Jus Allah

James Bostick (born June 30, 1978), better known by his stage name Jus Allah, is an American rapper from Camden, New Jersey. He is best known for being a former member of Philadelphia-based hip hop groups Jedi Mind Tricks (JMT) and Army of the Pharaohs (AOTP).

Jus Allah
Background information
Birth nameJames Bostick
Also known as
  • The Black man
  • Megatraum
  • The Ominous
  • The Goat
  • King Justine
Born (1978-06-30) June 30, 1978
OriginCamden, New Jersey, U.S.
GenresHip hop, hardcore
Years active1994–present
Labels
Associated acts

He was involved in JMT since the early days but left before the recording of their first album The Psycho-Social, only to rejoin the group a couple years later. He made his official debut on Jedi Mind Tricks' second album, Violent by Design, in 2000.

Jus Allah is known for his aggressive lyrics that are commonly Afro-centric subject matter, as well as heavily using a multi-syllabic rhyming technique which is abundant in Violent by Design and his debut solo All Fates Have Changed. In later years he switched his delivery to a more aggressive, deeper and raspier style, most noticeable in later JMT albums such as A History of Violence and Violence Begets Violence. Jus Allah's involvement in Jedi Mind Tricks has sometimes been conflictual, resulting in him leaving and rejoining the band several times.

Career

1993–2000: Early days, Jedi Mind Tricks

Jus Allah did some collaborations with the JMT crew as early as 1994, under the Soulcraft moniker and the Onesoul Productions banner. Due to this, he is revered as a co-founding member of the group. The earliest known recorded song with JMT is "Skinny Paz vs Vinnie Paz", which is collected as one of the Soulcraft bonus tracks on the 2003 Babygrande reissue of JMT's The Psycho-Social CD. However, Jus took some time away from music in the mid 1990s to attend college, which is largely the reason for his disappearance on the first JMT LP and the formation of their indie label Superegular Recordings.

2000 saw what is known amongst the JMT fanbase as his greatest recognition; the release of the classic Jedi Mind Tricks album Violent by Design. As the unofficial third member of the group, Jus Allah is on almost every track with JMT frontman, Vinnie Paz, and the two trade verses organically which crafted a fan-favorite album that many still hold in high regard as his best work to date. During this era, the three JMT members all had different aliases: "Ikon the Hologram" (Paz), "Megatron" (Jus), and "The Enemy of Mankind" (Stoupe). All but Stoupe later dropped these aliases.

2001–2006: Leaving Jedi Mind Tricks, All Fates Have Changed

A short while after the release of Violent by Design, Jus left amid uncertainty over JMT's new association with Babygrande Records. He then went on to start his solo career at rapper Virtuoso’s label, Omnipotent Records, to which both Virtuoso and Jus Allah were disowned by JMT over. In 2005, after releasing a single ("White Nightmare"/"G-O-D") and being part of the camp's lineup for Era of the Titans, Vol. 1, Jus left Omnipotent Records and subsequently joined Babygrande, re-associating himself with the JMT crew. It was on this label he recorded his first solo album, All Fates Have Changed, which included the single and B-side from his previous label as bonus tracks. The biggest collaboration of his solo career was featured on this album, with GZA from the Wu-Tang Clan lending a guest verse to "Pool of Blood". However, due to a dispute with label CEO Chuck Wilson over the album, Jus quit the label and left before completing it, at the same time disassociating any newfound JMT connection, and leaving the label to release the album on their own. Jus later stated in interviews that he had never given his approval for the album to be released, and wasn't satisfied with some of the album's production. This marks the end of the rapper's "Megatraum" era.

In early 2006, an album called Necronomicon was released featuring both Jus and Boston rapper Bomshot as hip-hop duo The Devil'z Rejects. Jus stated that he had absolutely nothing to do with the album, and that he was not being paid for it. The new verses on the album were most likely old, unreleased recordings from his prior label Omnipotent Records, where Bomshot was also an artist. At some point after The Devil'z Rejects was proven to be a sham, Jus released a mixtape entitled, Bomshot is a Faggot, featuring multiple rare songs and remixes.

Jus is currently working on his second album entitled MMA (Meanest Man Alive), changed from tentative title The Colossus, which was going to be produced by Enemy Soil producer C-Lance, in its entirety, before the falling out of the two in 2013. According to a recent interview with Jus, the instrumentals on MMA will be composed by Level 13 (other than the single, "180°", which had been produced by C-Lance and already released and copyrighted). The album was set to be released multiple times in the last few years but never dropped. It is now slated for a late 2015 release.

2006–2013: Reunion with Jedi Mind Tricks

In 2006, Jus reunited with his former group Jedi Mind Tricks and released their first collaborative track in five years, titled "The Rebuilding", as an exclusive, online-only MySpace download. In an interview conducted in September 2007 on the Art of Rhyme website, Jus Allah announced that he has rejoined Jedi Mind Tricks. In the interview he states: "I'm back in the group [and] I'm focused on... putting out the next Jedi Mind Tricks album... 'A History of Violence'." In addition, he says that he has rejoined Babygrande and that the entire "All Fates Have Changed" fiasco has been put in the past, and was in large part a misunderstanding .

Following his re-induction into the group as an official member, Jus was added to the Army of the Pharaohs roster lineup in 2007, solidifying a spot on their second studio album, Ritual of Battle. In 2008, Jedi Mind Tricks, now reunited with the original three-member lineup of Stoupe, Vinnie Paz, and Jus Allah, released their sixth album A History of Violence. Following the creative streak Enemy Soil was on, AOTP released their third album The Unholy Terror which featured Jus. Finally, while selecting beats for the next JMT album, Paz & Jus got tired of Stoupe not participating much and focusing on his side projects, and decided to release 2011's Violence Begets Violence without Stoupe involvement. Outside production was handled mostly by newcomer C-Lance who Paz had directly hired to the label after hearing his talent from a beat CD. This was to be the last Enemy Soil project that featured Jus' creative streak with the camp.

JMT's new label, Enemy Soil, was to release Jus Allah's second solo album, M.M.A. (Meanest Man Alive). However, since the rapper left Enemy Soil, he is now moving on to other ventures. An Enemy Soil promo single was released in 2009 called 'Hell Awaits Promo' featuring Vinnie Paz.

2013–present: Departure from Enemy Soil, MMA

In 2013, Jus Allah left Jedi Mind Tricks again, as well as leaving the Army of the Pharaohs. The reason for his departure has not been disclosed,[1] but is rumored to be beefs with in-house producer C-Lance and Heavy Metal Kings' affiliate Slaine, as well as tensions between Jus and Paz over the struggles.

M.M.A. (Meanest Man Alive) was originally announced to be released November 26, 2013. However, on November 25th, 2013, Jus Allah tweeted that the album was pushed back again. With his departure from Jedi Mind Tricks and Army of the Pharaohs, this meant that ties with Enemy Soil had been severed, thus leaving him unsigned.

On August 14, 2015 the album cover, track list and pre-order for M.M.A. (Meanest Man Alive) were published on Jus Allah's Tumblr and it was released on September 4, 2015.[2]

Discography

Solo albums

Compilation albums
  • The Best of Jus Allah (2016)

Group albums

Appears on
  • Jedi Mind Tricks, "Get This Low" (Superegular Recordings – 1993)
  • Jedi Mind Tricks, "Heavenly Divine" 12" (Superegular Recordings – 1999)
  • Vinnie Paz, "Raw Is War" 12" (Superegular Recordings – 2000)
  • Jedi Mind Tricks, "Genghis Khan" 12" (Superegular Recordings – 2000)
  • Jedi Mind Tricks, "Retaliation" 12" (Superegular Recordings – 2001)
  • Virtuoso, World War I: The Voice Of Reason LP (Brick Records – 2001)
  • Army of the Pharaohs, Rare Shit, Collabos & Freestyles (Compilation mix CD) (N/A – 2003)
  • Omnipotent Records, Era of the Titans: Vol. 1 (Omnipotent Records – 2004)
  • 7L & Esoteric, Moment of Rarities (Babygrande Records – 2005)
  • Bomshot, Kill Em All: The Worst of Bomshot Vol. 1 (Leedz Edutainment – 2005)
  • Blue Sky Black Death, A Heap of Broken Images (Mush Records – 2006)
  • Chan, "Politickin' Vol. 1 Album" (Dynasty Muzik – 2006)
  • Snowgoons, German Lugers (Babygrande Records – 2007)
  • iCON the Mic King, "Black Arts" 12" (Indieground Records – 2007)
  • King Syze, "Collective Bargaining" (2011)
  • Poetic Death, "Shakespeare's Science" (2011)
  • Madecipha, "Terrible Things" (2011)
  • King Magnetic, "Everything's A Gamble Vol. 3" (2012)
  • Vinnie Paz, "God of the Serengeti" (Enemy Soil – 2012)
  • Ill Bill, "The Grimy Awards" (Uncle Howie Records – 2013)
  • Snowgoons, "Raps of the Titans" (Welcome to the Goondox – 2013)
  • Madecipha, "War Zone" (2014)
  • Le S'1DROM + Army of the Pharaohs, "Army of Bastardz" (2014)
  • Mr. Green, "Live From The Streets" (Duck Down Music – 2015)
  • Steven Gaines, "Mr. Gaines" (2016)

References
  1. Could Slaine and Jus Allah beef be the reason for Allahs departure? (Accessed: August 2014)
  2. http://jusallahmma.tumblr.com/post/126714851472/cans-thoughts-converted-danger-180º-psycho
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