Golden HI – J Rocc & MED

One of the original turntablists, J. Rocc founded the Beat Junkies in 1992 with Melo-D and Rhettmatic, but has done just as much on his own as in a group setting. He began DJing in the mid-’80s with a California group named PSK. Soon after forming, the Beat Junkies became a seminal force in the rise of instrumental hip-hop, including core member Babu plus future stars Shortkut and D-Styles.

The west coast MC called Medaphoar is known lately by the first three letters of his name: M to the E to the D. Three short letters for a long-awaited, full-length album which arrived at long last in 2005.
Representing the Oxnard, California family of MCs and b-boys that boasts luminaries such as Madlib, Oh No, Declaime, Wildchild and Kan Kick, MED stands out for his “perforating wordplay and extraterrestrial breath control” (URB Magazine). His subject matter reflects the struggles and hustles of a young black man caught between the street life of Oxnard and the nightlife of L.A. Fans receive a healthy dose of muscular lyricism on “Push Comes to Shove”, with guest MCs including J Dilla (rapping on and producing the lead single “Push”) and (…oh sh*t!) the one and only Diamond D, for that all-time heavyweight flavor.