J-Ro

While it's true that J-Ro's native neighborhood, Pacoima, doesn't carry the same clout in A&R offices as, say, Compton or Long Beach, the paths of many well-known L.A. hip-hop soldiers -- King-Tee and DJ Pooh, for instance -- have crossed there at one time or another. To hear J-Ro tell it, the networking among starving artists at the time (circa '85) ran deep. "I saw the whole L.A. hip-hop scene happen," muses the caramel-complected elder of Tha Alkaholiks. "I was young, but I was around everywhere. There were a few of us who were really into hip-hop and all hung out." After blessing rhymes on King-Tee's single "I Got It Bad Ya'll", Tha Alkaholiks finally got a deal with Loud / RCA Records in 1992. You couldn't go anywhere in L.A. without peeping the notorious "praying to the porcelain god" sticker. Their debut "21 & Over" irked critics everywhere and sobered party people up to the fact that these rappers were all about liquid flows and just having a good time. During the latter years, making music, touring and hanging out with the elite; Snoop Dogg, Xzibit, Tha Dogg Pound, Too $hort, Ice-T, Busta Rhymes and Pharell Williams among others, J-Ro found himself making a name for himself, not only as a great MC, but also as one of the funniest artists in hip-hop. Tight rhymes and humor is what J-Ro often finds himself spreading amongst his peers, fans and family.