Born May 4, 1982, in Chicago, Illinois, Alias John Brown derived his name from a friend who was reading about John Brown the Abolitionist; the nickname stuck as AJB began rapping at age 12 and started recording at 16 with Tommy Skillfingers and Pretty Boi Floyd. AJB formed a group called Concealed Weapons, which, with the addition of his brother Q-Billah, evolved into the original Animal House. They began recording in 1998-1999 and released 2 maxi singles as the Brown Brothers in 2000-2001. After Q-Billah and AJB released their mixtape Hello 2002, they both felt ready to start their solo careers.



In 2003, Alias John Brown started working with Jacki Mohammed (R.I.P.) and Chris Mohammed (The Sick One), as well as getting tracks from Common-producer and Kanye West-mentor, the legendary No I.D. AJB then traveled to the Bay Area to work with Darren Charles, Ray Murray, Kyle, and Taj Mahal on his first solo release The Underground Railroad (2005). Around this time, AJB linked up with the Sureshot Militia, a group of producers including Dug Infinite (another Kanye mentor), Mr. Maliguti, DJ Presyce (from the Chi), and DJ Devro of the Bay Area Mixtape Kings, the Demolition Men. The Sureshot Militia was the driving force behind AJB's 2006 mixtape, Tales from the No Coast (2006). Working with other producers like Aristotle and Sean Jordan from the Bay and Tony Baines from the Chi, AJB sharpened his lyrical blades on a wide variety of beats, traveling the mixtape circuit from the Bay Area back to Chicago.



Alias John Brown is featured on numerous mixtapes by the Demolition Men, DJ Child, DJ Rah2k, and the Take Me Back to Chicago mixtape series. He has also recorded features with Mistah FAB, The Jacka, Equipto, Planet Asia, Q-Billah, J-Stalin, and many other up and coming hip hop artists. AJB has put out 4 solo cds so far, including For the Non-Believers (2007) and his current project The American Nightmare (2008).



An endless freestyler and seasoned performer, Alias John Brown has opened for artists such as Young Buck, Tech 9, Too Short, Da Brat, Twista, The Outlaws, Bone Thugz N Harmony, Mistah FAB, Andre Nickatina, The Jacka, Cellski, San Quinn, Big Rich, Equipto, Shawna, Crucial Conflict, Q-Billah, and many more. AJB has performed at venues such as The Roseland Theatre (Portland, OR), Petite Campus (Montreal, Canada), The Egyptian Theatre (Northern IL), The Warner Theatre (Fresno, CA), The Subterranean (Chicago IL), The Funky Buddha Lounge (Chicago, IL), The Blue Note (Chicago, IL), Fat City (San Francisco, CA), The 680 Lounge (Danville, CA), and The Board Walk (Orangevale, CA).