Bio

Jr King is pretty much an enigma when it comes to music. His versatily in everything he can do gives him the power to resurrect what is left of hip hop and carry it on his shoulders. Born in Chicago, IL on January 21, 1987, Gio Vanni began his music venture in 1998 simply writing poetry. By the year 2000 he was part of a local R&B group out of Hazel Crest, IL called Innovation (with other group member A.W.) signed to independent label, Verse-A-Tyle Entertainment. The group made a smash hit called 'R U Still Down' featuring Indiana rapper Lil Cash. J.R. and A.W. would go their separate ways in late 2000 and J.R. would embark on a rap career with Verse-A-Tyle Entertainment. He began recording his debut album 'Rebel 4 The Hell of It' in early 2001. In February 2001, Gio Vanni got into a violent confrontation with then mixing engineer Kris Dawson over financial issues. Dawson jumped in J.R.'s face and CEO of Verse-A-Tyle Entertainment, Vik Vallo stepped in between the two. Vik's brother Vincent kept J.R. distance as Dawson pushed Vik into a glass window and charged at J.R. J.R. not wanting to fight Dawson tried to restrain him and bodyslammed him to the ground with full force and proceeded to hold him down. Tremaine Thomas, a friend of J.R. and Vik, would rush over and grab J.R. off of Dawson. Dawson then grabbed a computer chair and threw it at Gio Vanni which resulted in J.R. throwing a series of punches at Dawson. Vincent and Tremaine would restrain J.R. from doing more damage and Vik escorted Dawson out of the studio. Because of that incident, J.R. would leave Verse-A-Tyle Entertainment leaving his album 'Rebel 4 The Hell of It' unfinished. In March 2001, J.R. signed to Diamond Cut Productions who was then owned by CEO Steve Sampson and Barry Gist (who is now CEO). He took songs from 'Rebel 4 The Hell of It' and collabed them with a series of new songs and released his debut album 'The Gameplan of a Changed Man' in April 2001. Receiving positive mass reviews on the album, he was quickly compared to the late Tupac Shakur. Many believed that with his swagger on the records, he could possibly be either the next or even better than Shakur. In September of 2001, he began recording his 2nd album entitled 'Against All Odds' which was released the next month. That album did not get as many good reviews as his first but he still created a buzz and people new who is was. At the time, his stage name was, Terra' Rhyzn' (Terror Rising). In a shock to many on January 1, 2002, J.R. would re-sign with Verse-A-Tyle Entertainment re-inventing himself and his image into a more dark lyricist. On January 21, 2002, he released his 1st album under V.A.T. and his 3rd album overall called 'Genesis'. He went under a new stage name and called himself "Prophecy". D.C.P. and V.A.T. would soon merge and create a super label. The album Genesis created such a buzz that J.R. immediately begain working on his 4th album 'WorldWide'. In June of 2002, J.R. embarked in an industry beef with fellow native Chicago rapper, Nett. Nett took shots at J.R. for mimicking Tupac Shakur and making the deceased rapper look bad. Gio Vanni never responded to Nett, figuring that it would just boost his ego. His album 'WorldWide' received alot of negative reviews because the album basically was based on death. J.R. would take a break from music for awhile. On January 1, 2003, he released his best album to date, entitled 'Guess Who's Back: A Change is Coming'. The single of the track was a dedication song to close friend (Scott Sims) who tragically died on a field trip to Hawaii with fellow waterpolo teammates. The song was entitled 'Missing U' and it sampled Usher's song 'Nice and Slow'. Chris Herring (fellow classmate of J.R.) would sing on the hook. In June of 2003, he released his 6th album (a sequel to his 5th) 'Guess Who's Back: A Change is Coming Vol. II'. In this album, J.R. along with his new labelmates (A-Guttah, Chainz, & SJ) took shots at the rapper Nett on the song, Kingz of the Streetz. Gio Vanni and his new labelmates would create a rap group called B.N.I.C. (Baddest Niggaz In Chicago). Nett would respond to all the rappers. J.R. then made a solo subliminal diss to Nett and his labelmate N-Famous P (a former friend of J.R.) called 'They Don't Want It'. The beef between Nett and Gio Vanni would soon die down, as they both collabed on one of Nett's songs called 'Reaching Chicago'. J.R. would also collab with N-Famous P on a song called 'War' which also featured V.A.T. artist SJ. In 2004 J.R. would create his own artist label called "One Nation". In 2005 J.R. left the group B.N.I.C. to continue his solo career. He started working on his 7th album, but decided that it was time to take a break. He had officially retired from making albums. He still featured on other artists songs like SJ & Chainz song 'Breath', DCP artist L.O.'s song "Why", and V.A.T. artist A-Guttah's song 'Da Sirens'. He never made another album until the year 2006. He signed two artists, T.P. and Tragik, to his One Nation Entertainment label in 2006. He then signed another label under his called 'Muzik Head Records' which consisted of artists Sincere, M.E.S., & Killa K. He would record his 7th album called Resurrection which featured all his One Nation artists, and V.A.T. artists. He also took under a new name, Exodus. One Nation would release a mixtape entitled "The Movement: This Ain't A Game Vol. I" which they took shots at another group called King Kong. In July of 2006, J.R. would release all artists on the label because confrontations that would occur between them. He would then work with a local DJ and prepare a mixtape which featured him and Tupac Shakur called "Makaveli Meets Exodus". In July of 2006 he released his 8th album "Epic". In August of 2006 he re-located to Omaha, NE and began working on his 9th album 'Immortal' which was released under NDL Records, Inc. based in Las Vegas, NV. The album was released Friday October, 13, 2006. It received alot of negative reviews which resulted in NDL Records dropping J.R. from the label. In 2007 he would go back to his roots, and sharpen his skills. He re-united with Vik Vallo who had now merged Verse-A-Tyle Entertainment and B.N.I.C. to create a new label, B.N.I.C. Entertainment. He would released his 10th album, and first double disc album called 'Real Talk' under B.N.I.C. Entertainment. The album got great reviews which prompted him to work on another double disc album. In early 2008 he would release his 11th and final rap album 'Resurrection: The Re-Up' under B.N.I.C. Entertainment. Since 'Resurrection: The Re-Up' J.R. took a hiatus from music and ventured into film. Writing two films "The Man in Black" and "Candyman: New Blood" J.R. found that his writing was not just for music. Filming "The Man in Black" starring himself and friend Toron Rodgers. The film was never finished but is still in production. J.R. planned on making "The Man in Black" a trilogy. He is currently in negotiations with New York actor ,Gano Grills, to star in "Candyman: New Blood" along with Jamie Hector and Dania Ramirez. J.R. will not star in the film but will receive a writing credit. It is not known if original Candyman writer, Clive Barker, has given the film the greenlight. Aside from the film, J.R. has ventured back into the R&B scene and began working on his 12th & 1st R&B album which will be released under Muzik 4 Lyfe Music Group. D'eante Hill (Gio Vanni's cousin and CEO of the Atlanta label) will be the Executive Producer. Why this name? I've been through so many names (Terra' Rhyzn, Prophecy, Exodus) that I just decided that it was time to be me. I needed to stop living these alter egos because they were truly controlling my life and I was not acting nor being myself. So, J.R. is it. Do you play live? I've performed live before in front of family, friends, classmates and strangers. At first I had the jitters, but soon it's overwhelming when you get that good support from people. Makes you feel like you are as talented as they say you are. It's a rush. How, do you think, does the internet (or mp3) change the music industry? The internet has given artists like myself the opportunity to show their talent. To show these industry heads that they are not the only ones who can put out good music. It's giving independent artists the chance to actually create a revenue for themselves. For people who don't want to have to worry about the royalties and the artist development contracts and getting ripped off by an agent or a manager, you pretty much market and showcase yourself. I believe that it's an awesome thing for artist like myself. You never know who might hear you. Would you sign a record contract with a major label? Probably not. I don't want the stress and I definately don't want that kind of publicity. They say with fame comes fortune. But alot of that fortune is going back to the label. Especially if you are a one hit wonder. There are so many contact stipulations out there. I'm not talking about a 3 year contract, I'm talking about like a 3 album contract. If your first album bombs, that's it. The company is not about to spend time on trying to re-invent you. And plus, with all that fame comes controversy. Rumors, the media, all that hoopla and by people comparing me to Pac, that's just something I don't want to live with. I appreciate the comments about me being possibly better than the man, but them are some shoes that I am definitely not trying to fill. I'm not Tupac Shakur's replacement! No one is and no one can be! Plain and simple. And plus the industry ruins so many lives. I love my life right now! Band History: ALBUM DISCOGRAPHY 2001 - The Gameplan of a Changed Man (Diamond Cut Productions) Executive Producer: Steve Sampson 2001 - Against All Odds (Diamond Cut Productions) Executive Producer: Steve Sampson 2002 - Genesis (Verse-A-Tyle Entertainment) Executive Producer: Vik 'Johnny Bling' Vallo 2002 - WorldWide (Verse-A-Tyle Entertainment) Executive Producer: Vik 'Johnny Bling' Vallo 2003 - Guess Who's Back: A Change is Coming (Verse-A-Tyle Entertainment) Executive Producer: Vik 'Johnny Bling' Vallo 2003 - Guess Who's Back: A Change is Coming Vol. II (Verse-A-Tyle Entertainment) Executive Producer: Vik 'Johnny Bling' Vallo 2006 - Resurrection (One Nation Entertainment) Executive Producer: J.R. Fitzgerald 2006 - The Movement: It's Not A Game [Various Artists] (One Nation Entertainment) Executive Producer: J.R. Fitzgerald 2006 - Makaveli Meets Exodus (Verse-A-Tyle Entertainment) Executive Producer: DJ Muzzolini & Vik 'Johnny Bling' Vallo 2006 - Immortal (NDL Records, Inc.) Executive Producer: Nick Jackson 2007 - Real Talk [2-Disc] (B.N.I.C. Entertainment) Executive Producer: Vik 'Johnny Bling' Vallo 2008 - Resurrection: The Re-Up [2-Disc] (B.N.I.C. Entertainment) Executive Producer: Vik 'Johnny Bling' Vallo 2008 - Sacrifice (Muzik 4 Lyfe Music Group) Executive Producer: D'eante Hill 2008 – Savior Self (Muzik 4 Lyfe Music Group) 2009 - Genesis (Muzik 4 Lyfe Music Group) 2009 - Trendsetter 1987 (BNIC Entertainment) Your influences? Well of course I have to pay homage to the men that paved the way for artists like myself. I'm speaking of Tupac Shakur, The Notorious BIG, Big L, Rakim & Eric B, Run DMC, LL Cool J, KRS-One, Nas, etc. The created the foundation that hip hop lives on. Those are my inspirations. My hat goes off to those cats. Favorite spot? Chicago, IL Equipment used: Just a laptop and a microphone thats all I need. It's all in the magic of the software and what you can do. Anything else...? Enjoy the site. It's hear for you to enjoy. 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