You may have noticed his name from our most recent “Take Off” Remix Contest, you may have heard his widely played and acclaimed hit single “Paper Chase,” or you may have just seen the name around the site (like when he got the party started off right for the Gza Concert), JD Era has certainly been around the circuit long enough for anyone to notice him. Born and bred in Canada, Era has put in work to become an established emcee not only in the Canadian hip hop scene, but around the continent. As he’s worked alongside other Canadian heavy weights like Kardinal Offishall, Saukrates, and Drake (with whom he’s all very close friends with), he’s planted his footprint in the sands of hip hop as one to watch out for. JD Era got a chance to sit down with KevinNottingham.com and talks about ….
Introduce Yourself:
JD Era. Co-owner of Black Market Music Group. I’m one of the leaders of this new north shit that your seeing come to life. There’s a new generation of musicians coming out of Toronto that are ready to set it off around the world.
Current projects we should be looking out for:
I got my album coming out this year (TBA). Take Off was the buzz record for that. Its hard because I have so much material recorded and can flood the market, but I took some time away to get on top of my business grind. Just been doing some writing for a couple projects. Look out for me on a couple hooks and a few commercials. Just trying to stay busy. If I disappear it just means i’m getting money somewhere else.
Previous work that we should know about:
Google me or download the Coming To America tape from myspace.com/jdera. That should give you a good warm up to what I’m about to do if you’ve never heard of me. I’m more excited about the new music that I’ve been working on though. Got the new single with Bobby Valentino on deck. Been on records with Fat Joe, Freeway, Drake, among others but for the most part I just do me.
Main musical inspirations:
Hov, Biggie, lyrically Em is a beast. I listen to a little of everything to be honest. It keeps me creative. Rap gets a little repetitive at times. You can find anything from Feist to Coldplay on my playlist. Shit even Lady Gaga can get a spin or two. She’s crazy but I wouldn’t mind poking her face…
If you had to pick one song that defines your career to date, what song would that be?
If its one song of my own it would probably be a track called “First and Last” that I did with Boi 1Da a couple years ago. I’ll probably let it out. Track was official. If its someone else’s, probably “Sky’s The Limit” by Biggie.
Why should the readers and fans give you a shot and listen to your music from here on out?
Cuz I’m battle tested and proven. I live music for real. And whether they want to give me a shot or not their going to come across my music at some point. You can press stop on your Cd player but you can’t stop my grind.
What’s next for you?
More writing on the low. More music. New Album (TBA) is on the way. I got a side project that is going to blow people’s minds so they can understand how good of a writer I am. About to do some work with Jordan Towers and a couple others. Just networking and building my brand.
Desert Island Hip Hop: If you could only take one record on a deserted island with you, what album would that be?
I would take the Space Jam album…Shit is a ball players classic….lol. But on the real I’d probably take Life After Death on vinyl. Something about vinyl just makes it feel special.
Any shout outs or last words?
Shout out to the whole Black Market Music Group. Shout out to the whole city. Toronto we up next. Stay tuned… era out.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Deez this is anutha tight interview..mayne T.Dot is seriously bringin’ the heat..Do u have an interview wit’ Dj Wrispect in the near future…dude is a hellafied DJ…
P.S. – One thing I like about your interviews it gives excellent insite on what the artist thoughts , feelings and etc. are all about and most of all ..what inspires them and what they love about the art form.
J, I can’t take much credit for this. JD really held his own on this. We also had a bunch of help getting this organized. Young K and the camp helped out big time.
I mean, this was just the general formula we’ve had for interviews lately. When we have the time, ideally we’d like to go a lot more in depth with the questions.. but this was great JD was dope and hardly any editing was needed
man i been listening to jd when he was messing wit soulclap records wit my man rich london…def gald to see this dude making these moves…he been grindin for a good minute
This man can put on a show. His energy is bananas and you can tell he has a sincere appreciation for those before him…
I recently saw this vid by an artist called token black guy and i knew it was era… do u think this could b some of the projects he talking bout
We still gotta thank you for doin this Deez! and respects to the whole site y’all always support the realest artists. Ea your right, he puts in all into his shows I only went to the one GZA show but I was really impressed. Be on the look out for the Bobby V track that shit is FIRE!! that’s all I can say tho but it’s gonna be a really big record for real.
New North! Another one of T.O.’s finest, Era is a lyrical beast.
anyone catch that Lady Gaga line? Yeha, we don’t censor… do it up JD