Who is Jonny Empire? A couple of years ago I couldn’t have answered that question because I didn’t know him. Last year, I met Jonny through a website called PlaylistPush where aspiring artists like Jonny Empire can pay for their songs to be heard by playlisters like myself. In the good ole days, musicians would be heard by local/national DJ’s playing their songs on the radio. If you got big enough, you could get your song on rotation on MTV or BET. But in order to get this radio/tv play, you needed to be signed to a record label who had an A&R who would fight to get you play. And sometimes pay to get you play through a process called payola. But nowadays, radio and TV is a thing of the past as the majority of music fans hear their new songs from the DSP’s like Spotify, Apple Music, etc. The beauty in this is that playlisters like myself have become what radio and TV used to be as you can gain followings on playlists organically. This has removed the need for record labels and A&R’s to be involved as independent musicians can find playlisters like myself and get their songs streamed by hundreds/thousands of people by getting good placement on a playlist with a big following. As funny as it is just to write this, I have somehow accumulated close to 100,000 followers on my Spotify playlists. In 2021, this makes me an influencer so each day I am bombarded with DM’s on IG from artists all over the world who want to get heard.
Just recently I got as many followers as the artists that I follow. Never in a million years did I think that could happen.
I found out about a website called PlaylistPush where I could get paid just by listening to songs from aspiring artists like Jonny Empire. I was able to get hooked up with this because of the following I had gained on my playlists. I ended up making over $1,000 during the pandemic last year through this site which paid for the bougee stroller my wife wanted for our baby boy. Record labels, managers, and artists would submit their tracks to me and I was paid for every song I listened to. I eventually got kicked off the site (no idea why!) but at the end I was making $5 for every song that I listened to. I was listening to songs from Boosie Badass, Wiz Khalifa, Celly Cell, Cee-Lo Green and other musicians I loved AND getting paid for it. Wild right? Aside from the artists I just named, I was also getting pitched by independent artists who wanted to get on my playlists to get heard. This is exactly how I met Jonny Empire.
Shout out to Jonny’s days as an intern at Antenna Mag.
Jonny submitted one of his songs for placement on my playlists. I don’t even recall what the song was but I remember hearing his voice and instantly thinking that he had the voice to become a star. In rap, a distinguishable voice can help you stand out. Sure your lyrics and flow need to be on point as well but if you have the voice, lyrics, flow, and good beats, you’re likely on your way to the top. Jonny had this voice that made me think he was like Andre the Giant on the beat. Jonny happens to be a monster himself at 6’5” so the voice does match who he is! But when I heard Jonny, his voice reminded me of Rock from Heltah Skeltah, Krondon from Strong Arm Steady, Chali 2na from Jurassic 5, and Vinnie Paz from Jedi Mind Tricks / Army of the Pharaohs. I heard Jonny’s voice, flow, and lyrics and just thought, damn…. this kid needs a push. We ended up connecting on IG last year and we’ve remained tight ever since. I hit him up recently and told him I wanted to interview him. He told me he had a new single dropping called “The Kid” that was about to drop and we decided to debut it right here on my site. So without further adieu, here’s my interview with Jonny Empire!
Gully.
Timmy C: How did you get into hip hop and just music in general?
Jonny Empire: My older brother was really into hip hop so naturally I looked up to him and wanted to listen to the same music he was listening to. He was into a lot of the good east coast rap at the time; Wu Tang, Group Home, Big L, Mobb Deep, etc. My dad was into Classic Rock mostly with groups like Led Zeppelin being at the forefront. My mom listened to everything but actually enjoys rap and always let us play it in the car when we were kids.
Timmy C: Not sure if I told you but I got into hip hop through my older brother as well. Different eras but same story for sure! Looking back, was there a time where you felt that you caught the hip hop bug?
Jonny Empire: Being so close to NYC growing up in Stamford, CT, you would expect that I’d be an east coast hip hop fan and while I was, it was the rap out of the South that I sort of found and loved on my own terms. I'd say around the time Young Buck became a household name in G-Unit is when it really started. I also was really into Swishahouse, Trick Daddy, Trina, Pitbull, Lil Jon and Ludacris too.
Timmy C: Swishahouse! Man…. When Swishahouse started blowing up you honestly couldn’t miss them. I used to work in the mailroom at Nordstrom in Scottsdale, AZ and my homie Ray was all about Paul Wall and Mike Jones.
Jonny Empire: That Who is Mike Jones? and The Peoples Champ albums were major.
Timmy C: Couldn’t agree more! Did you peep Paul Wall’s EP with Statik Selektah that dropped within the last couple of years? I thought it was pretty dope.
Jonny Empire: Absolutely. People sleep on Paul Wall because to me, I've always thought his bars were clever and heavily underrated.
Timmy C: Going back to the early days, when did you start writing raps?
Jonny Empire: I started writing when I was 12 and the first time was at school. I was at the cafeteria and finished lunch early so went to another room that was unoccupied. I had a Walkman full of Mobb Deep instrumentals from Hell on Earth and I just started writing pretending like I was The Game. This was around the time G-Unit was just starting to go crazy.
Timmy C: Were you a big Mobb Deep fan?
Jonny Empire: Still am! One of my brother’s favorite rappers growing up was Prodigy (RIP Prodigy) and every time I hear The Infamous it hits a chord with me. You’re going to laugh but that album was one of the first albums that I thought was so hot that it almost brought me to tears.
Timmy C: Dude…. No shame in that! I was shedding tears on Father’s Day just a few weeks ago while listening to Atmosphere’s “Little Man.” Now that I’m a father, that song just hit me a lot differently….
So when did you start rapping?
Jonny Empire: I started writing at 12 but didn't really start rapping and recording songs over tapes from Radio Shack until I was about 14. At the time I had no clue how to ride a beat and legit just "talked" my rhymes to a beat. But, the first time I was able to play back what I recorded. I was hooked on that feeling and listened to them back to back.
Timmy C: First performance?
Jonny Empire: Junior year of high school. My cousin went to a different high school than me and his school had hip hop events all the time. Two of the teachers were in a rap group (shout out to Mr. Wooley & Mr. Celcis) and would throw these events with open mics and emcee competitions. Giving students an opportunity to rap if thats what they did. I didn't go to that high school at the time, but they let me come back and perform at those events because of how frequently I was coming. At 16 I was so damn nervous when I got on the mic but once I finished rapping that day, I honestly wanted to do it again.
Timmy C: Both of my parents were high school teachers so shout out to all of the educators out there doing what they do!
Jonny Empire: I actually still keep in touch with them because during those early years, they really pushed me and encouraged me. If it wasn’t for them providing the opportunity to connect with other student-rappers and perform, I wouldn’t be who I am today. I've met some of my lifelong best friends through rap and specifically those events.
Timmy C: Love that man! When did you release your first project as a rapper?
Jonny Empire: It was my senior year of high school and my emcee name at the time was Sneakyness, which really made no sense because I was like 6’1” at the time. Couldn't be that sneaky. The album was called Godly Habits and was special because my older brother produced about 8 or 9 of the beats. This was my first cohesive project so I was really excited to show this project to everyone who at least had an idea that I rapped. There were a total of 17 songs on the album. This was around the myspace days but I also got some physical copies printed up as well. I charged $5 for it but really gave out a lot of free copies to people at my high school. Especially the ones who used to watch me battle rap in the hallways.
Timmy C: Are you a battle rapper?
Jonny Empire: Growing up I loved battling other emcees. I'm a huge battle rap fan till this day. A lot of guys like Loaded Lux, Tsu Surf, Tay Roc and Murda Mook inspire me when it comes to writing. In high school, kids came from different backgrounds so nobody really expected this tall red-headed kid to hop into the cypher and start spitting. To me, those were very fun memories.
Timmy C: What equipment did you have back then?
Jonny Empire: Like I mentioned before, my brother made music and really used Pro Tools, an MPC and an ASR-10. At the time, I’d always be lurking around whenever he made music or had others over for studio sessions. But then for my 16th birthday he gave me my favorite gift of all time. He bought me Pro Tools, an Mbox, and a microphone. Once I had all of these tools at my disposal I taught myself how to record, mix and engineer my own songs.
Timmy C: Tell me about the hip hop show you used to host at the University of New Haven.
Jonny Empire: It was a hip hop radio show called “Streets Never Sleep” and hosted it with my boys Doc, DJ Tommy Carlucci and Baked Ziti (that was his name, not a typo). Shout out to Jen Wavey too. For 4 years, we were on air every Wednesday from 10pm - 12am on WNHU. Every week we interviewed local rappers, producers, and DJ’s from the tri state area but what made the show special was our cypher at the end of every show. At 11:30pm, we gave rappers the opportunity to come to the station and take part in the cypher. We had some heavy hitters come by every week. SNS helped us develop relationships with a multitude of artists.
Timmy C: Were you also recording yourself during your college years?
Jonny Empire: Without a doubt. I actually made it a goal to making an album every year I was in school. After connecting with a lot of the artists who did shows around New Haven through our radio show, I gradually got asked to come rock shows which led to meeting other promoters who put me on the bill of other shows around Connecticut. For about 2 years, I was performing at least twice per week in bars, venues and events at the University of New Haven.
Timmy C: Fast forwarding to the present, what is your main focus currently?
Jonny Empire: These days I’ve been continuing to master my craft and make the kind of music I like to listen to. Continuously building up my catalogue. These days a lot of things in the world could make it hard for an artist to be motivated but to be honest, a few recent highlights have kept me motivated. One of them was recently getting the opportunity to be on a platform called World Emcee (which formally went by Team BackPack). I grew up watching and studying emcees from that platform. Another huge highlight for me was having the opportunity to rap on Sway In The Morning in January 2020. Shout out to my brother Director Cortez too. He does work with Sway and also filmed one of my favorite music videos, "14 Even”. Having a chance to rhyme and receive compliments from Sway, Heather B, and Big Horse (who was featuring on “Oochie Wally” with Nas) was everything. It showed me I was going in the right direction and I really just wanted to get better after that.
Timmy C: Sway in the Morning?! Dude… Major!
Jonny Empire: It was such an honor. From that point, I decided it was most important to double down on what I’m good and continue to build up my catalog. Since then, I released 2 EP’s and 1 album in 2020; Thicker Than Water (EP), Never Lend Anyone a Book (EP) and Category 5 (Album).
Timmy C: How were those received?
Jonny Empire: I think they were received pretty well. A lot of websites, YouTube channels and playlister's covered and featured songs from them, which really gave me a boost of confidence and showed me that I was on the right path. This year, my focus has mainly been singles and building up social media content. With the Summer now here, I’m proud to say I’m gearing up to release a new album in early August called Last Seat on the Bench. Which I'm really excited about. I'm also working on another album and some smaller EP's with other producers. Just trying to have fun man.
Timmy C: How do you push your music? Through our conversations, I know you’re a good businessman so I imagine you’re networking left and right and linking with different peeps.
Jonny Empire: There's no better way to push your music than performing, word of mouth and linking in person. While we experienced the co-vid age, the push of my music has really been on social media, DSP’s and Bandcamp. Bandcamp is another avenue I’m trying to evolve in as it really benefits the artist directly. Supporting other avenues like merch and vinyl too. Socially, Instagram is where I mainly post content/music while connecting with other artists and producers. Luckily, I have always had the pleasure of working with producers such as my brother Anabolic and one of my good friends, Kayoss Son. They have been making my beats since I first started releasing music in 2009. These days, I love coming across producers online or at events in person. We’re in the day and age where if I rock with what I’m hearing, I’ll reach out to them about working together. Some do it off the strength but of course, it's a business. One thing I always know and value is the importance of investing in quality. You get what you pay for (in most cases).
Timmy C: Alright… Your new single is here and you got my main man Ken Griffey Jr. on the artwork. What do you know about Ken Griffey Jr.?
Jonny Empire: Growing up in the 90’s and early 00’s, Ken Griffey Jr. was a staple in the sports world! Not only did he bring skill to the game but he reminded me of what Lebron brought to the NBA. One of the youngest players to bring talent, fun and marketability to MLB. Most importantly, he played with his pops! It doesn’t get much better than that. I played a lot of video games growing up, especially MLB on Nintendo 64. I always rocked with Seattle on there. Ken Griffey Jr. is a legend!
Timmy C: Respect homie! Love hearing about Griffey’s impact on you. For me, his 1989 Upper Deck rookie card was something that me and all my friends had to have back when it came out. But we were all 9 years old in ‘89 so of course didn’t have the $30 to cop it. Then it went all the way up to $100 in the Beckett Price Magazine and that point it was well out of reach. But then one day when we were all playing tackle football in 1990, my homie Mickey gave the prized Griffey rookie card to me as a gift for my 10th birthday. To this day, it is still my favorite birthday gift of all time.
Jonny Empire: That is super dope!
Timmy C: So now that we’ve gotten our mutual Griffey love out of the way, tell me more about your new single, “The Kid.”
Jonny Empire: “The Kid” is produced by The Outbreakz, a producer I came across on YouTube. The artwork for the single was done by Martin Cura out of Canada who I’ve worked with on several releases. We linked up on IG and I saw his work with other artists and had to reach out ASAP. On the song itself, I have a line where I say, “Like Ken Griffey when I touch Seattle…” I didn’t have a name for the song so it just fell in place that I should call the song “The Kid.” The track talks about what I plan to do in life, my aspirations on how to get there and mentioning things such as where I’m from and other things I’ve noticed coming up in the game. I wanted the title to reflect all of that and that's where I came up with “The Kid” since that was Griffey’s nickname coming up in the league.
Timmy C: Love all of this man! The fact that we connected when we did and I’m dropping your new single on my site and it’s about “The Kid” is so fresh. Falls right in line with everything I’m doing for Mid90s! So homie…. You’re on your grind. You’re in the pocket right now on your rap game. What’s next for Jonny Empire in 2021?
Jonny Empire: The plan for the remainder of 2021 is consistency on social media, creating more video content to go along with releasing 2-3 projects before the end of the year. At this point, I'm just trying to build my catalogue and get my name out there. One thing you can guarantee is that I'm always trying to get better as a lyricist.
Timmy C: Nice! I think you’d link up well with Statik Selectah. When can he expect you two to work together?
Jonny Empire: Man, I'm a huge fan of Statik Selektah. I’ve actually had the chance to meet him but didn't really discuss the fact that I make music. It would be a dream come true to get an opportunity to work with someone like that. If we're throwing dates out there…. Let’s say some time before 2024.
Timmy C: Alright bet…. I’m gonna get on my grind to try to make that happen for you homie. “The Kid” is a dope single for you. Was feeling it the first time I heard it. I appreciate you taking the time to meet with me and I wish you nothing but success with this new track and your upcoming releases this year. Stay hungry homie. You have great talent and a voice that’s undeniable. Let’s keep it moving kid!