In The Spotlight: Producer and Rapper J. Rhodes

Time for another artist spotlight! As always, if you or your client is interested in being featured on The Spotlight, please visit our Features/Submissions page for more information!

Today we have producer and rapper J. Rhodes from the Oak Cliff neighborhood in Dallas, TX. The artist fell in love with music thanks to his dad and "Uncle Bone' (that one crazy uncle everyone has as he told me). He said they would play different types of music from Johnny Taylor to Sam Cooke.  He loved it all and it just stuck with him.
With inspirations that include OutKast, Jay-Z, Timbaland, The Neptunes and Kanye West, J. Rhodes says that the thing that separates him from every other rapper and producer is the fact that he focuses on creating his own brand of music and telling his story. "You have no choice to be different if you just focus on truly being who you are and letting that reflect in the music," he said.

J. Rhodes recently was involved in the recent "Carter High" movie about the 1988 Carter High School Football team in Dallas, TX, The film stars Vivica A. Fox, Charles S. Dutton, David Banner and Pooch Hall. Rhodes scored some of the scenes in the movie and has some songs on the soundtrack. He also attended and graduated from the school during the year the movie takes place!

We also talked about his new book that he just released, These Beats Ain't Free, which provides advice for producers working to make music their full-time job. (SN: Thanks to J. Rhodes for personally dropping off a copy to me!) "Producers these days have all of the talent, but lack the proper information and inspiration," he said of his inspiration to write the book. "[I] wanted to help drive them to knowing that they can really do this as a living."When asked about some of his greatest accomplishments, he said along with the release of his book, it would be having won Billboard and Dove awards from working with Christian rapper Lecrae!

Currently, J.Rhodes is working on a new album (no release date set yet). With him having past production work with artists such as Rhymefest, The Game, Talib Kweli, and Slim Thug, we here at The Spotlight are eagerly waiting to see what he has in store for us.

To find out more from J. Rhodes, check out his official website and SoundCloud. You can also follow him on Twitter and Instagram!