J. Stalin
Once chosen by both E-40 and Too $hort as the next big thing out of the Bay Area, West Oakland rapper J. Stalin began making serious noise in 2006 with a series of mixtapes, a debut album, and a couple singles that captured the sound and excitement of the city's "go" movement. He peaked commercially during the first half of the following decade with Giants and Elephants (2009), Memoirs of a Curb Server (2012), and S.I.D.: Shining in Darkness (2014) as part of a streak of Billboard-charting titles. Since then, the simultaneously fervent and composed MC has continued to represent and gratify the Bay Area underground with no let-up in his output, exemplified by 2019's Cypress Village and multiple installments in mixtape series such as The Real World, Diesel Therapy, and Prenuptial Agreement, the latter two of which were extended in 2023.
The rapper born Jovan Smith chose his stage name in reference to Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin who, like himself, was also short but "was always smashin' on everybody." A teen crack dealer, or "d-boy," he was busted at the age of 17, earning himself a year's worth of weekends in juvenile hall. It was there that he shifted his focus to music, using the time to build up a collection of demos that landed in the hands of Richie Rich. Rich invite Stalin to guest on his 2002 album Nixon Pryor Roundtree, which opened the door to future collaborations with the Jacka, Keak da Sneak, and Yukmouth.
Stalin's solo debut came in 2006 when On Behalf of the Streets, issued on the artist's Livewire label, arrived just as the Bay's hyphy movement was giving way to the dirty, more street-level sound dubbed "go." By the time of 2008's Gas Nation release, Stalin was a local hero, but on a national level, his name was only known by hip-hop's most faithful fans. That changed a year later when his collaborative effort with Guce, Giants and Elephants, plus a new solo album, Prenuptial Agreement, both made waves with respective placements on Billboard's Top Rap Albums and Top Hip-Hop/R&B Albums charts. The success of the latter LP was fueled by the singles "Rock Day" and "Birthday." The singles "Who Are You?" and "Money & Chicks" helped make his 2012 release Memoirs of a Curb Server his breakthrough commercial effort, hitting number 54 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Nightmare & Miracle on 10th Street, a collaborative double album with DJ Fresh, arrived in 2013, and the solo LP S.I.D.: Shining in Darkness appeared a year later, becoming Stalin's fifth charting album.
Stalin appealed most to his underground following for the rest of the decade. From 2015 through 2019, he issued up to three full-length projects on a yearly basis. These included Tears of Joy, sequels to On Behalf of These Streets and Gas Nation, the multi-volume Avatar, and Cypress Village, titled after the housing projects in which he grew up. Most of Stalin's mixtape series continued in the 2020s. Over a dozen volumes were unloaded from 2020 through 2022. Remaining prolific in 2023, Stalin released Diesel Therapy 4 and Prenuptial Agreement 2 within the year's first few months.
© David Jeffries /TiVo
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All My Chains
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez Livewire - EMPIRE le 21 juin 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Thug Love (feat. Sneakk)
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez MARS - Livewire Records le 21 juil. 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bye Felicia (feat. L'Jay) - Single
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez Livewire - EMPIRE le 19 oct. 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dashboard (feat. Lil Blood)
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez Livewire - 3rd World Mob le 25 déc. 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Money On the Line
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez Livewire Records - TD Slaps le 11 sept. 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bust a Bag (feat. Shady Nate)
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez Livewire Records le 26 févr. 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Banned From The Catalyst
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez Livewire Records le 9 déc. 2019
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Gas Nation 2
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez Livewire - EMPIRE le 27 oct. 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Diesel Therapy 2
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez Elite Ent - Livewire Records le 19 avr. 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
New Years Freestyle
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez Livewire - EMPIRE le 1 janv. 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I Love NY (feat. Joseph Kay)
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez Livewire Records le 26 févr. 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Model
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez Livewire - 3rd World Mob le 26 févr. 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Molly Song - Single
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez Livewire Records le 3 avr. 2012
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I'm Sellin' Dope
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez Livewire Records le 18 oct. 2011
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When I Was Down
Chucky Treez, J. Stalin, Amvis
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez The Art Dealers le 1 déc. 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Atlanta Flow
Soul - Paru chez Livewire Records - TD Slaps le 22 févr. 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Straight G's
J. Stalin, San Quinn, Boo Banga
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez Telly Mac - DLK - Rapbay - Urbanlife Distribution le 11 mars 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Chop Shop
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez Zoo Entertainment - Rapbay - Urbanlife Music le 24 janv. 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Back at It (feat. J. Stalin)
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez Da Hustle ENT - Rapbay - Urbanlife Distribution le 24 févr. 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Boom
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez Backroom Entertainment - Rapbay - Urbanlife Distribution le 27 août 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Splash City Warriors Anthem (feat. J. Stalin, San Quinn & The Hoodstarz)
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez Big City District - Rapbay - Urbanlife Distribution le 8 avr. 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo