ArtistInfo

Johnny B

voc, *1976 GB
Producer of Hip-Hop/Rap

" One of the pioneering Cardiff Hip Hop artists, who kick-started Welsh Hip Hop into the spotlight..." Jonathan Burgess (born April, 1976), better known by his stage name Johnny B, is a British rapper, and occasional producer from St Mellons, Cardiff, Wales Johnny is well known as part of Keltech and Johnny B, has worked and collaborated with a myriad of artists from his home country, and has supported live on stage some of Hip Hop's greatest legends including; Ice-T, Africa Bambaataa, Grand Master Flash, Rodney P (London Posse), and many more... Johnny started rapping in the 80s, but it wasn't until 1999 that he began to achieve recognition outside the local Hip Hop scene. Some of his accolades include the following... MOBO Awards - UnSung Semi Finalist (2002) Welsh Music Awards / Best Hip Hop Act - Winner (2002) BBC Radio 1Xtra - DJ Excalibah 'Tales From The Legend' listeners vote - Winner (2003) Hip-Hop Connection magazine - Top 4 album / UK Gold Charts (2003) hmv Cardiff Store - Top 5 monthly Best-selling Vinyl (2001) Wales On Sunday Newspaper - Top 50 Celebrity Eligible Bachelor List (2003) Hip-Hop Connection magazine - Top 5 album / UK Gold Charts (2001) Welsh Music Awards - Top 3 Nominee (2001) Cardiff City born and bred, Johnny B set out on his Hiphop journey in the early 80's as the junior member of 'The Street Snakes', a well known and respected b-boy crew in the city between 1983 -1985, founded by Cardiff breakdance pioneer, Jet Ski. Shortly after, Johnny picked up the mic and fell in love with rapping, then in the late 80s began recording his first of many demos. Between 1991-1992, Johnny B spent a significant amount of time with Cardiff Hip Hop pioneers, DJ Jaffa and 4-Dee, recording jam sessions on cassette tapes and playing live shows around the city in a collective called 'The Underdogs', which also included numerous well known artists and key figures in the local Hip Hop scene. Then in 1993, Johnny teamed up with DJ Mogse (Keltech), recording demos, mixtapes and playing live parties, but around 1995 they decided to go separate ways to pursue their own individual music careers. During the late 90s, after many years spending his hard-earned wages recording demos in professional studios and recording home-made albums on cassette tapes, Johnny decided it was time to grab the bull by the horns, and officially stepped into the music business, releasing his debut album 'Am I Still Hip Hop?' Recording sessions for the album started in 1996, and was eventually released via Hillian Records in 1999. The album caught the attention of 'Hip-Hop Connection' magazine, who described Johnny B as "a brilliant emcee" and gave the album credit as being, "the first proper Hip Hop LP to come from Cardiff". His next couple of vinyl release's the 'Rhyme Hungry' EP (2001) and 'The Name' LP (2003) were just as important mile stone's for Johnny as his debut. 'The Name' album (with DJ Keltech), transcended from it's solid underground status into the UK's leading retail stores including; Tesco, Sainsburys, Asda, Currys, Argos, Woolworths, Boots and WHSmith. At this time, in the early 00s, it was quite unusual to see an underground UK Hip Hop artist being sold in such places. Both vinyl releases were also sold in major record shops, such as HMV and Virgin reaching 4th and 5th position in the Top Ten 'UK Gold Chart' in HHC, and receiving rave reviews in magazines as diverse as Jockey Slut and NME. In 2003, shortly after a live studio interview on South Wales' No.1 Hit Music Station at that time, Red Dragon FM, Johnny B and Keltech were both included among the list of celebrities in the Wales On Sunday newspaper, 'Top 50 Celebrity Eligible Bachelor List', where the next day, Johnny's name was brought up in a live discussion regarding the list, on prime time radio's most popular show in the UK, The Chris Moyles Show. This led to Keltech & Johnny B's Grange Hill sampled single 'Bol X 2 Skool' being used for nearly 2 years as the theme track for numerous BBC Radio 1 school features, the biggest being 'Star Pupil' with various pop stars speaking over the track including; Lemar, Daniel Bedingfield, Girls Aloud & Feeder. In 2006, Johnny B's next 12" vinyl release 'The Dream Weaver' EP (with DJ Keltech) had it's title track used in the advert for, P Diddy's - Making The Band (season 3) on MTV, released through Johnny B's own label, Hillian Records. The EP also featured the studio version of the globally famous, viral video 'Keltech Strikes Back' which brought world-wide attention to their now defunct website (KeltechAndJohnnyB .com) helping them enjoy a rapidly expanding fan-base sending their name to greater heights. Sadly, in 2007, due to a series of family tragedies, Johnny disappeared from the music scene, but then re-emerged in December 2011 for a brief spell hooking up with producer, Dw Smith (Caskade DirtyWordSmith) to release the single 'Tomorrow' on Welsh music label, Tarw Du Records, playing a handful of gigs, including The Globe (Cardiff), Boom Town Festival (Winchester) and Wales Millennium Centre. But shortly after this, due to personal reasons, Johnny slipped back into hiatus. With passion & love for his craft, rocking crowds is what Johnny B always did best. But will he ever return? Watch this space...

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