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J. Period would describe himself as an old school A&R, the overseer of the artists’ project that made sure the album got finished as well as making sure the album remained true to the artists’ vision. Today, A&Rs aren’t really known for that process. J. Period says he sees today’s artists send their mixes and demo tapes to DJs instead of A&Rs.


The ironic thing about hearing J. Period say all of this is that he himself isn’t working toward one goal, one vision and the completion of one album. He takes on no less than five projects at a time because he says as someone who doesn’t know where his career is going, he wants the freedom to do more than simply be a mixtape DJ or be labeled as a producer. He wants to try both … and then some.



In addition to putting together mixes for Pusha T and Talib Kweli, much in the same vain as 2006’s critically acclaimed Best of the Roots album, he is also talking with Alicia Keys about a “best of” album and Virginia hip-hop artist Skillz for production.



J. Period is also working with unsigned Brooklyn hip-hop/rock group Game Rebellion. The sextet plans on releasing a conceptual album based around the “search for Rick Rubin,” where the group has revisited older hip-hop records the legendary producer put out from his days working with Public Enemy and the Beastie Boys. And J. Period ended up sitting down with Game Rebellion and producing the group’s forthcoming album.



As if it couldn’t get anymore interesting, J. Period could have a production credit to the upcoming Denzel Washington film “American Gangster” where one of J. Period’s songs might be heard in the next round of trailers for the film. He’s also putting together a new “best of” mixtape featuring music from an as-of-yet-to-be-named hip-hop collective. J. Period doesn’t want the name revealed just yet, so that’s the only hint readers get.



There is also the best of Mary J. Blige album that he put together, which has been sitting on the shelves of major label bureaucracy. What started as a sort of follow up to 2005’s Best of Lauryn Hill release that J. Period put together, Mary J’s album is a monster, to say the least. Its three discs long, including a third disc of strictly ballads and slow jams. Even more startling is the idea that Blige’s label, Geffen Records, wants to put out the album as an official release, which is why it’s taken almost a year to put together the album.



That’s a big step for J. Period and for DJs across the country. No longer bound by the rudimentary idea of putting out mixtapes underground and selling them through street vendors or the Internet, should Period’s new Mary J. Blige album come out on a major record label, it will mark a turning point for Period’s career and for the careers of many of today’s most successful and revered DJs.



“It’s about creating a brand and being authentic,” says J. Period. “For me, it’s about pushing as many envelopes as possible to see what the feature of deejaying is. I work on five projects because I don’t know what the future will hold.”



It’s a major stepping stone for one of hip-hop’s DJs to release material on a major label. It’s not just putting together a collection of exclusives, rarities, remixes and freestyles, and then calling it an album. In today’s world of maintaining versatility and remaining sharp so as to keep a step ahead of the curve, it’s about producing music, interviewing the artist’s who’s songs will be on the album and truly understanding how a collection of tracks should sound together when they’re revamped and released.



“It’s about creating a cohesive, listening experience,” says J. Period. “I’m trying to create something you can pop in and based on a certain vibe from the artist, you can listen to it from front to back. I think that if you can get inside the feeling that artist puts out, you can wrap your head around what the artist is thinking.”



Born Joel Aspman, the 32-year-old Los Angeles to New York transplant says that what started him in deejaying and mixtapes was the pause tapes he used to make when he was growing up in southern California.


“I applied the same perfectionism then as I do now. Now, I’ve just got more tools,” says Period. “Back then it was cassette to cassette, and I would make intros and interludes of James Brown doing the ‘seven wonders of the world’ speeches, and then go into something like a Busta Rhymes verse.”



And when he got to Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., J. Period ended up having such a diverse album collection he became the de facto DJ for campus parties. Though he was on track to become a teacher like his parents when he graduated in 1997, he ended up moving to New York two years later as a graphic designer, deejaying at nights on the side.



The graphic artist in him is evident in all of his releases. Up until about the last five mixtapes J. Period has put out, he was designing all the artwork. Those early releases include Beats from N.Y.: Classic New York Hip-Hop, a collection of early 1990s rap, Soundclash Dancehall Vol. 1, a reggae mix, War of the Worlds, an underground German-bass album that’s extremely difficult to find, and Dark Dayz, an album of music J. Period put together following the events of Sept. 11, 2001. Things got even more serious for J. Period with the release of Best of Nas, which J. Period says is the album that really got the attention of hip-hop heads.



“There was a listening session for God’s Son [in 2002] and I went in someone else’s place,” says J. Period. “Nas showed up. There were all these college radio DJs and I was like the infiltrator. I interviewed him. I went up afterward and pitched the idea of me dropping everything remixed and his interviews for a mixtape. I make the mixtape and the next thing I know people are calling me for these CDs. And from there it just sort of progressed.”



It was Big Daddy Kane. It was the Isley Brothers, CL Smooth, The Roots, Lauryn Hill and Kanye West. Whatever project came his way, J. Period’s stock began to rise as both a DJ and producer. But instead of picking one profession over the other, he chose the middle ground, opting to do both, and has done so successfully ever since.



“Freedom is a big part of it,” says J. Period. “Everyone I know complains of having someone look over their shoulder when producing. And with production now, it’s so big legally and there are so many sample issues. I can produce beats and do raw samples that I would otherwise have to clear. Danger Mouse famously got in a lot of trouble for using those Beatles samples. People that know my mixtapes know that certain songs I produced, the artists would have never cleared the samples.”



The artist who used to simply go by “J” … period, and one can understand how it’s turned into its present moniker, is now a producer, DJ, the go-to guy for mixtapes and “best of” albums, and is an example of what’s needed for the future of DeeJaying.


J. Period doesn’t want to make it seem like he’s the only one doing this. Where he sees constant opportunities and chances to create new music, for J. Period, the future of hip-hop and deejaying might seem like a blank slate. But it’s DJs such as J. Period who are carving their own interpretation of the culture, of hip-hop and all of music. And if he is reinventing music, well then at some point J. Period does have a vision, and he is the A&R he half-jokingly makes himself out to be.



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