The Bay Area continues to produce talented artists. E-40, Keak Da Sneak, and Mac Dre all made their careers there. Their style of music was called Hyphy, a subgenre of Hip-Hop created in Northern California’s West Oakland (the Bay Area.) They came, they saw, and they conquered, and now, it's time for J. Stalin to shine. Hip-Hop/Hyphy/R&B artist Jovan Smith, aka J. Stalin, released his first 2010 studio album, Prenuptial Agreement, on Jan. 12th. Prenuptial Agreement is J. Stalin’s seventh studio album, released by his label, Livewire Records and San Francisco independent record label SMC Recordings, and produced by Zoo Entertainment Production Company production duo Tha Mekanix, who signed J. Stalin in 2007.

In Murder Dog Magazine, Tha Mekanix describe J. Stalin’s musical style as "Go,” a Hyphy variation. The singles “Rock Day” and “Birthday” feature on the album; you can listen to “Rock Day” http://townthizzness.bandcamp.com/.

J. Stalin is the frontman of the group Livewire Da Gang, with artists throughout the east, north, and west parts of Oakland. Shady Nate is part of the group, along with Ronald Mack, Jay Jonah, Major D, Philthy Rich, Kiwi, Stevie Joe, Mayback, Lil Blood, Ruben Stunner, R.O.B., HD, and Lil Rue.

J. has released four studio albums with The Livewire Gang, and in 2010, he'll release Vol. 3 in his Demolition Men Presents: Early Morning Shift mixtape series, this edition featuring Philthy Rich. To read more about the mixtape, visit DJ Impereal’s MySpace page, www.myspace.com/impereal.

Prenuptial Agreement consists of 22 tracks featuring many West Coast artists, including The Jacka, Too $hort, Mistah F.A.B., Shady Nate, E-40, Glasses Malone, Messy Marv, San Quinn, and many more, according to this article: www.thebaymusic.com/j-stalin-prenuptial-agreement-album-preview/. You can link to some of these artists through DJ Impereal’s MySpace page.

Rapper Shady Nate features on the song “Lyrical Exercise 2” and will perform with J. Stalin on the Prenuptial Agreement Tour Jan. 28th, Jan. 29th, Feb. 5th, Feb. 6th, Feb. 11th, Feb. 12th, Feb. 19th, Feb. 20th, Feb. 25th, and March 6th throughout the Bay Area. To view venues and times, visit Shady Nate’s MySpace page, www.myspace.com/shadylivewire. There, you can also find videos of Shady Nate and J. Stalin, along with much more.

Shady Nate also features on “Money On The Way” and “When Its Real.” Other artists that feature on these tracks are Trip-Hop/Psychedelic/Hyphy artist King Jallah, on “Money On The Way,” and rapper Dubb 20, on “When Its Real.”

Track 3, titled “H.N.I.C.,” features San Francisco rapper Messy Marv, while track 5, titled “Get Off Me,” features rappers E-40 and E-Da Sanga. Rappers Philthy Rich and Lil Blood feature on track 6, titled “G In Me.” Lil Blood also features on “Self Made Millionaire” with Sacramento, CA, rapper Lil Retro.

The song “Last Night” features Detroit, Michigan, producer/rapper SK of SKBeats, and the track titled “Neighborhood Stars” features Oakland rappers Too $hort and Mistah F.A.B.

Los Angeles rapper Glasses Malone and rapper 211 feature on the track titled “My Shine,” while Lil Kev features on “Something New.”

“When rap is at its best, it is cinematic,” says Glasses Malone’s MySpace page bio, titled “Who Is G. Malone?” “Because rap hits hardest when it is like an audio movie that takes you to the block, the club, the bedroom -- or on a journey through the highs and lows life supplies.”

211 also features on “Like A Job To Me,” along with rapper Jay Jonah and another West Oakland Hip-Hop/R&B recording artist, Matt Blaque.

Pittsburg, California, rapper The Jacka features on “Red & Blue Lights,” Oakland rapper Stevie Joe features on “When The Club Over,” and San Francisco rapper Quincy Brooks aka San Quinn features on “Posted.”

In addition to being the owner of Livewire Records, J. Stalin is the president of Town Thizzness Entertainment, a sub-division of Thizz Entertainment, once owned by Mac Dre (7/51970–11/1/2004 R.I.P.) Andre Hicks aka Mac Dre was one of the creators of the Hyphy genre, along with Keak da Sneak, formerly known as Z-Kush, who coined the word “Hyphy” in 1994.

Prenuptial Agreement is available on Amazon.com and iTunes. A video of the single “Rock Day” is available at www.thebaymusic.com/j-stalin-prenuptial-agreement-album/. Visit J. Stalin’s MySpace page, www.myspace.com/jstalinofficialpage, to view several videos, get links to tracks on iTunes, and see tour dates for the Prenuptial Agreement Tour.

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