Just-Ice
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Just-Ice | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Joseph Williams, Jr |
| Born | June 22, 1965 |
| Origin | The Bronx, New York, United States |
| Genres | Hardcore hip hop, gangsta rap, golden age hip hop, East Coast hip hop |
| Years active | 1986–present |
| Labels | Fresh/Sleeping Bag Records Savage/BMG Records Warlock Records |
Joseph Williams Jr. (born June 22, 1965), better known by the stage name Just-Ice, is an American rapper from New York City.
A former bouncer at punk clubs, Williams was the first of the New York rappers to embrace gangsta rap, and when he burst out of the Castle Hill neighborhood in the New York City borough of the Bronx as Just-Ice, he gained instant notoriety. Muscle-bound, tattooed, aggressive—he resembled Mike Tyson in more than just looks—and with a mouthful of gold teeth, he certainly stood out. His debut album Back to the Old School came out on the independent New York label Sleeping Bag, and certainly sounded like no other hip-hop album, thanks to his fast and forceful rhymes, Ben "Human DMX" Paynes's[1] beatboxing, as well as the distinctive production of Mantronix's Kurtis Mantronik. Williams' stage name was probably derived from the Supreme Alphabet, a lesson taught by the Nation of Gods and Earths, a study group of the Nation of Islam. Just-Ice is a twofold pun on "justice" and refers to the saying within NOI circles that "All those who can't deal with mathematics will be "just ice" at 32 degrees below zero."
In 1986 he was charged with the murder of drug dealer Ludlaw DeSouza, but later proven innocent.[1][2] His third album, The Desolate One (1989), had minor success in the United Kingdom, reaching no. 16 on the UK Independent Chart.[2]
Williams relocated from the Ft. Greene area in Brooklyn to the Castle Hill section of the Bronx in his early adolescent years. He currently resides in the Bronx which he considers his hometown.
Bradley Nowell (Sublime) brought Just-Ice's vinyl record The Desolate One to KROQ 106.7 FM Radio Station in California in the 1990s at the height of the band's success and proclaimed "You can drop the needle anywhere on this record and I guarantee you, GOLD!"[3] Of which, the DJ allowed and played "NA TOUCH DA JUST".
Discography
- Back to the Old School (1986)
- Kool & Deadly (1987)
- The Desolate One (1989)
- Masterpiece (1990)
- Gun Talk (1993)
- Kill the Rhythm (Like a Homicide) (1995)
- VII (1998)
- Gangster Boogie (2008) (digital download only)
- 32 Degrees (2009) (digital download only)
- The Just-Ice and KRS-One EP Vol.1 (2010) (digital download only)
References
- ^ a b Bradley, John Ed (1986) "Survival of the Hippest", Washington Post, September 7, 1986. Retrieved April 29, 2017
- ^ a b Lazell, Barry (1997) Indie Hits 1980–1989, Cherry Red Books, ISBN 0-9517206-9-4, p. 125
- ^ "Sublime Archive". Archived from the original on 2002-06-07.
External links
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| National | |
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- 1965 births
- Living people
- Five percenters
- Rappers from the Bronx
- Rappers from Brooklyn
- Gangsta rappers
- East Coast hip hop musicians
- African-American male rappers
- 21st-century American rappers
- 21st-century American male musicians
- People from Fort Greene, Brooklyn
- Sleeping Bag Records artists
- 21st-century African-American musicians
- 20th-century African-American people
- American hip hop biography stubs