Jon Conner Brings Country Hip-Hop To Delaware

Delaware's music scene may not be considered a major market according to industry standards, but the list of Delaware natives making waves in the mainstream are continuing to grow. From a legend like Young Guru, who was Jay-Z's in-house engineer, to new school talent like producer Jonathan "Sap" King, Delaware is surely on the right track. Much of being successful in the music industry hinges on an artist or musician finding their identity. Many amateur artists don’t have direction and focus when releasing music, and because of a lack of marketing skills, much of the great music made is never appreciated the way it should be. Most recently New York's DJ Self stopped through Delaware and the advice he had for local artists was to take a chance and travel to a major market.

One of Delaware's most gifted musicians is producer Jon Conner. Conner is a veteran in the Delaware music scene and has been rapping and producing since the 90’s. After his career as a rapper didn’t take off like he had hoped, Jon pushed his focus to production. In 2003, Conner began to work with an artist in Nashville called Haystak, who was just newly signed to Def Jam Records at the time. Haystak is a rapper from Tennessee, where the genre of country rap has begun to flourish over the years. Conner’s works with Haystak eventually lead to an opportunity to produce for country rapper Big Smo. In 2014, After Warner Brothers signed Big Smo, he released his major debut album “Kuntry Livin”, which was produced by Conner and has sold over 200K to date. Smo would go on to have his own reality show and tour, which would give Connor’s the push he needed to move permanently to Nashville. Most recently Jon has been working with Average Joe Entertainment which is the biggest name in the genre of country rap music. Conner’s produces for the group I4NI (pronounced eye-for-an-eye) which is signed to the label and consist of rappers Stump and David Ray. The collective has just released their new EP “Muscle Car”, and will bring their southern Hip-Hop pride to Tailgates in Newark. The show will be a homecoming for Connor’s who will perform alongside I4NI in front of fans, friends, and family. We talked with Conner’s about his work for Average Joe, starting his own label, and the misconceptions about the south.

Q: What has the workload been like since we last talked in 2014?

A. Well, I am not working with Big Smo at the moment but we still haven't stopped. I've been working with I4NI on their new EP, "Muscle Car" which I'm actually rapping on. In the past two years, I've been blessed to work with artists like Bubba Sparxxx, Colt Ford, & The Lacs to name a few. But the main focus has been I4NI. Besides producing I am always doing videography and music video as well so that's always been a passion for me alongside music.

Q: How did you originally connect with I4NI and Average Joe Entertainment?

A. Well after the Smo situation stopped, I was kind of looking for my next challenge. I’ve known David Ray for a while so I hit him up to see what he was doing. I had noticed that they were building a strong social media presence similar to Big Smo when he first came out. So I told him that with all the knowledge I had gained from seeing how the mainstream industry works, that I thought I could be a good asset to help them. I ended up in the studio with David and we just started cutting records because we just had a great working relationship. The music we were making led to a deal with Average Joe’s and we haven’t looked back yet. We have been making so much music that we really didn’t know what to do with it all so we also started our own label call Dammit Boy Entertainment. So not only do we have a situation with Average Joes, we also get to develop our own talent.

Q: Does country rap have a majority Caucasian fan base; and if so, does the message of southern pride ever seem controversial since it is a branch of Hip-Hop?

A. Yes, I would say that we have a majority-white fan base, but we also have fans from all races and ethnic backgrounds. I think a lot of people have misconceptions about what the south is really all about. There is definitely racism here like anywhere else, but the majority of people in the south love everybody. One thing we don’t stand for is racism, which is why we partnered with “F Racism” and their one of the sponsors on our tour. Many of the artists I deal with consider themselves part of what is called the new south. It’s all about southern pride, minus the racism and segregation.

Q: Does performing again in Delaware give you a feeling of excitement?

A. It’s great that I get to come back to my home state and show everybody what we have been doing. I think just getting to see some of the people I haven’t seen in a long time will be great, but performing for my friend and family I will be fun. It also gives me the chance to expose I4NI to a different fan base. Also, my longtime friend Danny Rich plays keys and does backup vocals for the I4NI band. He is somebody I have been working with since my days in Delaware and I'm glad he has been able to help me on this journey. Saturday is going to be fun so I just hope everybody comes out and has a great time.

IF YOU GO:

The Muscle Car Tour featuring, I4NI, Curiosity Killz, Forsaken, J Wayne

Tailgates Sports Bar 4126 Stanton-Olgetown Road Newark De, 19711

Saturday, July 2nd, 2016 Doors open at 8, Show starts at 9pm

Cover: $10

Check out I4NI Music at www.i4nination.com & www.dammitboyentertainment.com