BJ Taylor

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BJ Taylor
Background information
Birth name	Antoine Mercadius
Origin	Collingwood, Ontario, Canada
Genre(s)	Rap
Occupation(s)	Producer, Rapper, Guitarist
Instrument(s)	Vocals
Years active	2003 – 2005, 2007 - present
Label(s)	Hate Crime Records Faceless Entertainment
Notable instrument(s)
Vocals Guitar

Antoine Mercadius, better known by his stage name BJ Taylor is a Canadian white rapper. BJ Taylor is most notable for its common focus of parodying themes heard in modern rap.

1 Biography
- 1.1 Origins
- 1.2 Inactivity in 2006 and Recent Events
2 Career
3 Discography
- 3.1 Albums and EPs
- 3.2 Singles
4 Videography
- 4.1 DVDs

[edit] Biography

[edit] Origins

Antoine began the project as a way to shift music styles from rock to rap, as a side project. There was never any obligation to the BJ Taylor project, so there are usually considerably long durations between releases of new material. So far, one EP and one album have been released as of 2007. The project was named after an aboriginal teen Antoine had went to school with during 2003. This man consistently heckled Antoine and his friends and was the center of a few fights between them. Antoine and a friend recorded jokes about him that year; these were the first BJ Taylor "demos", before the project solidified. In 2003 Antoine recorded a debut full-length home demo of about a dozen songs (divided between several interludes) to be distributed on a limited number of CD-Rs, but his computer which contained the tracks crashed before he could burn the copies, ironically. 4 tracks, 3 of which are interludes, still remain from the sessions however, and are pending a possible re-release on a rarities compilation in the future.

[edit] Inactivity in 2006 and Recent Events

The last album to feature new material was What You Love. It was recorded in 2005, only months after the recording sessions of the Back With Tracks EP, though both albums' recordings weren't mixed with any music. For a year and a half the project was deemed inactive and possibly finished, until January 2007 when the Back With Tracks EP was finally mixed after almost 2 years. Subsequently a single of "Raped That Bitch" was released featuring 4 versions of the track. What You Love still has yet to be mixed, but the possibility of mixing has since become highly in favor.

Antoine has confirmed plans to release a double album, effectively ending the BJ Taylor era, however. One disc of the album will feature the 4 existing tracks from the 2003 demo, demos from the Back With Tracks EP and What You Love, archived tracks not featured on any previous album, and various demos recorded in 2007 for a possible new album in 2008. The second disc will be a faux live album featuring 5 previously released songs, 2 songs originally recorded in 2004, 3 covers, and 3 new songs. Originally a greatest hits album was planned, but because only 19 songs have been officially released, the double album release seems like a better benefit.

The double album will be released sometime in 2007, for the purpose of releasing archive tracks and new tracks in case there is no future full-length album. Antoine has begun to write a follow-up to 2005's What You Love and has confirmed the completion of 2 tracks out of a possible 16. These 2 tracks may appear on the faux-live disc of the 2007 double album in case a 2008 album does not surface.

Antoine recently remixed Coheed and Cambria's "Welcome Home". This instrumental mix may appear as a sample on the new album, much like the mixes of familiar songs sampled on the Back With Tracks EP. Also 3 new songs entitled "Bitch Please IV", "Back and Ever Ill Wit' Miss O.G., Nee" and "Blackjack Switchblade" were confirmed to be written. These may be the 3 new songs featured on the faux-live album due sometime in 2007.

[edit] Career

[edit] Controversial subjects

The partial controversies surrounding the recordings are generally 3 main topics: selective homophobia, misogyny (to a lesser extent), and selective racism, although their usage has diminished with each release. Not to say that Antoine (who is the sole lyricist) is a racist, misogynist, or homophobic, on the contrary, he has stated that he doesn't even take his own lyrics seriously. He also stated that he feels somewhat remorse over a select few tracks. The most remorse comes out of the few instances of misogyny that occurs in some songs. Homophobia is a lesser issue in more recent songs than found in early recordings. Early demos featured Antoine rapping in character of a random person or announcer who saw BJ as "gay", as at the time this was a popular saying. The aforementioned example is most evident in the 2003 demo that was lost in a crash. 4 tracks from the sessions are in tact, however, as of 2007. Racism is the third limited, but evident, controversial topic in songs. Antoine said "nigger" on the 2003 demo. The lyrics are written generally as a parody of modern gangsta rap and were never meant to be taken serious.

[edit] Criticisms

The BJ Taylor project has been criticized mainly for the fact that the vast-majority of the tracks that have been recorded as of 2007 are freestyles, an ability of Antoine's that is in raw terms, either "hit" or "miss". Generally the freestyle tracks are easy to pick out from the tracks that were physically written, due to the fact that in freestyles some spoken lines lack sense. Another example is lengthy durations of no speaking, that were unedited during the mixing process. Poor editing and ice cold production is another evident example of criticism. Antoine himself has even criticized his vocal style on the 2005 EP "Back With Tracks EP".

[edit] Album concepts

Originally, the songs were narrated by a character who saw BJ's flaws and often dismissed him as "gay". In early demos BJ was killed at the end of the track usually by gunshot. During the Back With Tracks EP sessions, the recordings shifted focus to making BJ the narrator, getting into acts of violence while dismissing his own homosexuality and arrogance. This theme followed in What You Love. It also has been confirmed to remain on the new album planned for release in 2008. During the last 4 years, other songs have been recorded that do not involve BJ at all.