was listening to songs from the Morning After album. It's always a fun challenge producing songs. This is especially the case with R&B and pop. The artists, writers and producers must pay attention to differing cadences, levels for all singers, finding the right keys for harmonies and layers... It's a lot to juggle.

Let me be clear, this is NOT me complaining about the song-creation process. As challenging as it is to make all the elements work in a song, it's also one of the best parts. When deciding what to add/not to add to a song, certain thoughts float around:

"Will the audience understand the point I'm making when they hear this line?"

"Ooh! I can't wait until they get to THIS point of the song! They're gonna be ROCKIN to that!"

"When [insert a specific person in your audience] hears this, she's never gonna think about Oreos the same way! Ha!"

Creative juices are pumping from the moment the first kick drum is inserted into a project file to make a beat, to the writing, to the recording, all the way to the final listen of the song. It's an adrenaline rush!

Check The Recipe 2 is going to be amazing. I promise you that! A promo vid will be up shortly, but for now, listen to the song that inspired me to write this blog: "Milky Way" from 2011's The Morning After by Runna & Right Hook.

Sunspot Discography, Part 6: Hood Certified

This is Part 6 of the Sunspot Discography series. I'll be posting a short summary about every album and mixtape that's been released under Sunspot Productions. To read every entry, check the sidebar labeled "Discography."

August 20, 2010

"Hood Certified" is C.Luk's latest mixtape. This was his second mixtape while living out in Philly, so his time there had to be evident in his songs. It starts off by Luk checking his voice mail, hearing well wishes from Fat Joe, Maino, Cassidy, Mario and Chubb Rock, and Michael Bivins from Bell Biv Devoe/New Edition among others who have tasted success in the entertainment industry.

The man formerly known as the "Asian Vin Diesel" always shows his personality while flaunting his lyrical skill. Tracks like "I Wanna Rock," and "The Checklist" (produced by G. Jonz) are examples of this. Luk also deals with many serious topics such as his struggles growing up ("My Life" and "Feel the Pain 2") and the aftermath of the 2010 Haitian earthquake ("Hero").

Along with The Chef getting a production cameo on Hood Certified, P.O.E.S. also contributed by producing "This Is How We Do." That track, as well as "Luk Out," "Keep It Movin" and "Light It Up," features Right Hook. Other features includes Liva, Scarfo Live, Showfa, Rich Nice and D'Amonte.

Click here to check out the first video from Hood Certified: Born to Rhyme. (Before you go, have you seen the mixtape cover?! It looks like a circus nightmare with an apocalyptic lava storm brewing in the background!)

Get Hood Certified by clicking here and downloading the entire project for free!

Sunspot Discography, Part 4: Check The Recipe

This is Part 4 of the Sunspot Discography series. I'll be posting a short summary about every album and mixtape that's been released under Sunspot Productions. To read every entry, check the sidebar labeled "Discography."

December 18, 2009

The thought of creating my own "album" had crossed my mind for a few years. Since I'm not a lyricist or a regular on-stage performer, I wasn't sure how to do it. I thought about some of my influences - The Neptunes, Swizz Beatz, Timbaland - they've all come out with mixtapes or albums. Yes, they're "household name" performers in a sense, but they are primarily known as producers. As the sole member of Sunspot who had no expectations placed upon him to put out a project, I decided to finally pull the trigger.

To start, I gathered 6 to 8 R&B and hip-hop beats and emailed them to the Sunspot team, telling them my plan for what was called my mixtape, then my album... then finally, my "mixtape album." Blak C, my brother, and J-Dub, Runna's cousin, were also asked to contribute to the project. I was obviously a little hesitant/unsure about this for a while; to make sure that I was held accountable, I let the public know that I was working on this project with 5 videos documenting the making of the album.

Halfway through the production, P.O.E.S. linked up with Sunspot and showed that he not only produces beats himself, but he's also a lyricist. P.O.E.S. illustrated his lyrical ability in "Huntin For The Game" (with J-Dub and Blak C) and "You Like It," (with Right Hook) a song in which he came up with the concept.

Ro$e Marie made her lyrical debut on the album with "Let The Beat Burn" (with Runna & Right Hook) and "We Cookin It," which featured Right Hook, Blak C, J-Dub and Quiet Storm in his only showing on the project. C.Luk also made appearances on the tracks "Raw," "Check The Recipe" and "Just A Little Bit Closer," which made its debut on the "DJ Kurt presents C.Luk" mixtape. Here's the original version of the song.

R&B and pop stylings were also added to Check The Recipe with "Turn It Up" by Runna and "Caught Red Handed" by Right Hook. Thanks to everyone who supported CTR, we received reviews from other blogs. We also put out a music video for one of the strongest singles from CTR. Shout out to Kevin's Bar & Grill in Lynn (they were very cooperative in the making of the video).

Go to the Sunspot Bandcamp site to listen to and download Check The Recipe now!

Sunspot Discography, Part 3

This is Part 3 of the Sunspot Discography series. I'll be posting a short summary about every album and mixtape that's been released under Sunspot Productions. At the end of each entry, there will be a media player where you can listen to and download selected tracks from each CD. To read every entry, check the sidebar labeled "Discography."

August 2004
Mixtape: "Opposites Attrack"

Coming off the heels of a red-hot release for "Blackface," Runna and Quiet Storm continued to make the summer of '04 even hotter with this mixtape. The name of the project obviously plays off of the phrase "opposites attract." However, the R&B crooner and the street lyricist did a little "give and take" on some of the tracks; sometimes QS gave you some hip-hop to rock to ("You Better") or on the opposite end of the spectrum, Runna would give you some R&B to groove to ("Hardly Breathe"). The entire mixtape has a "summertime-in-the-city" feel with tracks like "Caramel Lips", "Step Up (Show Me Where The Spot Is At)" and "Go" featuring C.Luk. He is featured on one other track and G. Jonz also makes a cameo.

July 2008
Album: "Extradimensional"

"Blackface" was supposed to be C.Luk's last album... HOWEVER, there was an offer on the table for a record deal. That offer didn't go over well. C.Luk explains why "Extradimensional" was created:

"Beatmart, a Christian subdivision of Warner Bros. Music (they eventually went to Sony), had offered a deal. They eventually backed out because they didn't have faith in the business side of C.Luk. True story: on "Live" ft. Right Hook, there's a line that was changed about three days before it was sent to be pressed. The current line is "Hey, C, there's a booger in your nose/ hey back up off of me dude man you lookin too close!" The original line was "Hey, C. Didn't Beatmart back out of the deal?/ Quiet man I'm in denial get that crap out of here!" The line was pulled at the request of Bobby Bishop, former Beatmart recording artist and mentor in the game, who thought that the line would unnecessarily burn bridges. If you're curious, Beatmart no longer exists."

C.Luk's fourth album includes appearances by BPC, G. Jonz, Nathan Martin, Bobby Bishop, Quiet Storm, 7:13 (formerly known as Grimm the Heatmeiser), Walnut, Alex Stoyanov, Runna, Right Hook, Miguel Urena and Howie Doo. Cover art was created by Ill Day. The lead single for the album was "Bounce Back." The music video for it can be seen here.
[Refining the Recipe (02.13.11): When I mentioned the "F Wit Us" mixtape in the Discography series, I said that it had the most features we've ever had on any project. I now realize that "Extradimensional" has that honor, with 11 features. "F Wit Us" has 8.]

May 2009
Mixtape: "DJ Kurt presents C.Luk"

Months after "Extradimensional" was released, C.Luk moved to Philadelphia where he currently resides. It was there that he entered the 1st Annual Music and Entertainment Conference held by 100.3 The Beat. This video quickly illustrates that the Happy Asian MC won the Conference and got a lot of attention. When it was over, he got new management and the decision was made to release a mixtape, hosted by Philly's DJ Kurt. The mixtape churned out bangers like "Temp," "Clap Your Hands," "I'm Like" and "Fake Rappers," which is a revamped version of "Eliminate Rappers" from Luk's last album. "Eliminate Rappers" earned C.Luk a nomination for "Song of the Year" at the 2010 Underground Music Awards in NYC.

To listen to 13 tracks from this mixtape, click here for his Soundclick link.


Four tracks have been added to the Discography playlist. Play and download them for free.
blog discography by gjonz

Sunspot Discography, Part 2

This is Part 2 of the Sunspot Discography series. I'll be posting a short summary about every album and mixtape that's been released under Sunspot Productions. At the end of each entry, there will be a media player where you can listen to and download selected tracks from each CD. To read every entry, check the sidebar labeled "Discography."

August 2003
Mixtape: "F Wit Us"

The streets showed a lot of love for the cool spot in the heat after the first 3 CDs came out. Many lyricists and artists wanted to be involved with Sunspot, so "F Wit Us" was born. As of the posting of this entry, this is the only project (mixtape or album) to begin with one of our skit characters - Pookie. Along with Sunspot staples Runna, Right Hook, C.Luk and a young Quiet Storm, "F Wit Us" also has the most features we've ever had on one project. Matayo, KG, Shogun, Big Business & Shanks represented All Day Entertainment. We also had Big Brotha Sadi, Ana, and AB (performing with Runna as Mass Appeal). [Refining the Recipe (02.13.11): After thoroughly researching, I've found that "F Wit Us" actually has the most features for a mixtape with 8 people. The "Extradimensional" album holds the record for most features on any project - 11.]

March 2004
Mixtape: "Spectacles, Volume 2: Contact Lenses"

C.Luk wanted to release his third album, but it had been almost 2 years since "HIYA!" came out. The plan? To drop the second "Spectacles" mixtape to promote the third album as well as the latest singles from the Sunspot family. This mixtape was done in a radio show format. G. Jonz was the host, playing a parody of Boston radio DJ David Allan Boucher. Many topics were addressed in "Contact Lenses" including C.Luk becoming a Christian, the reason why he called his next album Blackface, and the "rivalry" between Sunspot and another music group. Singles from Runna (R U Wit Me featuring C.Luk), Right Hook (The Ho Down) and QS (Let's Go) were also on the mixtape with interviews from them as well.

June 25, 2004
Album: "Blackface"

(PAYPAL IS SAFE AND 100% SECURE.)
"Blackface" was billed as C.Luk's retirement album, unless he achieved a higher plateau of success. At this point, the Happy Asian MC had more of a conscious flow, but with a Christian twist. The track "A Message: In" (featuring Runna) and three of the skits exhibited this. These skits revolved around Luk and actor Cristian DeJesus, who did a hilarious old man impersonation in the last skit of the album. Runna also appeared on this album with guitarist David Mancinelli on the track "We Jammin." Right Hook is featured with the songs "Asian Americans Say Hello" and "Let's Ride." The cover art was created by My Thai Phan.

Six tracks have been added to the Discography playlist. Play and download them for free.
blog discography by gjonz

Sunspot Discography, Part 1

This is Part 1 of the Sunspot Discography series. I'll be posting a short summary about every album and mixtape that's been released under Sunspot Productions. At the end of each entry, there will be a media player where you can listen to and download selected tracks from each CD. To read every entry, check the sidebar labeled "Discography."

December 2001
Album: "Uh... Yeah"


This is the one that started it all. C.Luk came onto the scene with this project that featured the songs "Dummy," "Substitute," "SKITS-O," and "Chinatown Ride and Stroll" among others. The sound was unique and had untapped potential to grow and mature. "Uh... Yeah" was also the beginning of the fan-appreciated tandem of C.Luk working with Right Hook (then known as Jah1Dah [jah-one-dah]). MACH-1 was the only other feature on this album.

November 2002
Album: "HIYA!"


Following a successful first album, C.Luk's sophomore effort had to show evolution in almost every aspect. "HIYA!" accomplished this with quality of sound, beats, song topics and even skits. This album marked the beginning of C.Luk's many run-ins with the BPC character and additionally featured "Flip" featuring Shanks (then known as Point Proven). Other features on this album include 5th Caliber ("Frustrated"), DOMINATION ("World Order, Tears"), and Right Hook ("Cambodian Love").

April 2003
Mixtape: "Spectacles"


Eager to continue building street cred, C.Luk put out his first mixtape featuring all industry beats (no original Sunspot beats). "Spectacles" really got people to notice C.Luk's lyricism. Tracks like "Street Fiends," "Something I'm Not" (featuring Right Hook) and "Why My World Is This Way" (featuring Runna) showcased the conscious side of C.Luk that would be prominent in the future. On the other side of the spectrum, tracks like "Lose Money" (featuring Runna) and "I'm C.Luk" demonstrated his sense of humor, while still being a great lyricist. This mixtape was the first time C.Luk worked with Runna and also debuted the skit characters of Pookie and the Old Man.

Four tracks have been added to the Discography playlist. Play and download them for free.
blog discography by gjonz