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Source: Justin Pounds / JP In Hip-Hop Wired’s first installment of our interview with Jay “J-Zone” Mumford, we learned that the former rapper and producer came to his earlier profession unexpectedly. Amassing a following during the heights of the Indie Hip-Hop craze of the early 2000s, Mumford became increasingly jaded with the industry before rediscovering his passion for the music that defined his youth. Zone Defense As we learned in part one of our talks, Mumford dove into a career as a headlining rapper due to the fact that the inconsistency of artists he hoped to work with had reached its zenith. By some measure, the “road less traveled” approach makes sense in the ultra-competitive realm of independent Hip-Hop but ask any artist who worked at the turn of the century, and they’ll almo...

Source: Johan Vipper / JV Few artists in Hip-Hop, and across all musical genres period, are afforded the option of a second chance to make an impression on listeners. While the journey had more than its share of ups and downs, Jay Mumford, the former J-Zone, has landed in a particular place in life that has reconnected him with his true creative purpose. The Funk Roots Run Deep During a recent chat with Hip-Hop Wired, Mr. Mumford was approachable, eager to share his story, and, much like his earlier work as a producer and rapper, humorous. But with the jokes came valuable insight of how one can nearly have it all in one space, only to toil against the strain of placing one’s energies into music that doesn’t speak to them — or for them — any longer. Mumford’s journey in music actually began...