James Gregory Scheffer (born June 8, 1970), professionally known as Jim Jonsin, is an American record producer, songwriter, businessman and DJ from

South Florida South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of ...

. Jonsin has collaborated with numerous artists, including

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...

Kelly Rowland Kelendria Trene Rowland (born February 11, 1981) is an American singer, actress, and television personality. She rose to fame in the late 1990s as a member of Destiny's Child, one of the world's best-selling girl groups of all time. During the g ...

Usher Usher may refer to: Several jobs which originally involved directing people and ensuring people are in the correct place: * Usher (occupation) ** Church usher ** Wedding usher, one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony ** F ...

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman, joining ...

Kid Cudi Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi (born January 30, 1984), also known by his stage name Kid Cudi ( ), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor and fashion designer. Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Cudi would move to New Y ...

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing Hip hop music, hip hop in Middle America (United Sta ...

, Yelawolf,

Nelly Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, actor and entrepreneur. He embarked on his music career with the hip hop group St. Lunatics in 1993 and signed to Universal ...

, T.I., Danity Kane and

Jamie Foxx Eric Marlon Bishop (born December 13, 1967), known professionally as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, comedian, and singer. He became widely known for his portrayal of Ray Charles in the 2004 biographical film ''Ray'', for which he won the A ...

, among others. Jonsin won a

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

in 2009, for Best Rap Song for Lil Wayne's "

Lollipop A lollipop is a type of sugar candy usually consisting of hard candy mounted on a stick and intended for sucking or licking. Different informal terms are used in different places, including lolly, sucker, sticky-pop, etc. Lollipops are ava ...

". That year he was also nominated for his production on T.I.'s " Whatever You Like", which also garnered a nomination for Best Rap Song. Jonsin has contributed production to albums including Beyoncé's '' I Am... Sasha Fierce'' (2010 Best Contemporary R&B album), Lil Wayne's ''

Tha Carter III ''Tha Carter III'' is the sixth studio album by American rapper Lil Wayne, released on June 10, 2008, by Cash Money, Universal Motown & Young Money Entertainment. It follows a long string of mixtape releases and guest appearances on other hip ...

'' (2008 Best Rap Album), Usher's '' Raymond v. Raymond'' (2011 Best Contemporary R&B album), and Usher's " There Goes My Baby" (2011 Best Male R&B Vocal Performance), and Eminem's '' Recovery'' (2011 Best Rap Album and Album of the Year). In 2006, Jonsin launched Rebel Rock Entertainment, his own

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the pr ...

imprint and subsequently signed a then unknown musician by the name of B.o.B. Jonsin then partnered with

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most im ...

, and later

Grand Hustle Grand Hustle Records (formerly Grand Hustle Entertainment), also known as Hustle Gang Music, is an Atlanta, Georgia-based hip hop record label, founded in 2003, by American rapper T.I. and his manager Jason Geter. Up until December 2012, the la ...

, in a joint venture deal to work on B.o.B.'s debut album, ''

The Adventures of Bobby Ray ''B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray'' is the debut studio album by American rapper B.o.B, released on April 27, 2010, by Grand Hustle Records, Rebel Rock Entertainment and Atlantic Records. Production for the album took place during 2008 ...

'' (2010). The album, which was executive produced by Jonsin and T.I., debuted at number 1 on the ''Billboard'' 200. He also signed the production duo, FnZ, and Danny Morris to his production company, Rebel Rock Productions. In addition to his ventures in music, he entered into the field of professional racing in February 2012 by forming his own motorsports team, Rebel Rock Racing. Jonsin will be driving a Porsche 911 in the upcoming Grand-am Road Racing series with co-driver D.J. Randall.

Early life

Jim Jonsin was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

but was raised in

. Jonsin's first job in the music business was as a scratch DJ. At the age of 14, Jonsin was spinning records at local skating rinks and other venues. By 18 Jonsin had graduated to spinning at

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

and

dance clubs and formed his own record label called Cut It Up Def Records and produced one of its first singles, "Cut It Up Def" which independently sold 40,000 units. Jonsin had become well known in the region by the time he released his next production, the single "Party Time", which he also rapped on. Jonsin's success in South Florida led him to a deal with California-based Heat Wave Records. Going by his new artist moniker, DJ Jealous J, he released a compilation of Miami bass songs titled ''

Miami Bass Jams Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

''. The first two singles from the collection were certified Gold. Jonsin went on to tour with some of the most popular acts of the time such as

Cypress Hill Cypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. They have sold over 20 million albums worldwide and have multi-platinum and platinum albums. They are considered to be among the main progenitors of West Coast and 1990 ...

2 Live Crew 2 Live Crew is an American hip hop group from Miami, Florida, which had its greatest commercial success from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. The group's most well-known line up was composed of Luke Campbell, Fresh Kid Ice, Mr. Mixx, and ...

, and

Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch was an American hip-hop group formed in 1991 by Mark Wahlberg (alias Marky Mark), Scott Gee, Hector the Booty Inspector, DJ-T, and Ashey Ace. The group's best known song is "Good Vibrations", which made it to number ...

Music career

In the late 1990s, Jonsin was no longer on tour and returned to Miami to produce more bass records and eventually landed a position as an engineer at Slip N Slide records. At the label Jim produced records for Trick Daddy and

Trina Katrina Laverne Taylor (born December 3, 1978), known professionally as Trina, is an American rapper. She rose to prominence in 1998 with her appearance on the Trick Daddy single "Nann Nigga". Trina has been described by '' XXL'' as "the mos ...

. In 2004 Jonsin went on to write and produce Trick Daddy's hit single " Let's Go" (featuring

Lil Jon Jonathan H. Smith (born January 17, 1971) better known by his stage name Lil Jon, is an American rapper, producer and former frontman of the rap group Lil Jon & the East Side Boyz. He was instrumental in the emergence of the hip hop subgenre cr ...

Twista Carl Terrell Mitchell (born November 27, 1973), better known by his stage name Twista (formerly Tung Twista), is an American rapper and record producer. He is best known for his chopper style of rapping and for once holding the title of fastes ...

). Soon after the success of this song Jonsin went on to work with Miami rapper Pitbull and produced " Dammit Man" off the rapper's debut album ''

M.I.A.M.I. ''M.I.A.M.I.'' (backronym of ''Money Is a Major Issue'') is the debut studio album by Cuban-American rapper Pitbull. It was released on August 24, 2004 via TVT Records. The production on the album was primarily handled by Lil Jon, Jim Jonsin, D ...

'', which was certified Gold. The music industry began to take notice of the Miami-based producer and Jonsin was tapped by

Bad Boy Records Bad Boy Records (or Bad Boy Entertainment) is an American record label founded in 1993 by rapper Sean "Puffy" Combs. It operates as an imprint of Epic Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment. It has been home to many artists, including ...

to produce a record for the group which was made widely popular by the

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

reality show,

Making the Band ''Making the Band'' is an ABC/MTV reality television series that exists in separate iterations, each focusing on a specific music act. It spawned musical acts O-Town, Da Band, Danity Kane, Day26, and Donnie Klang. Except for the first iteration o ...

, Danity Kane. Jonsin produced their single entitled "

Show Stopper Showstopper or Show Stopper may refer to: Film and television * Show Stopper (CSI: Miami), "Show Stopper" (''CSI: Miami''), an episode of the TV show * "Show Stoppers", an List of Garfield and Friends episodes, episode of ''Garfield and Friends'' ...

" which went on to be certified Gold by the RIAA. In 2008, Jonsin wrote and produced for Lil Wayne's 5× platinum single "

" released in early 2008. The song was at #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart for 5 weeks which was the first time

had achieved this chart position. In addition to the chart success at the 51st Grammys Jonsin won for Best Rap Song. A few months after the release of "Lollipop", Jonsin followed up with writing and producing T.I.'s 5× platinum single " Whatever You Like". The song found cross over success and was on Billboard's Hot 100 for 7 weeks. " Whatever You Like" was also a popular ringmaster spending 18 weeks at the top of Billboard's Hot Ringmaster's chart. At the close of 2008 continued this string of success with his production on Soulja Boy Tell 'Em's "

Kiss Me Thru The Phone "Kiss Me thru the Phone" is a song co-written and recorded by hip hop artist Soulja Boy featuring Sammie. It was released on November 27, 2008, as the second single from his 2008 album, '' iSouljaBoyTellem''. It was the best-selling single from ...

". The song was downloaded over 2 million times and was also a popular ringmaster spending 11 weeks at the top of Billboard's Hot Ringmaster's chart. The song went on to reach number 3 on Billboard's Hot 100 Chart. In 2009, Jonsin co-produced the single entitled " Sweet Dreams" on Beyonce's multi

winning and double platinum album I Am…Sasha Fierce. This record achieved platinum status and reached #10 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. Shortly after "Sweet Dreams" was released Jonsin reteamed with Pitbull, producing "

Hotel Room Service "Hotel Room Service" is a song by American rapper Pitbull released as the third single from his fourth album, '' Pitbull Starring in Rebelution''. It was released to both iTunes and mainstream radio on June 16, 2009. The song peaked at number e ...

" which was certified platinum and reached #8 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. The late summer of 2010 proved to be another high point for Jonsin's career. On August 16

released " Just a Dream", co-produced by Jonsin. This single went platinum and reached #3 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. The day after "Just a Dream" was released, Kid Cudi released the Jonsin-produced "Erase Me" featuring Kanye West, which reached #22 on Billboard's Hot 100. Another August release Jonsin wrote and produced on was former

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to ...

winner

Fantasia Fantasia International Film Festival (also known as Fantasia-fest, FanTasia, and Fant-Asia) is a film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. Regularly held in July of each year, it is valued by both hardcor ...

on "Falling In Love Tonight" off of Fantasia's Grammy nominated album '' Back To Me''. In early 2011

released " Gone" featuring

, which Jonsin again co-produced. The single is a follow-up to Nelly's single "

Dilemma A dilemma ( grc-gre, δίλημμα "double proposition") is a problem offering two possibilities, neither of which is unambiguously acceptable or preferable. The possibilities are termed the ''horns'' of the dilemma, a clichéd usage, but dis ...

" from 2002 which also featured Rowland and reigned for 10 weeks at #1 on Billboard's Hot 100. Jonsin produced Eminem's "

Space Bound "Space Bound" is a song by American rapper Eminem. It was released on June 18, 2011, as the fourth and final single from his seventh album, '' Recovery''. The song is produced by American hip-hop producer Jim Jonsin and features samples of "Dri ...

" from '' Recovery'', the top selling album of 2010 as well as the 53rd Grammy's Best Rap Album. "

On My Level "On My Level" is a song by American rapper Wiz Khalifa featuring fellow American rapper Too $hort released as the first promotional, and later third official single from the former's third studio album, ''Rolling Papers'' (2011). The song was wri ...

" was released by

Wiz Khalifa Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by his stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. He released his debut album, ''Show and Prove'', in 2006 and signed to Warner Bros. Records in 20 ...

(which features Too Short) on ''

Rolling Papers Rolling paper is a specialty paper used for making cigarettes (commercially manufactured filter cigarettes and individually made roll-your-own cigarettes). Rolling papers are packs of several cigarette-size sheets, often folded inside a cardboar ...

'' on March 29, 2011.

Ventures

Rebel Rock Entertainment

Jonsin formed his record label, Rebel Rock Entertainment, in 2006. He signed B.o.B as the label's first artist, who in 2010 made his debut appearance on to the music scene with great success. B.o.B first released the double platinum single

Nothin' On You "Nothin' on You" is the debut single of both American rapper B.o.B and featured American singer-songwriter Bruno Mars. It is the lead single from the former's debut studio album, '' B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray'' (2010). It was ...

which went to #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 and was nominated for 3 Grammys. The artist followed "

Nothin' on You "Nothin' on You" is the debut single of both American rapper B.o.B and featured American singer-songwriter Bruno Mars. It is the lead single from the former's debut studio album, '' B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray'' (2010). It was ...

" with the triple platinum single " Airplanes" which made it to #2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100B.o.B Album & Song Chart History , Billboard.com
and was itself nominated for a

. B.o.B's third release, " Magic", went platinum and landed at #10 on Billboard's Hot 100. Jonsin served as executive producer for B.o.B's debut album, ''

'' and is credited with choosing the artist's first single, "

". The song ultimately turned out to be one of the biggest records of the year. B.o.B. garnered several awards in late 2010 and early 2011. The rapper was nominated at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards for five awards. Additionally in 2010 he was nominated for 3

American Music Awards The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show, generally held in the fall, created by Dick Clark in 1973 for ABC when the network's contract to air the Grammy Awards expired, and currently produced by Dick Clark Pro ...

, 3

BET Awards The BET Awards is an American award show that was established in 2001 by the Black Entertainment Television network to celebrate black entertainers and other minorities in music, film, sports and philanthropy. The awards, which are presented annua ...

, 7

BET Hip Hop Awards The BET Hip Hop Awards are an annual awards show, airing on BET, showcasing hip hop performers, producers and music video directors. The awards ceremony began in 2006; it was held on November 12, 2006 at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, and w ...

, 4

MTV Video Music Awards The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honour the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category) ...

, and 1

MTV Europe Music Award The MTV Europe Music Awards (originally named MTV European Music Awards, commonly abbreviated as MTV EMA) are awards presented by Paramount International Networks to honour artists and music in pop culture. It was originally conceived as an a ...

. B.o.B won the 2010

Soul Train Awards The Soul Train Music Awards is an annual music awards show which previously aired in national broadcast syndication, and honors the best in African-American culture, music and entertainment. It is produced by the makers of ''Soul Train'', the pro ...

for Best Song "Nothin' On You" and gained a nomination for Best New Artist. B.o.B won the 2010

Teen Choice Awards The Teen Choice Awards is an annual awards show that airs on the Fox television network. The awards honor the year's biggest achievements in music, film, sports, television, fashion, social media, and more, voted by viewers living in the United ...

Hook Up Song for "Airplanes" and was nominated for five others. Jonsin plans to follow up the success of his imprint's first artist with two other singers which he signed in 2011, Nick Merico and Leroy.

Rebel Rock Productions

Jonsin signed three producers, Finatik and Zac—an Australian production duo, and Danny Morris to his production company, Rebel Rock Productions. Danny Morris has worked with Jonsin on several releases including Usher's " There Goes My Baby", and "Making Love (Into the Night)", Fantasia's "Falling In Love Tonight", Kelly Rowland's "Take Everything" and "

Motivation Motivation is the reason for which humans and other animals initiate, continue, or terminate a behavior at a given time. Motivational states are commonly understood as forces acting within the agent that create a disposition to engage in goal-dire ...

", Tank's " Scream", N Dubz's "Girls" and Wiz Khalifa's "

". Finatik and Zac also have some upcoming releases for the

Def Jam Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The l ...

artist Wax ("Two Wheels/DUI") and the Universal Records artist

Pac Div Pacific Division, better known as Pac Div is an American rap quartet from Southern California. Formed by brothers Like and Mibbs, Pac Div started rapping together in high school. Originally an eleven-member crew, they shrank to three in 2005 ...

("Loose").

Rebel Made

Jonsin formed Rebel Made Publishing Company in 2009 as a venture with his management team, Made. Writers signed to Rebel Made's roster include Terence Reid, formerly of The Network, along with fellow producers Finatik and Zac and Danny Morris.

Rebel Rock Racing

In 2010, Jonsin formed a racing team named Rebel Rock Racing, composed of him,

Bucky Lasek Charles Michael "Bucky" Lasek ( ; born December 3, 1972) is an American professional skateboarder and rallycross driver. Career Professional skateboarding Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Lasek started skateboarding at the age of 12, shortly af ...

(Pro Skateboarder and ten time

X Games The X Games are an annual extreme sports event organized, produced and broadcast by ESPN. Coverage is also shown on ESPN's sister network, ABC. The inaugural X Games were held during the summer of 1995 in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island, ...

gold medalist) and Marius Avemarg (pro driver from

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

). The race team is supported by its ambassadors, Pitbull, Kyle Loza, and Yelawolf and sponsors such as

Beats by Dre Beats Electronics LLC (also known as Beats by Dr. Dre, or simply Beats by Dre) is an American consumer audio products manufacturer headquartered in Culver City, California. The company was founded by music producer Dr. Dre and record company exe ...

and Oakley.

''American Idol''

Jonsin appeared on the 10th season of ''

'' in 2011. Jonsin was handpicked by Interscope's

Jimmy Iovine James Iovine ( ; ; born March 11, 1953) is an American entrepreneur, record executive, and media proprietor best known as the co-founder of Interscope Records. In 2006, Iovine and rapper-producer Dr. Dre founded Beats Electronics, which produces ...

as one of a handful of producers to serve as mentors to the contestants. Jonsin will be working with the contestants each week to produce and record cover songs which will be released for sale on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mu ...

Musical influences and techniques

Jonsin has cited

DJ Jazzy Jeff Jeffrey Allen Townes (born January 22, 1965), known professionally as DJ Jazzy Jeff (or simply Jazz), is an American disc jockey (DJ) and music producer. He was a member of DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince with Will Smith. He is credited, alo ...

and Jam Master Jay as strong musical influences on his style and has been known to use an MPC 3000, a Roland TR 808, and an Access Virus TI as his preferred gear.

Discography

Singles produced

Awards and nominations

*2006 BMI Urban Songwriter of the Year *2006 BMI Urban Award for " Grind with Me", " Let's Go", and " Your Body" *2006 BMI London Awards – Urban Award for " Here We Go" *2007 BMI Urban Awards for " Girl Tonite", " Here We Go", and " Unpredictable" *2008

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

– Best Rap Song – "

" *2009 BMI Creative Inspiration Producer Award *2009 BMI Urban Award for "

" *2009 ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

'' #3 Hot 100 Producer of the Year *2009

nomination Album of the Year –

–

I Am… Sasha Fierce ''I Am... Sasha Fierce'' is the third studio album by American singer Beyoncé. It was released on November 12, 2008, by Columbia Records and Music World Entertainment. In its original release, the album was formatted as a double album, intendin ...

*2010 BMI Pop Award for " Whatever You Like" *2010 BMI Urban Awards for "

" and "

" *2010 BMI London Awards – Pop Awards for "

" and " Sweet Dreams" *2010 ''

'' #16 R&B/Hip-Hop Producer of the Year *2010

nomination Album of the Year –

– Recovery

References

External links

Rebel RockRebel Rock — Rebel Rock Racing
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jonsin, Jim Living people American dance musicians American electronic musicians American hip hop DJs American hip hop record producers American music industry executives American rhythm and blues keyboardists American pop keyboardists Businesspeople from Florida Businesspeople from New York City People from Brooklyn Songwriters from Florida Songwriters from New York (state) Southern hip hop musicians 1970 births Grammy Award winners for rap music Record producers from New York (state) 21st-century American keyboardists Michelin Pilot Challenge drivers