| Jaz-O | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Jonathan Burks |
| Also known as | The Jaz, Big Jaz, JazO, The Originator |
| Born | October 4, 1964 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Origin | Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | Hip hop |
| Occupations | Rapper, record producer |
| Years active | 1986–present |
| Labels | Kingz Kounty Entertainment, Red Line Music Distribution, Inc., EMI America, Tommy Boy Entertainment |
| Associated acts | Jay-Z, Sauce Money, The Immobilarie |
Jonathan Burks (born October 4, 1964) better known by his stage name Jaz-O, is an American rapper and record producer active in the late 1980s through the 1990s, best known for being the mentor of Jay-Z. Jaz is also known as the Originator and had a song called "The Originators" that featured a young Jay-Z in 1990.[1] As The Jaz, he had success with his 1989 single "Hawaiian Sophie" from his debut album Word to the Jaz. He has been featured on some of Jay-Z's songs, (such as "Bring it On" from Reasonable Doubt), "Ain't No Nigga", and the single "Nigga What, Nigga Who (Originator 99)" from Vol. 2: Hard Knock Life, where he was credited as Big Jaz. He also produced the single "Ain't No Nigga" from Reasonable Doubt and the song "Rap Game/Crack Game" from In My Lifetime, Vol. 1. The album "Kingz Kounty (2002) - with The Immobilarie Present" marked the last time Jay-Z and mentor JazO would ever collaborate with each other.
In 1989 JazO blasted onto the video scene with his first major debut single, “Hawaiian Sophie” and a debut feature on The O’Jays number one single “Have you had your love today?”. JazO was the first rap artist signed to EMI Records. He released 2 albums and an EP from 1989-1991. During this time Jaz produced his own songs along with Prince Paul, The Large Professor, The 45 King and others. After taking a hiatus in 1992, JazO re-emerged producing the classic “Ain’t No Nigga” for Jay Z in 1996. Jaz continued his string of production classics for Jay Z including “In My Lifetime” the remix, “Rap Game, Crack Game” and featured on his cuts “Bring It On” and “Jigga What? Jigga Who?”. From that period to date, Jaz has accumulated volumes of songs of his own to be released in 2006 titled JazO: THE LEGACY (Kingz Kounty Entertainment/Red Line Music Distribution, Inc.) Being the producer of the demo that got The Lox their deal with Bad Boy in ’96, JazO has blessed the likes of Rakim, M.O.P., Foxy Brown, Queen Latifah, Kool G Rap and numerous others. But Jaz is most well known for his ‘triplet style’ of rhyming which he is majestically titled “The Originator”. JazO currently has a new single “Be There” which will be followed up with a similarly titled DVD documentary “JAZ-O: Be There”. The long standing feud between him and Jay-Z started when Jay-Z started Roc-A-Fella records and he tried to convince Jaz-O and fellow rapper Sauce Money to sign with the label. They both refused. It is rumored that they didn't trust Roc-A-Fella records CEOs Damon Dash and Kareem "Biggs" Burke. Jay-Z wanted to show his friend and mentor some love and respect by getting him onto a potentially successful record label. Jay-Z confirms this event on the song "What We Talkin' About" on the Blueprint 3 album when he says "Dame made millions, even Jaz made some scraps, he could've made more but he ain't sign his contract." Jay-Z also took shots at Jaz-O on The Black Album track "December 4th" saying, "Plus I hit my momma with cash from a show that I had, supposedly knowin nobody paid Jaz wack ass." Jaz-O also claims that Jay-Z got his name from Jaz, which Jay-Z denies.
Jaz was an important figure in the Nas vs. Jay-Z feud. It is also speculated that Jaz-O supplied Nas with some of the information he used in his Jay-Z diss track "Ether". After the situation with Nas cooled down, Jay-Z went on to diss Jaz first on a track released by DJ Kay Slay featuring Freeway, Geda K, Young Chris, and Memphis Bleek Called "Fuck Jaz-O AKA Jaz Ho" and later on his album The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse. Jay-Z said on the title track, "I'ma let karma catch up to Jaz-O." Jaz responded with a record on a DJ Kay Slay mix tape called "It's Ova."
Despite the long standing feud between mentor and protege, Jay-Z still gives Jaz-O credit for his success (although he disses him at the same time) as heard in the song "I Do It For Hip Hop" on Ludacris' Theater of the Mind album. Jay-Z says "Shout out to Grand Master Flash and to Caz and even Jaz bum ass'.
Jaz-O soon released a diss track aimed to Jay-Z for the "I Do It For Hip Hop" diss named 'Go Harder' released in early 2009.
In late August 2009, Jaz-O was featured on another song dissing Jay-Z called, "Gangstas Ride" with West Coast rapper, The Game. The song was fueled by the recent beef between The Game and Jay-Z.
Besides being an emcee, he has produced songs for several hip hop artists other than Jay-Z, such as Group Home, M.O.P, Ras Kass, Rakim, and others.
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