J.PERIOD: Master of the Mixtape

J.PERIOD has mastered the mixtape. With more than 24 years of experience, the producer/DJ has pumped out dozens, including 2003’s J.PERIOD & Nas: The Best of Nas. Hosted by the Illmatic mastermind himself, the tape loosely marked the beginning of J.PERIOD’s storytelling through music.  “The great storytellers are what inspired me—whether it was Slick Rick, Big Daddy Kane, or KRS-One,” J.PERIOD explains. “I always imagined making something like what inspired me. The first version of that was the mixtapes where it was really about these artists’ stories. I’m digging into their catalog and re-imagining things and maybe remixing history in some ways.”  J.PERIOD’s speciality became weaving interviews into the music, what he calls “audio-biographies.” Whether it was Q-Tip or John Legend, every project he did became glimpses into their worlds, each ensuing mixtape effortlessly capturing a snapshot of what was happening with East Coast hip-hop at the time.  J.PERIOD and Jarobi White attend the Phife Dawg Street Naming Ceremony on November 19, 2016 in Queens, NY. (Credit: Johnny Nunez/Getty Images) Based on the strength of the Nas effort, he was able to land Big Daddy Kane for a project in 2004, Lauryn Hill in 2005, and The Roots in 2006....