Just Blaze
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| Just Blaze | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Justin Smith |
| Born | January 14, 1978 [citation needed] |
| Origin | Paterson, New Jersey |
| Genre(s) | Hip hop |
| Occupation(s) | Record producer |
| Instrument(s) | drums Keyboard Turntable Sampler Drum Machine |
| Years active | 2000 - Present |
| Label(s) | Fort Knocks Entertainment |
Justin Smith (born in Paterson, New Jersey on January 8, 1978[citation needed]), better known as Just Blaze, is an American hip hop music producer from Paterson, New Jersey. Blaze is also the CEO of Fort Knocks Entertainment.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
As a child, Smith grew up in Paterson, New Jersey. When he was younger, he developed an interest/love in music. Smith was highly influenced by his older cousin, who introduced an EPMD record to him. As he got older, his interests turned more to the production side. He attended Rutgers University for three years before dropping out to pursue his dream of producing music.
[edit] Production career
Smith began producing for well known musicians in the late 1990s. This production would earn him a spot on Jay-Z's The Dynasty: Roc La Familia. His production on this album, along with the work of Kanye West earned them both jobs as in-house producers at Roc-A-Fella Records. His production work earned him the name Just Blaze, which would become his production name. Smith then went on to produce for many of the acts signed to the Roc-A-Fella roster. In 2002, Just Blaze became a household name for the production of Cam'ron's summer smash "Oh Boy." Smith went on to produce for Snoop Dogg, Shawnna, Usher, Mariah Carey, Kanye West, Talib Kweli, Busta Rhymes, Jadakiss, Memphis Bleek, Cam'ron, Saigon, Young Gunz, Grafh, Beanie Sigel, The Game, DMX, T.I., Fat Joe, Juelz Santana, Rhymefest, Ghostface Killah, Jin, Fabolous, Freeway (rapper), Joe Budden, MF DOOM, Kool G Rap, Mos Def, Jay Electronica, Rah Digga, Teriyaki Boyz, Edison Chen, and big UK MC's JME, Skepta and Klashnekoff. He also produced an urban remix of the Janet Jackson single 'Just A Little While' entitled 'Love Me.'
He also recorded several tracks for the popular video games Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 and NBA Street Vol. 2 and is a playable character in the game as well. A large part of Smith's technique consists of altering the speed of samples, as well as adding in his own drum beat. In this way, he draws some of his influence from Wu-Tang Clan producer RZA, who has utilized sped-up soul samples in several of the group's beats. Smith has used this technique with songs like "December 4th" from Jay-Z's The Black Album (which uses a sped-up sample of "That's How Long" by The Chi-Lites) and "Touch the Sky" from Kanye West's Late Registration (which uses a slowed-down sample of Curtis Mayfield's "Move On Up.") However, he doesn't always do this; on "Public Service Announcement (Interlude)" from The Black Album and Foxy Brown's "Foxy Lady", for instance, the speed of the sample used is left unchanged. He has a knack for using horn stabs in his music and that is what gives him his signature sound. His work also often features the trademark phrase "No more handclaps" and a distinctive pronunciation of his name, with the 'a' in 'Blaze' lengthened and rising.
After the retirement of Jay-Z in 2004, Just Blaze decided to create his own label. Initially, he went to Roc-A-Fella with the idea, but they could not afford to grant a vanity label at the time, due to the Dame Dash split. Just, then, went to parent company Def Jam Recordings, who was not willing to take such a big risk on a pet label. Finally, Atlantic Records agreed to give him a label to be 50% owned by them, which he would part ways with in 2008. He would name the label Fort Knocks Entertainment.
