J-vibe (born Jose Jimenez Jr in

East Los Angeles, California East Los Angeles (), or East L.A., is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community and census designated place (CDP) situated within Los Angeles County, California, United States. According to the United States Census Bureau, ...

) is a composer and

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

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 of the United States. West Coast hip-hop began to dominate from a radio play and sales standpoint during the early t ...

and

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

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 the only constant member until his death in January 2015. The best-known lineup of the grou ...

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 (, ; 29 March 1943 – 17 May 2022), known professionally as Vangelis ( ; , ), was a Greek musician, composer, and producer of electronic, progressive, ambient, and classical orchestral music. He composed ...

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

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 wa ...

and the ethnic music of

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. 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. In 1988, he produced the classic

Electrofunk Electro (also known as electro-funk, and sometimes referred to as electro-pop)
Gl ...

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 his J ...

. 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 (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 fantasy comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay written by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman. It is loosely based on the 1981 novel ''Who Censored Roger Rabbit?'' by Gary K. Wol ...

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

Freestyle music Freestyle, or Latin freestyleKlanten, Robert (1995). ''Die Gestalten Verlag: Localizer 1.0''. Die-Gestalten-Verlag. . Quote: "The other unavoidable influence n NYC hard housewas latin freestyle. A blend of hip hop, synth pop and salsa, latin fr ...

, 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 (masculine form) or Chicana (feminine form) is an ethnic identity for Mexican Americans that emerged from the Chicano Movement. In the 1960s, ''Chicano'' was widely reclaimed among Hispanics in the building of a movement toward politic ...

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 White label may refer to: * White-label product, a permitted replication and rebranding of a product * White label record, records with plain white labels attached. * White Label Music, an independent record label based in the United Kingdom * ''Wh ...

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 film director. 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 featu ...

's '' Psycho'' character

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

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

Compuserve CompuServe, Inc. (CompuServe Information Service, Inc., also known by its initialism CIS or later CSi) was an American Internet company that provided the first major commercial online service provider, online service. It opened in 1969 as a times ...

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

house music House is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 115–130 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground ...

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...

, early

trance music Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that emerged from Electronic body music, EBM in Frankfurt, Germany, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and quickly spread throughout Europe. Trance music is typically characterized by a tempo between ...

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 * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overseas Vietnamese, Vietnamese people living outside Vietna ...

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 came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...

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, electronic band formed in Basildon, Essex in 1980. Originally formed with the line-up of Dave Gahan, Martin Gore, Andy Fletcher (musician), Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke, the band currently consists ...

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-struc ...

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

Warren G Warren Griffin III (born November 10, 1970) is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and DJ who helped popularize West Coast hip hop during the 1990s.Steve Huey"Warren G: Biography" ''AllMusic.com'', Netaktion LLC, visited May 8, 2020. ...

.) 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'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 (), alternatively fantasmagorie and/or 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 – typicall ...

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

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

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 Andrew Cox (born 29 July 1962) is a British house and techno club DJ, radio DJ, motorsport team owner and record producer. He is based in Frankston, Victoria, Australia. Cox has won and been nominated for numerous awards. He has perfor ...

'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 in

Benelux The Benelux Union (; ; ; ) or Benelux is a politico-economic union, alliance and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighbouring states in Western Europe: Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The name is a portma ...

. In 1998, he was venturing in the

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

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 do ...

" 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 is an English new wave band. During a six-year career between 1979 and 1985 they released three albums and eleven singles, the most commercially successful of which was the single "Is It A Dream" that reached No.11 in the UK ...

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 ...

. 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, known as Musart Records in English, is a Mexican record label founded in 1948 in Mexico City. It is headquartered in Miami, FL and is a leading independent producer, publisher and distributor of Latin music, managing over 72,000 cop ...

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, California, lying mostly within the city limits of Los Angeles, south of Downtown Los Angeles, downtown. It is de ...

rappers Loyalty and Honor. 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/ R&B band from Los Angeles, California. The band's classic lineup consisted of Bernadette Cooper, Lorena Porter Shelby, Cheryl Cooley, Robbin Grider, Lynn Malsby, and Joyce "Fenderella" Irby. Klymaxx is bes ...

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. For the year 2007, J-vibe created a hip-hop track for Loyalty and Honor that includes special guest rapper Don Dinero 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 genre of electronic dance music characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 115–130 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground ...

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)