Today's Producers often group after success, accolades and major accomplishments, but for "The ALLSPARK" there history starts from highschool, midi programs & mutual friends. The group consists of Vertical Jones (27) & Hef(28). In 1996 Vertical Jones majoring in band,and Hef majoring in vocals, began to learn the structure and format of making a track through midi setups. Thanks to Newark's Arts Highschool's new, fully furnished music lab,the freshman & sophmore spent most of there school time in the lab. They rocked before school,during lunch periods and after school for three years together. Battling to see who could make the hottest track in the shortest amount of time just seemed to be a frienldy competition at the time, which turned out to become a friendship and major respect for one another as producers.
"Hef" (28) growing up in a single parent home in Newark N.J. and with his father living in New Orleans, he was basically a kid who stayed to himself having no siblings till the age of 8. "My Pops is the youngest of his family so most of my cousins on his side were all older than me." Also with his grandfather being the 1st cousin of George Clinton he has creative music running throughout his bloodline. Between ages 9 to 14 he had traveled across waters to Australia,New Zealand and Canada with his school,the prestigous "Newark Boys Chorus School." There he was trained in music theory,piano and vocals along with school work two grades above the normal public school. "The NBCS was crazy cause there were no broads,strictly dudes and we spent 3 hrs. a day,5 to 6 days a week, singing and performing for 5 years straight. We were young as hell with alot on our plate and were treated like adults,but we didn't see it through. Really,....that was a hell of an experience for me." By 16 he was conducting his highschool choir, inducted into The National Honors Society for music and steps ahead of his collegaues due to his previous training. With 10 years of music schooling under his belt he was now ready to see what the world had to offer.
After graduating highschool in 1999 Hef went on to pursue his dream as a rap artist with his group "Chane Reaxion" for many years. Coming close to his dream with Untertainment/Epic Records he was shattered when he had learned that the label had been dropped in the same week of arrival. Being the optimist he is,Hef and the group kept working and searching and found themselves before Tony Dofat(Chinatown Music Group and Bad Boy Records). While working with the superproducer Dofat, Canary started to play around with the drum machine and keyboards as he did as a youth in highschool.After a year or so, once again Hef and his group ran into another dead end with Dofat and were forced to change paths. After the Dofat situation He vowed to stop rapping and place focus on producing because he felt he had a better chance helping his fellow group members/child hood friends on this route.
In 2002 Hef signed to Jimmy Henchmen/Bryce Wilson's Czar Entertainment as a producer. Wilson ,whom he had met in 97 as a rapper had kept in contact with Hef and the group over the years and decided that he wanted to help mold the 21 year old(at the time) and have him as a partner. That deal much like the others didn't go well at all being, for those 3 years Hef had no tracks placed,little money and working a 9-5 to support his daughter. His reality soon became when the contract was over he had to do something. "I'm not mad at the situation like I was at the time because I learned alot ,met alot of talented people and got my weight up as a producer. I mean Bryce believes in me & is still my homie to this day,so when I win he wins ," Hef proclaims.
The other half of "THE ALLSPARK" is Vertical Jones(27), the son of 2 ministers of Newark, NJ native has had a passionate love affair with all things musical since joining his first choir at the tender age of eight. Going on to graduate from Newark's Performing Arts H.S. in 2000, Vertical Jones became an accomplished musician who not only learned how to read and write music but is also a sterling vocalist as well as a proficient organ, piano, guitar and percussions player. Winning the Connie Woods Jazz competition and performing with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra are just a few of the many musical accomplishments this prodigy has under his belt. In 2001, Choir Boy (at the time Mic Jones), signed a production deal with Bankers Entertainment, a subsidiary of Interscope Records. There Choir Boy would produce tracks for various artists including Ox (Lotto from Eminem?s 8 Mile film) and J-Mello (formerly of Def Jam) but he had yet to find his niche. After the production deal with Bankers Entertainment fell through, Choir Boy began to re-evaluate his approach towards penetrating the music industry,eventually resolving to diversify his repertoire by adding emcee. However, it was not until a chance encounter with Frank Mesa, CEO of MIH GROUP INC., a NYC bas
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