J-vibe (born Jose Jimenez Jr in

East Los Angeles, California East Los Angeles ( es, Este de Los Ángeles), or East L.A., is an unincorporated area in Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 118,786, a drop of 6.1% from 2010, when it was 126,496. For statistical purp ...

) is a composer and

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

who is known for his prolific original compositions. He is an important part of the underground

West Coast rap West Coast hip hop is a regional genre of hip hop music that encompasses any artists or music that originated in the West Coast region of the United States. West Coast hip hop began to dominate from a radio play and sales standpoint during the e ...

and dance scene. He has also been a computer software programmer since he was 13 years old. J-vibe's ability to compose music in a large range of styles is one of his best-known traits. Considering his many hip-hop and electronica productions, he credits his major musical influences to

Tangerine Dream Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music band founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The group has seen many personnel changes over the years, with Froese having been the only constant member until his death in January 2015. The best-known lineu ...

Jean Michel Jarre Jean-Michel André Jarre (; born 24 August 1948) is a French composer, performer and record producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and new-age genres, and is known for organising outdoor spectacles featuring his music, accompan ...

Vangelis Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou ( el, Ευάγγελος Οδυσσέας Παπαθανασίου ; 29 March 1943 – 17 May 2022), known professionally as Vangelis ( ; el, Βαγγέλης, links=no ), was a Greek composer and arranger of ...

John Carpenter John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, actor, and composer. Although he worked in various film genres, he is most commonly associated with horror, action, and science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s. He ...

Ultravox Ultravox (earlier styled as Ultravox!) were a British new wave band, formed in London in April 1974 as Tiger Lily. Between 1980 and 1986, they scored seven Top Ten albums and seventeen Top 40 singles in the UK, the most successful of which was ...

and the ethnic music of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

. He lives in Los Angeles with his girlfriend Hsky, who is an abstract painter.

History

The 1980s

J-vibe's productions started as early as 1982, when he designed and built his first synthesizer. Professionally, his career started in 1987 when he collaborated with Sammy Hernandez from

JDC Records JDC Records was an important record distributor during the golden years of dance music (1976–1990). It was originally located in San Pedro, California and owned by Jim and Dale Callon. The company name came from their initials, JDC. They dist ...

in San Pedro, California. His first rap production was Jonny Chinga's "Mini Truck Lover" in 1987 on

Billionaire Records A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least one billion (1,000,000,000, i.e., a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. The American busi ...

. In 1988, he produced the classic

Electrofunk Electro (or electro-funk)Rap meets T ...

record titled "Velocity, Speed and Force" under the group name VSF on

Dunk Yer Funk Records Dunk Yer Funk Records was a sub-label of record distributor JDC Records, active in San Pedro, California from 1985 to 1988. With the growing popularity of rap music and electrofunk, Jim Callon decided to form a sub-label. This would keep hi ...

. That same year, he was given a cassette tape of a track titled "RoboCop" by the Sleeze Boys. J-vibe wanted to release it on his own label, but Sam Hernandez passed it on to Sheik Records. The year 1989 brought a release with Mexican-Ecuadorian-Samoan rapper

Renegade MC Renegade or The Renegade may refer to: Aircraft *Lake Renegade, an American amphibious aircraft design *Murphy Renegade, a Canadian ultralight biplane design *Southern Aeronautical Renegade, an American racing aircraft design Games *''Command ...

(Chris Dominguez). The rap titled "Wabbit" (The Roger Dance) was released on Dunk Yer Funk. It was a tribute to the film

Who Framed Roger Rabbit ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American Live-action animated film, live-action/animated comedy film, comedy mystery film directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Frank Marshall (filmmaker), Frank Marshall and Robert Watts, and loosely ad ...

. During 1989, he was mainly a studio session musician and also touched on

Freestyle music Freestyle music, also called Latin freestyle or Latin hip-hop ''( sic)'' is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in the New York metropolitan area and Philadelphia, primarily among Hispanic Americans and Italian Americans in the 1980s. ...

, but didn't release any in this genre until 1991.

The 1990s

In 1990, he started Base 12 Records, which was distributed through JDC Records in San Pedro, California. In 1991, he recorded with

Chicano Chicano or Chicana is a chosen identity for many Mexican Americans in the United States. The label ''Chicano'' is sometimes used interchangeably with ''Mexican American'', although the terms have different meanings. While Mexican-American ident ...

rapper MC No Shame. The track "We Got Latino Power" and "Shake Your Hips" were local party favorites. J-vibe contributed to the

movement this same year with a singer named Marisol. In 1992, he released a

white label A white label record is a vinyl record with white labels attached. There are several variations each with a different purpose. Variations include test pressings, white label promos, and plain white labels. Test pressings Test pressings, usua ...

vinyl record titled "Norman Bass", on which he rapped. It was a play on

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

's ''

Psycho Psycho may refer to: Mind * Psychopath * Sociopath * Someone with a personality disorder * Someone with a psychological disorder People with the nickname * Karl Amoussou or Psycho, mixed martial artist * Peter Ebdon or Psycho, English snook ...

'' character

Norman Bates Norman Bates is a fictional character created by American author Robert Bloch as the main antagonist in his 1959 thriller novel ''Psycho''. He has an alter, Mother, who takes from the form of his abusive mother, and later victim, Norma, wh ...

. During these years, he also developed several software programs between and sold them on

Compuserve CompuServe (CompuServe Information Service, also known by its initialism CIS) was an American online service provider, the first major commercial one in the world – described in 1994 as "the oldest of the Big Three information services (the oth ...

. The year 1993 brought a change when J-vibe started recording and releasing

house music House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground club culture in the late 1970s, as DJs began altering ...

techno Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...

, early

trance music Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that emerged from the British new-age music scene and the early 1990s German techno and hardcore (electronic dance music genre), hardcore scenes. Trance music is characterized by a tempo generally ly ...

and dance mixes. His releases such as "DJ Stoned" (filtered house), "Celestial Teahouse" (nrg) and "Toi Noi Tieng Viet" (trance) with

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...

were quite new for their time.

Electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to ...

in a new wave form was in production for 1994. He recorded and produced tracks for Microcosm, which was a cross between

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting). Depech ...

and

Fad Gadget Francis John Tovey (8 September 1956 – 3 April 2002), known also by his stage name Fad Gadget, was a British avant-garde electronic musician and vocalist. He was a proponent of both new wave and early industrial music, fusing pop-structured ...

. In 1995, J-vibe teamed up with Big Ron (related to

Warren G Warren Griffin III (born November 10, 1970) is an American rapper and producer known for his role in West Coast rap's 1990s ascent.Steve Huey"Warren G: Biography" ''AllMusic.com'', Netaktion LLC, visited May 8, 2020. Along with Snoop Dogg and N ...

.) whom he met in Long Beach, California. Together, they attempted to release several hip-hop tracks, but were unable to come to an agreement. In the late 90s, he had a track called "Funk Me Out" on

Richard "Humpty" Vission Richard Gonzalez (born 24 May 1969), better known by his stage name Richard "Humpty" Vission, is a Canadian house music producer, remixer, and DJ. Biography He was raised in Highland Park, in Los Angeles, California, and graduated from Benj ...

's 1997 "Drop That Beat" mix. Many positive reviews of the track were made including the then famous DJ Rhythms website. That same year, Anonthy Larme who ran a tribute site to the Sierra video game

Phantasmagoria Phantasmagoria (, also fantasmagorie, fantasmagoria) was a form of horror theatre that (among other techniques) used one or more magic lanterns to project frightening images, such as skeletons, demons, and ghosts, onto walls, smoke, or semi-t ...

requested community support to obtain MIDI files from the game. J-vibe, successfully extracted the

MIDI MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, an ...

music by using an ingenious method that did not violate the software.Phantasmagoria Site
/ref> According to the documentation in the tribute site, he used two computers and a

Roland MC-303 The Roland MC-303 is the first of a series of musical instruments known as a Groovebox. It combines a simple sound module with a sequencer to record and store notation, along with controls aimed at encouraging the musician to improvise the music ...

. In 1998, he placed his house music production "Freak Funk Mofo Mama Pie" to be included in

Carl Cox Carl Cox (born 29 July 1962) is a British house and techno club DJ, as well as radio DJ and record producer. He is based in Hove, Sussex, England. Cox has won and been nominated for numerous awards. He has performed at numerous clubs and e ...

's "Non Stop 98/01" CD on

London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

. During 1997 - 1999, J-vibe teamed with Frankie Fusion Medina and released over a dozen other house music singles on Soundshaft Music, Moody Records, V-Wax and

Antler Subway Antlers are extensions of an animal's skull found in members of the Cervidae (deer) family. Antlers are a single structure composed of bone, cartilage, fibrous tissue, skin, nerves, and blood vessels. They are generally found only on males ...

Benelux The Benelux Union ( nl, Benelux Unie; french: Union Benelux; lb, Benelux-Unioun), also known as simply Benelux, is a Political union, politico-economic union and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighboring states in ...

. In 1998, he was venturing in the

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...

ese music market. He had contacted Vietnamese singer Ly Ly after hearing her singing on Henry Chuc's "TechnoRap" album. In 1999, after the passing of his father, J-vibe went into a darker side of music. He developed a group called Vampirus Sceleratum which included his brother Santiago. They created dark ambient music. The music involved a lot of aspects of evil, the Catholic Church and darkness. One track that many referred to was titled "The

Exorcism Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be ...

" which included the "Prayer to St. Michael."

The 2000s

In 2000, J-vibe composed and produced for the Spanish Rock group "La Razon." His compositions were inspired and made to the style of

Classix Nouveaux Classix Nouveaux are an English new wave band, who are generally considered part of the New Romantic scene. Though experiencing only minor success in their native UK, most notably with their 1982 Top 20 hit "Is It a Dream", the band had number ...

and

. Between 2000 and 2002, J-vibe worked with R&B singer Val C (Valerie Ceballos). Together with his brother Santiago Jimenez (Smax), they composed tracks for her including "Solamente Tu", "El Ritmo", "Crazy Boy" and "I Got My Own Way." It was in 2002 that Hsky joined the label. Her abstract artwork started appearing in all of their releases. In 2003, J-vibe started working with La Movida Records, which was part owned by rappers Crooked Stilo. While there, he composed and produced an entire album for Brown Town Looters which were recording under the name Pueblo Cafe. The album was a production of Hurban hip-hop that utilized a live

Banda Banda may refer to: People *Banda (surname) *Banda Prakash (born 1954), Indian politician *Banda Kanakalingeshwara Rao (1907–1968), Indian actor *Banda Karthika Reddy (born 1977), Indian politician *Banda Singh Bahadur (1670–1716), Sikh warr ...

. Music was composed by J-vibe in his home studio and then recreated by the live band at the larger studio. It was released on

Musart Records Discos Musart is a Mexican record label founded in 1948. It is headquartered in Mexico City and remains one of the country's biggest labels, focusing on Mexican music, as well as international releases licensed from various labels around the world. ...

and a release exists. In 2003, Hsky suggested they start an Asian hip-hop label called Dragon Mob Records. Several rappers auditioned but none followed up. J-vibe then started working with

South Central Los Angeles South Los Angeles, also known as South Central Los Angeles or simply South Central, is a region in southwestern Los Angeles County, lying mostly within the city limits of Los Angeles, south of downtown. It is "defined on Los Angeles city maps as ...

rappers

Loyalty and Honor Loyalty, in general use, is a Fixation (psychology), devotion and faithfulness to a nation, cause, philosophy, country, group, or person. Philosophers disagree on what can be an object of loyalty, as some argue that loyalty is strictly interpers ...

. Their first release was an album titled ''"World Coast"'' released in 2004. It was a plethora of music styles and even included guests musicians such as Cheryl Cooley from the 80s group

Klymaxx Klymaxx is an American all-female pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart ...

and Citric from Pubelo Cafe. In 2005, a track from the ''"World Coast"'' album titled "Como Las Noticias" was included in the movie '' "Dirty"'', starring

Cuba Gooding Jr. Cuba Mark Gooding Jr. (born January 2, 1968) is an American actor. He is the recipient of an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and an Emmy nomination. After his breakthrough role as Tre Styles in '' Boyz n the Hood'' (1991), he appear ...

For the year 2007, J-vibe created a hip-hop track for

that includes special guest rapper

Don Dinero Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia * Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name * Don, Benin, a town in Benin * Don, Dang, a v ...

from Block Royal. J-vibe and Frankie Medina return to working on house music after a seven-year absence.

Discography

Singles

* 1987: ''Jonny Chingas - "Mini Truck Lover"''(Spanglish rap-credited as computer wizard, but he created the track) * 1988: ''VSF - "Velocity, Speed and Force"'' (composer/producer) * 1989: ''Renegade MC - "Wabbit" (The Roger Dance) includes

House music House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground club culture in the late 1970s, as DJs began altering ...

version'' (composer/producer) * 1991: ''Marisol - "High Strung"'' (composer/producer) * 1991: ''Marisol - "The Wind"'' (composer/producer) * 1991: ''MC No Shame - "We Got Latino Power"'' (composer/producer) * 1991: ''MC No Shame - "Shake Your Hips"'' (composer/producer) * 1991: ''Los Iram - "Got Got Money" (producer) * 1992: ''Norman Bass - "Norman Bass"'' (composer/producer/rapper) * 1992: ''Jonny Chingas - "L.A.P.D."'' (composer/producer) * 1993: ''DJ Stoned - "Manzuri"'' (producer) * 1993: ''J-vibe - "Celestial Teahouse"'' (composer/producer) * 1993: ''J-vibe featuring Nga Tran- "Toi Noi Tieng Viet (Trance Nam Mix)"'' (composer/producer) * 1993: ''Jonny Chingas - "Too Much Work, Too Little Sex"'' (producer) * 1994: ''Microcosm - "It Doesn't Matter"'' (composer/producer) * 1994: ''Microcosm - "Worship His Shrine"'' (composer/producer) * 1994: ''Microcosm - "I Drive My Cha-dong-cha"'' (composer/producer) * 1994: ''Microcosm - "Lost and Disappeared"'' (composer/producer) * 1995: ''Frankie Medina & Jose "Jr" Jimenez'' - "Whipcreme (Uganda Mix)" (composer/co-producer) * 1995: ''Frankie Medina & Jose "Jr" Jimenez'' - "Theme From Soundshaft" (composer/co-producer) * 1996: ''Frankie Medina & Jose "Jr" Jimenez'' - "Desert Aura" (composer/co-producer) * 1996: ''Frankie Medina & Jose "Jr" Jimenez featuring Gabby'' - "Take Me Now" (composer/co-producer) * 1996: ''Frankie Medina & Jose "Jr" Jimenez'' - "Aquasol" (composer/co-producer) * 1997: ''Stereo Pimps - "Funk Me Out"'' (composer/producer) * 1997: ''Stereo Pimps - "Funkastyislic"'' (composer/producer) * 1997: ''Frankie Medina & Jose "Jr" Jimenez'' - "I'm Hot For You" (composer/co-producer) * 1998: ''Frankie Medina & Jose "Jr" Jimenez feat, Donna Cristy'' - "Hold Me Close" (composer/co-producer) * 1998: ''Frankie Medina & Jose "Jr" Jimenez'' - "Gotta Get High" (composer/co-producer) * 1998: ''Frankie Medina & Jose "Jr" Jimenez'' - "Freak Funk Mofo Mama Pie" (composer/co-producer) * 1998: ''Frankie Medina & Jose "Jr" Jimenez'' - "Latinique" (composer/co-producer) * 1998: ''Frankie Medina & Jose "Jr" Jimenez featuring Ron Perkov'' - "Funky" (composer/co-producer) * 1998: ''Frankie Medina & Jose "Jr" Jimenez featuring Donna Wilson'' - "Never Ending" (co-composer/co-producer) * 1999: ''Vampirus Sceleratum'' - "The Horse Carriage" (composer/producer) * 1999: ''Vampirus Sceleratum'' - "The Excorcism" (composer/producer) * 1999: ''Vampirus Sceleratum'' - "Pony Express" (composer/producer) * 1999: ''Vampirus Sceleratum'' - "Alone, Without Love" (composer/producer) * 1999: ''Vampirus Sceleratum'' - "I Am A DJ" (composer/producer) * 1999: ''Vampirus Sceleratum'' - "The Basement" (composer/producer) * 1999: ''Vampirus Sceleratum'' - "Ouija" (composer/producer) * 1999: ''Vampirus Sceleratum'' - "Air Waves" (composer/producer) * 1999: ''Vampirus Sceleratum'' - "Alone in Madagascar" (composer/producer) * 1999: ''Vampirus Sceleratum'' - "The Fall of Kalid" (composer/producer) * 2000: ''128 bit Bboy'' - "Everybody, Everyone" (composer/producer) * 2000: ''128 bit Bboy'' - "On The Stereo" (composer/producer) * 2000: ''128 bit Bboy'' - "In Da Mix" (composer/producer) * 2000: ''128 bit Bboy'' - "B-Girl (Asia One Mix)" (composer/producer) * 2000: ''128 bit Bboy'' - "I Want To Be The Same" (composer/producer) * 2000: ''128 bit Bboy'' - "Shaolin 1015 A.D." (composer/producer) * 2000: ''128 bit Bboy'' - "Skylab Toddlers" (composer/producer) * 2001: ''Val-C'' - "El Ritmo" (composer/producer) * 2001: ''Val-C'' - "Solamente Tu" (composer/producer) * 2001: ''Val-C'' - "Crazy Boy" (composer/producer) * 2001: ''Val-C'' - "I Got My Own Way" (co-composer/co-producer) * 2001: ''Yasmin Davidds feat. Val-C'' - "Latina Queen" (composer/producer) * 2001: ''La Razon'' - "Un Planeta" (composer/producer) * 2001: ''La Razon'' - "No Hables Mas" (composer/producer) * 2001: ''La Razon'' - "Polve En El Viento" (composer/producer) * 2001: ''La Razon'' - "Abuso De Mi Fe" (composer/producer) * 2001: ''La Razon'' - "No Tengo Por Que" (composer/producer) * 2001: ''La Razon'' - "Falsas Lagrimas" (composer/producer) * 2001: ''La Razon'' - "No Hay Amor" (composer/producer) * 2001: ''La Razon'' - "Tu Eres Mia" (composer/producer)

EPs

* 2001: ''La Razon - "Un Planeta"'' (composer/producer) * 2007: ''Loyalty and Honor - "On The Rise"'' (composer/producer)

Albums

* 2003: ''Pueblo Cafe - "Busca Oro"'' (composer/producer) * 2004: ''Loyalty and Honor - "World Coast"'' (composer/producer)

External links

American Society of Composers and Publishers, works written by Jose Jimenez Jr
* *

*

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:J-Vibe Living people Rappers from California 21st-century American rappers Year of birth missing (living people)