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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Welcome To The Ghetto
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez Livewire Establishments LLC le 22 mars 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
On Behalf of the Streets 2
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez Livewire Records - Zoo Entertainment - EMPIRE le 28 oct. 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
On Behalf Of The Streets 3
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez Livewire Records le 30 juil. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Prenuptial Agreement 2
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez Livewire - EMPIRE le 27 janv. 2023
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Tears of Joy
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez Livewire - EMPIRE le 30 oct. 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I Don't Sell Dope No Moe
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez Livewire Records le 30 mars 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Prenuptial Agreement 2 (Deluxe)
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez Livewire - EMPIRE le 27 janv. 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Real World 6 Instrumentals
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez Fresh In The Flesh - Livewire le 8 avr. 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tears Of Joy 3
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez Livewire Records le 11 févr. 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Tonite Show With J. Stalin Instrumentals
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez The Worlds Freshest Music - Livewire Records le 4 août 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Diesel Therapy 4
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez Elite Ent - Livewire Records le 27 janv. 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Real World 5
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez Fresh In The Flesh - Livewire le 10 juil. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Reservoir Dogs
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez Livewire Records - Mari Ent. le 21 févr. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Real World 6
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez Fresh In The Flesh - Livewire le 8 avr. 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Body Snatchers
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez Live Wire Records - Rapbay - Urbanlife Music le 12 mars 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Tonite Show with J. Stalin
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez Fresh In The Flesh - Livewire le 4 août 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bricks - Single
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez Livewire Records le 15 mars 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Avatar 2
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez Livewire Records le 8 mars 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Prenuptial Agreement
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez Town Thizzness le 12 janv. 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Me vs Me 2
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez Livewire Establishments LLC le 29 mars 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mob Museum
Hip-Hop/Rap - Paru chez Livewire - EMPIRE le 3 oct. 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo