Sacramento isn’t known for their rappers but with the amount of talent on the rise that might change in the near future. Without a doubt T.U.S member J.Good is contributing to the Sac Town hip-hop revolution. The Usual Suspect spitter sits down with me to discuss his upcoming project Searching for Alicia Silverstone, being sponsored by MMVIII, The pending Zombie Apocalypse, Zoe Kravitz, and much more. Without a doubt, J. Good is an artist i would bet my money on in 2012. Watch for him! Read the interview in it’s entirety after the jump.
Yoh: First off i want to welcome you to TheTapeDeck! For the ones unfamiliar can you give us a little introduction?
J.Good: Thanks for the opportunity bro! I am J.Good aka J.G Slater aka Zoe Kravitz’s husband. South Sacramento emcee and Co-Ringleader of TUS
Yoh: Swag swag. This year has been a pretty big year for you. A3C, being chosen as one of Sacramento’s freshman for 2011. How would you describe these experiences?
J.Good: These experiences actually help me stay grounded and humble because I’m nowhere near where I want to be.Towards the end of every year I set a few personal goals for myself that I want to achieve in the next year to help me focus. Being chosen as one of Sacramento’s Freshman was a great experience because of the company I was in. Chuuwee and Konkwest are like my brothers so it made the opportunity even better. A3C was amazing because I got to learn and meet so many people I look up to as well as perform in one of my favorite cities.
Yoh: Mind sharing a few of your goals for 2012?
J.Good: Well I already have a few projects planned for next year, working on some of those right now actually. So I want to get those out to as many ears as possible, more shows in more cities, and I want people to know that TUS is just getting started. That’s the simplified version haha.
Yoh: Could one of those projects be “Searching For Alicia Silverstone”. A little birdy told me that this project is dropping December 19th. Could you give us a little insight on what we can expect from it?
J.Good: SFAS is a collab project with me and a dope producer from Sac named Rufio presented by my sponsor MMVIII out of Canada. It started out with all 90s samples, so I wanted to choose a big celebrity from that era that fell off to “look for”. I was watching an old Aerosmith video and seen her, then everything clicked. As I started writing, Alicia Silverstone became a symbol of success. So you can say the tracks on there are all stories about me looking for success or consequences of reaching success. All the tracks are also named after her movies haha. You’ll find Ced Hughes, Chuuwee, Keno, Haz Solo and miss April Bambao featured on there.
Yoh: Interesting concept. Will be a must check out. So if J.Good wasn’t pursing a career in Hiphop what would you be doing?
J.Good: Probably a college professor. That’s another thing I’m pursuing right now. I think it’s a good look to be a positive Black role model in something other than entertainment. So hip hop is my release and passion but so is education.
Yoh: That’s pretty dope I must say. You seem like a very deep thinking young man. Do you read a lot? If so what’s some of your favorite books? No Harry potter.
J.Good: I like to read every now and then. Not as much as I used to though. My favorite books would have to be The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B Dubois, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and Decoded by Hova.
Yoh: Decoded was great. Very inspirational. Going back too SFAS. Since its finished, do you have a favorite record off it. Or one you just can’t wait to perform?
J.Good: It’s hard for me to pick a favorite. I like to perform The Art of Getting By, hopefully one day I’ll get to perform it with Ced Hughes. But besides that I like performing Le Nouveau Monde(ordre) with Chuuwee and Keno. Hella energy on stage
Yoh: Indeed. The energy you and Chuuwee had at A3C was insane. How did you end up being sponsored by MMVIII?
J.Good: Random luck. Haha. We linked right after Look on the Brightside dropped this year. The clothes they make are dope as fuck to me, and he was digging my music so we just started working together after that.
Yoh: Most def will be checking them out. Being an artist coming up in such a clutter industry what is it about your music that makes you stand out?
J.Good: I’m me. I know it’s a cliche thing to say but whenever I write anything it’s all me. I told myself I would never front or fake anything I do with my music. I make my music for myself before anyone, but if people can relate to what I’m saying then I feel like I did my job.
Yoh: Word! Well I only have a few more questions and it’s a wrap sir.
1. What is the origins of your name J.Good?
2. Name a few of your influences and out of that group which one would you want to make music with?
3. If I told you Zoe Kravitz was going to read this what would you say to her?
4. If you the zombie apocalypse started now. And you could only use the items to the right of you. What are you using to survive with!?
5. What does success mean to J.Good?
J.Good: J.Good is just a play off my government name which shall remain unspoken for now. Lmao. It was my nickname back when I used to play basketball so I just kept it.
2. My influences are Jay-Z, Blu, Phonte, my TUS crew and I’ll throw Harlem World Mase in there too. If he never fell off I would have loved to work with him. But since he found God, I’d love to work with Phonte easily.
3. If Zoe Kravitz was reading this I’d just invite her to the studio. I know she has a band. So maybe we could knock out a track.. That’s me being professional. Gotta keep my thirst to a minimum.
Lmao.
4. Shit I’d be ass out if the zombie apocalypse happened now. I’m in the car on the way to The Throne concert so I’d have 4 nickels to kill those bastards. I’d have to be on my MacGyver steez.
5. Success means happiness to me. I wanna see my team make it, my family and my significant other happy. If all that happens then anything I’m going through will be successful in my eyes!
Yoh: Haha I want to thank you J.Good for taking the time to do the interview. All we need now is your social media information, any shoutouts, and we are done here sir. Best of luck with everything in the future. Always welcomed here on TheTapeDeck.
J.Good:Twitter.com/jgoodtus
Jgoodmusic.com
Facebook.com/jgoodmusic
Jgoodtus.tumblr.com
Shoutout to my TUS family, Rufio, MMVIII, anybody who fucks with my music and all the Bluffington High Black Sheep. Of course to the Tapedeck for holding me down. Appreciate the interview!
