On his newest release "Jonah pt. 2 ", veteran hip-hop artist KJ-52 finds the common ground with an uncommon style, reaching out to seekers and skeptics alike.
"Jonah pt. 2" started as bonus songs that grew into a full blown project. Featuring appearances by Datin, Zauntee, Canon & more, it introduces 10 taut songs with immediately memorable hooks. This album gets real, has fun, and goes deep from beat to beat, marking a step forward in an already exemplary urban music career.
Miami born, Tampa native KJ-52, (real name Jonah Sorrentino), broke through at a time when rap and religion rarely mixed. With his own mix of sharp wit and lyrical intelligence, he steadily led the genre into the mainstream, making the scene via guest spots on pop records (Newsboys, TobyMac, and Jeremy Camp) and amassing 6 dove awards & 750k career units sold.
4 years later he's still in the Guinness Book of World Records for his freestyle skills. That's crazy, right? Not really... this is how he came up.
"Our world is broken. It's gone nuts," he concludes. "But there's still hope for us all. We can know who God is, help each other out as friends, and seek His purpose for the next steps in life."
After thriving through the seamless transition between a cutting edge newcomer at the tip of the 2000's to one of today's most respected and ambitious rap/hip-hop heroes, KJ-52 continues pushing the musical and lyrical envelope. This is his 11th release, and second crowd funded and self released indie project.
In addition to his latest independent album, KJ-52 has collaborated with Atlanta filmmaker Denver Bailey (TruTV's The Carbonaro Effect, HGTV's Flipping Virgins, and Netflix's Rotten) to produce a documentary about the rapper's life.
It all started over a plate of tacos following a performance in Atlanta, Georgia, Jonah and Denver fleshed out what a movie about his life would look like. "We began shooting almost instantly. Jonah called me to let me know his Dad was in town, and this was the prime opportunity to catch an interview with him. I drove down to Tampa, and it all kind of snowballed after that," Denver said.
After shooting a majority of the documentary, they launched a Kickstarter campaign - for 52 days. The campaign exceeded the $10,000 goal by 20%, and post production began. The duo set out to make a rap documentary, but they admit there's not a lot of rap in the movie. Somewhere along the way, the documentary became more about the human experience, and the documentary serves as more of an à la carte to KJ-52's music than a behind the scenes.
"The Jonah Movie" (Runtime: 52 minutes) will release along side "Jonah pt. 2" on February 16th. It's the story of an unlikely candidate that followed the path God laid out for ghim. The film is an inspirational piece that transcends all demographics and will be enjoyed by any audience. "The Jonah Movie," will be available on DVD, Bluray, and digital outlets starting with Vimeo on February 16th.
Great Pick-me-up music!| Posted October 27, 2014
Kj's music is super exciting. And his concerts keep you entertained the whole time. Thumbs up KJ. Hus message is great too.
Many Fond Memories- and more to come!| Posted October 14, 2014
Just such a great artist with great music! He was actually the first (and is still one of the few) rappers I ever listened to or became a fan of. His music has brought lots of laughs, smiles, and many other great things about music to me and my family! He was also one of the few (especially Christian) artists that I enjoyed that my friends at school liked too (or had even heard of). Keep being cool and spreading great music and fun- best wishes!! :^)
Amazing!| Posted October 07, 2014
New album is amazing! But then again what else would you expect from the guy who holds the world record for the worlds longest freestyle rap:)
Great video blogs| Posted September 12, 2010
I love listening to KJ-52's music. I also like the way he always keeps the fans in the loop of what he is working on and what happens at his concerts. His music gets better every album.