June James (born October 11, 1990), also known as June, The Genius, is an American record producer from

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. In 2016, he signed a record deal with Think It's A Game Entertainment and produced

YFN Lucci Rayshawn Lamar Bennett (born February 16, 1991), known professionally as YFN Lucci, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. In 2014, Bennett signed a record deal with Think It's A Game Entertainment and released his debut mixtape, ''Wish M ...

's second

mixtape In the modern music industry, a mixtape is a musical project, typically with looser constraints than that of an album or extended play. Unlike the traditional album or extended play, mixtapes are labeled as laid-back projects that allow artists mo ...

''Wish Me Well 2'', which included the hit single "

Key to the Streets "Key to the Streets" is a song by American rapper YFN Lucci. It was released on February 23, 2016, as the third Single (music), single from his mixtape ''Wish Me Well 2''. The song features Quavo and Takeoff (rapper), Takeoff from hip hop trio Migo ...

". That was followed by producing Lucci's first single off his EP '' Long Live Nut,'' " Everyday We Lit" featuring

PnB Rock Rakim Hasheem Allen (December 9, 1991 – September 12, 2022), known professionally as PnB Rock, was an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Allen signed with Atlantic Records in 2015 and gained initial recogn ...

which has peaked at number 33 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and became his highest charting produced single thus far. He is also a former member of

Texas Southern University Texas Southern University (Texas Southern or TSU) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically Black university in Houston. The university is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund an ...

Ocean of Soul marching band.

Early life

June James was born on October 11, 1990, in

where he grew up. James studied at

where he was a member of the Ocean of Soul alongside The Chopstars DJ Hollygrove. While a member he met other artists and DJs which led him to curate LAD DJ's – a coalition started in 2011 that grew to about 40 members. He also founded the music group, The Hit Cartel in 2014 which includes producers, engineers, songwriters, disc jockeys, and artists. Since then, June has produced for multiple artists, including

T.I. Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. (born September 25, 1980), known professionally as T.I. or Tip, is an American rapper and singer raised in Atlanta, Georgia. Harris is credited as a pioneer of the hip hop subgenre trap music, along with fellow Georgi ...

Gucci Mane Radric Delantic Davis (born February 12, 1980), known professionally as Gucci Mane, is an American rapper. He is credited, along with fellow Atlanta-based rappers T.I. and Jeezy, with pioneering the hip hop subgenre trap music for mainstream a ...

, and Young Dolph. He was awarded “Producer of the Year” at Houston's Hottest Awards in 2014 and was awarded his second “Producer of the Year” award at the 2015 Go DJ Awards. In February 2016, he produced tracks on Lucci's ''Wish Me Well 2'' mixtape, which peaked at number 183 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart. The mixtape's hit single "

" featuring

Migos Migos () were an American hip hop group founded in Lawrenceville, Georgia, in 2008. The group was composed of rapper Quavo, his nephew Takeoff, and their "cousin" friend Offset. Quavo is from Athens, Georgia, while Offset and Takeoff were bo ...

and Trouble, peaked at number 70 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. The official remix version of the song featured

2 Chainz Tauheed K. Epps (born September 12, 1977), known professionally as 2 Chainz (formerly Tity Boi), is an American rapper and actor. Born and raised in College Park, Georgia, he gained recognition as one-half of the Southern hip-hop duo Playaz Ci ...

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. He is often regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation, as well as one of the greatest rappers of all ...

and Quavo. "Key to the Streets" was included on '' XXL'' magazine's 50 Best Hip-Hop Songs of 2016 list and ''

Vibe Vibe, alternatively '' vibes,'' is short for ''vibration''. A "vibe" is an emotional reaction to the aura or energy felt to belong to a person, place or thing. Vibe may also refer to: People * DJ Vibe (born 1968), Portuguese DJ * Lasse Vibe (b ...

'' magazine's The 60 Best Songs Of 2016 list.

Career

In December 2016, June signed an exclusive songwriter and co-publishing agreement with Think It's A Game Entertainment and continued his success with the company after James’ “Key To The Streets” went to No. 1 on Urban Radio on November 14. James also produced the song's remix featuring guest artists 2 Chainz, Lil Wayne and Quavo, as well as the Genius Mix from “The Key To The Streets Keychain Remix Pack”. He worked with

on his debut hit " Everyday We Lit" featuring

. James also produced the track "

Yosemite Yosemite National Park ( ) is a national park of the United States in California. It is bordered on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service ...

" on Travis Scott's album '' Astroworld'' that debuted at number one on ''

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 advertis ...

'' 200 Chart With Second-Largest Debut of 2018. The track features vocals from Gunna and Nav. James also worked on the track "Underdog" with American rappers

Lil Baby Dominique Armani Jones (born December 3, 1994), known professionally as Lil Baby, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He rose to prominence following the release of his 2017 mixtapes ''Harder than Hard'' and ''Too Hard'' — the for ...

and Gunna on their mixtape " Drip Harder". In 2019, James worked with rapper

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

on his track titled "When To Say When" featuring samples of

JAY Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named the greatest rapper of all time by ''Billboard'' and '' Vibe'' i ...

"Song Cry" that appeared on the OVO leader's YouTube channel as an official video.

Production

EPs * '' Long Live Nut'' (2017) * '' Freda's Son'' (2018) Mixtapes * ''Wish Me Well'' (2014) * ''Wish Me Well 2'' (2016) Singles * ''Key To The Streets''

(2016) * ''Everyday We Lit''

(2017) * ''Chosen One''

YoungBoy Never Broke Again Kentrell DeSean Gaulden (born October 20, 1999), known professionally as YoungBoy Never Broke Again or NBA YoungBoy, is an American rapper. From Louisiana, United States, Gaulden released eight independent mixtapes and garnered a regional foll ...

(2017) * ''Shawty Wassup'' Yung Nation (2017) * ''Never Worried''

(2017) * ''Aqquital''

MoneyBagg Yo DeMario DeWayne White Jr. (born September 22, 1991), known professionally as Moneybagg Yo, is an American rapper known for his melodic trap and Southern hip hop music style. White signed with fellow Memphis rapper Yo Gotti's record label, ...

(2017) * ''OK Bitch''

(2018) * ''Nicki Minaj''

(2018) * ''Chosen One''

Kodak Black Bill Kahan Kapri (born Dieuson Octave; June 11, 1997), known professionally as Kodak Black, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He gained initial recognition following the release of his 2014 songs " No Flockin" and " Skrt", both of ...

(2018) * ''Yosemite'' Travis Scott (2018) * ''Everyday We Sick''

(2018) * ''Put a Date on It''

Yo Gotti Mario Sentell Giden Mims (born May 19, 1981), known professionally as Yo Gotti, is an American rapper, singer, and record executive. Rooted in Memphis rap, he released five independent albums—''Youngsta's on a Come Up'' (1996), ''From da Dope ...

(2019) * ''Out Tha Mud''

Roddy Ricch Rodrick Wayne Moore Jr. (born October 22, 1998), known professionally as Roddy Ricch, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. Born and raised in Compton, California, Moore rose to fame in 2018 following the release of his song "Die Young ...

(2019) * ''Virgil Discount''

T.R.U. & Skooly (2020) * ''When To Say When''

(2020)

References

External links

June James at Discogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:James, June 1990 births Living people Musicians from Houston Record producers from Texas African-American record producers 21st-century African-American people