J-Swift

J-Swift is an Afro-Cuban Spanish American music producer responsible for songs with groups on the Delicious Vinyl Label. He has produced the hip hop groups The Pharcyde and The Wascals.

Early life

J-Swift was born Juan Manuel Martinez in 1971 in Madrid, Spain. His Afro-Cuban father was a salsa bandleader and multi-instrumentalist. In 1974 the family headed to Los Angeles, California, settling in Inglewood. At age six, J-Swift enrolled in a piano conservatory, quickly proving to be a prodigy. The all-rap radio station KDAY introduced him to hip-hop in the early ‘80s, and the first record he ever got was by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.

Career

Around 1988 J-Swift met R&B musician Reggie Andrews, producer of Dazz Band’s 1982 funk hit “Let It Whip.” After J-Swift composed three new jack swing-style songs to get his attention, Andrews suggested that he concentrate on writing and producing, and set him up with a recording studio (complete with a then-state-of-the-art Akai MPC60) at South Central Unit (SCU), an after-school program for disadvantaged young talent. This gave J the opportunity to submit songs to A&M Record’s Rondor Music publishing, while additional work came via BMI’s Cheryl Dickerson. Though much of this early music went unreleased (like an album by Bell Biv DeVoe spin-off STR8-Ahead), J-Swift’s official songwriting/producing debut came in 1991 with Keisha Jackson’s “Feel You Out.”