(Interview by broken cool writer Maxine Ross)
Insert your favorite song of 2008 [here]. Insert your little sister’s favorite boy band’s hottest hit [here]. Insert the theme song of ballers and their theatrics [here]. Insert the song that made you holler when that fine brown thang slid down the pole backwards, brought it back up and hit the circle walk in a one room, single red light bulb lit club in Jacksonville, FL [here].
It is likely and almost a guarantee that Miami bred super producer Jim Jonsin had a hand in the creation of some of the most radio-friendly, diverse and consistent material consumed in 2008 and the beginnings of 2009. brokencool.com catches up with Jonsin to talk fishing, crafting the perfect beat, Florida, Beyonce, T.I. and more.
Jim Jonsin on his dream collaboration:
"Man, I’d really love to work with Aerosmith. Their one of my favorite bands of all time and to be in there with those guys would be like a dream come true..."
Maxine Ross: Jim, what are you working on today?
Jim Jonsin: Today I’m working on some mixes, getting a Young Dro record ready, we’re finishing up a song called “In the Club.”
MR: Who are you working with currently besides Dro?
JJ: There’s so many different artists that I’m working with right now. Just so many. I think Beyonce’s records are going to do it for me. The single "Sweet Dreams", that drops in like a week or two. Backstreet Boys, they’re doing a lot of talking about me. Pitbull, I’m executive producing his album, he’s doing really well; I think he’s number four on the charts right now. Baby Bash, doing some work on Baby Bash’s album. B.O.B., Bobby Ray, from Atlanta, working on his project.
MR: Even in those few you mentioned, you show so much diversity in your work. How do you stay consistent but still remain so varied?
JJ: I’m just a fan of music you know? Good songs, and chord progression and the melody. I think that’s the key to it. Making sure your songs are consistent with those particular things. A great melody, a great beat and how it changes can make or break a song, that’s what it’s all about. As far as being consistent, I’ll take a sound for example, like the thing I’m doing on Soulja Boy’s record or TI’s record or Lil Wayne or somebody and it’ll have a similar vibe or a similar sound. But you take a song like "Sweet Dreams" with Beyonce and come together with one or two producers, one Wayne Wilkins, who is amazing and Rico Love, they’re both super super talented and I think my ability to work with other people helps a lot. I spend time with them and I learn from them and they learn from me. That’s what keeps me consistent. Keeping an open mind and working with different people that I admire and I respect.
MR: As a producer, I’m curious to know what songs are knocking that you really love.
JJ: I love that Black Eyed Peas song. The Boom Boom song. That just takes me back to like the early 90’s to the Miami bass music. I grew up on that stuff so I love that song. The Fray song, I like that group. There’s so much that I love right now. There’s a lot of inspiring music out there.
MR: What are the hobbies of a super producer?
JJ: I’m an outdoors person. I love going camping, ATV riding, dirt bike riding; I try to do that with my family as much as possible. I collect all kinds of cars. Growing up, me and my brothers worked on cars for most of our life. Collect and fix up old cars. I love going out to a bar, going out with my friends. Every now and then I will do the bottle in the club thing but mostly I like to just go to the bar and have a beer. I love fishing. I go bass fishing. Music is my favorite hobby. It really clears my head. Thank God I’m able to do this for a living.
MR: How does being from Brooklyn but growing up in Florida with that Miami sound influence your work?
JJ: Well I was born in Brooklyn, NY and we lived in Long Island for a while until I was about four or five years old and then we moved to Florida, maybe even earlier than that. I lived in Broward and Palm Beach County. I moved everywhere from West Palm Beach to Riviera Beach to Lake Park. I lived in Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton for a long time. Then I moved to Coral Springs where things started happening for me. All this time I worked in Miami. I worked in Miami for about 16 or 17 years. I’d always gone to Miami to work and that’s probably what seeded my music, working in Miami.
MR: That Miami music keeps your rocking then?
JJ: Yeah, I love Miami music. And definitely Rick Ross.
MR: And all of this culminates with Rebel Rock, the label?
JJ: Rebel Rock is something more or less being a rebel in music and trying to change things. What I want to do and what I’m trying to do. I love Rock N’ Roll. It’s probably my favorite kind of music. The label is more of a bonafide production company. I’m really into finding artists that inspire and challenge me. Like B.O.B. He’s a producer, a writer, a singer, a rapper; he can do everything that I can do and more. I look for artists like that that inspire me in that way. The label is totally going to be based off the artists we sign, not commercial. From the talent we sign, that is what will make the change.
MR: Did you feel like you’d made it when you worked with Beyonce or TI?
JJ: It’s funny because when I worked with Beyonce, I didn’t really have all of these hits. I didn’t have "Lollipop"; I didn’t have "Whatever You Like." That was connected through her sister Solange. She had worked with me and I guess she liked the way I worked. I worked with Michelle Williams and Rico Love and she couldn’t stop talking about me and Rico. I guess Beyonce heard all this good stuff and wanted to get in with me and Rico. When I got in the studio with her it was like “holy shit." I’m sitting in the studio with Beyonce and she was so nice and laid back. It felt like I was in there with one of my homegirls or a friend. She was really super nice. Working with her wasn’t like a superstar thing at all. It was really chill. When she got in that booth, she stayed in that booth working until that record was finished. She’s a real hard worker and I couldn’t believe I was in there working with her. It was like a dream come true. To have the record actually make it on the album. I did a full three or four days with her in Miami and a week in LA.
Getting with TI was the same thing. It felt the same way. He was also so nice and talented. Then to hear the song on the radio. It’s pretty amazing. That’s a whole other thing.
MR: Hip Hop has taken a hit with TI going away for a while huh?
JJ: I think he’s gonna be away for about five months, I don’t think he’s going to do any more than that. That was one of my favorite rap albums of all time. That made me feel like, let me get back more into it. Him and Kanye. Both of those albums to me were just, over done, super good. Let me tell you about that, one thing that’s great is hearing your brothers and fathers and close family members hear your music that feels really good. The coolest thing about the "Whatever You Like" song was that it was the number one song when Obama got elected. That’s pretty nice. Change in the world and my song was number one with TI.
MR: Wow. A humbling experience I would imagine.
JJ: I think the more successful I am the more humble I get.
MR: Talk about beatbakery.com.
JJ: Beatbakery.com is gonna be huge for people like me. For song writers and producers and independent people. We’re still working on getting it ready. It should be in the next couple of months. The way it’s being set up is, imagine if you had a Facebook and you have, say 100 close friends that do music then you’re working with say, the Backstreet Boys. There’s going to be eight tracks that your friends can link their two tracks into and create off of that beat. You might be in NY and I might be in Australia and we have this great idea that Backstreet Boys like and I put it up on my site record your melodies, chorus, verse, bridge and you knock it down to your folder until it’s finished and when the artists likes it, you have the finished product all ready. There’s going to be various tools to use. It’s a great network.
MR: What’s your dream collaboration?
JJ: Man, I’d really love to work with Aerosmith. Their one of my favorite bands of all time and to be in there with those guys would be like a dream come true. I love Fleetwood Mac as well, I love Pink Floyd. But Aerosmith, I could see myself just going in with those guys. My favorite Aerosmith song is "Dream On."
MR: Aside from the music and singles dropping, how can we keep up with the latest goings on?
JJ: Check out the Beat Bakery page. www.beatbakery.com. And my MySpace page as well myspace.com/jimjonsin.
JIM JONSIN IS A FRAUD!!! HE STOLE SLIM THUG'S "I RUN" BEAT FROM ME.. WATCH JIM JONSIN LAWSUIT ON YOUTUBE FOR MORE INFO...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NrIJfKnxp0 ITS FUNNY HOW HE TALKS ABOUT "CHORD PROGRESSION" AND "MELODY" BECAUSE THATS WHAT HE STOLE FROM ME!!!! I HAVE FILED A LAWSUIT AND CAN BE VIEWED AT http://www.clerk-17th-flcourts.org/bccoc2/pubsearch/case_summary.aspx?hidSearchType=party_case&txtLastName=JAGGON&txtFirstName=JASON&txtMiddleInitial=&txtBusinessEntity=&chkAdvSearch=0&cboCourtType=&sbmPublicParty=Submit&user_type=&hidCaseNumber=CACE09022448&CACE09022448=CIV&COCE01004935=CIV&COCE01019287=CIV&hidCourtType=CIV&hidGeneralType=CIV&ctl00$ContentPlaceHolder1$comcs$btnSummary=View%20Selected%20Case&&user_type=
Posted by: JASON JAGGON | June 07, 2009 at 02:13 AM