COVER STORY: Jovi Blac

Tell us about your start before you were Jovi Blac. Before I was Jovi I was J Black. I was with the Rebels. That’s where I got my name.They took me all the way to New York to do 106 and Park. This is how I got my name a little bit around the city. Especially around 29th and Central. He took me, Bad Luck, Raw War and Victory. It was a good time. Then we lost Lee to a homicide. After he left it was still the same, but a lot was different. I pumped out one of my best CDs with Brando. At the time people had differences so I went and started Gig Fam. That’s when me and Mike E. dropped in ’07 with What Really Counts.

Why didn’t we hear more from you after that project? I think I got a lot more recognition with that mixtape, but I lost one of my best friends in a drug deal. At that point it was a bad time. Feds came through, got the syndicate. Everybody was scared to death. All the prices on everything went up. There just wasn’t a reason to be in Indianapolis anymore for me. So I packed all my stuff...shot down to Tennessee in the southwest corner. I went down there with my bullshit and got to selling dope down there not realizing I had walked into a nine month federal investigation with my cousins. I called myself running from the feds. I wasn’t even making that type of noise in Indianapolis. I take my goofy ass to Tennessee and walk right into a federal investigation. To make a long story short they run in there, bust cuz and nem, get them on all kinda weight and get me on the dope that I had. Conspiracy charges right around when Obama was getting in office. General Eric Holder changed the crack law while I was in the middle of getting prosecuted. Which means that 7-10 years they were trying to put on me they couldn’t anymore. Reagan had a 1:100 ratio on crack which meant I automatically would have to do 5-10 years 85% for just a little bit of dope. I had a lot of dope on this case. General Eric Holder flipped the shit so they only had to offer me three years. I had sat there for two years and eight months already. When they came with my federal plea. I signed it and ran back to Indianapolis. Linked up with my nigga, get to selling dog food and wasn’t out ten months they bust my head wide open. This time I got 30 years because I was still on federal probation.

Through all that you never lost hope you would have your freedom again right? Nah! Sometimes I feel like all my niggas lost hope in me. You’re the first person I ever told that to. I did six years and a lot of days I sat in there feeling like everybody counted me out. In a way I don’t blame them because I had 30 years. “You had 30 years J Black! You JUST got out and come back home and get 30 years!? Hell yea we gon count you out. We ain’t heard nothing from you since the Rebels. Since Mike E and Gig Fam. It’s a whole new wave now.” You can’t imagine how I felt in there. I was mad at myself. My people were mad at me. I don’t have any more fans. That shit’s dead. But even with 15 years on my head I kept writing. When it’s real, it’s real...You can’t stop what God has planned for you. If there’s a destination that’s supposed to be met, ain’t no wall gonna stop you. Prison made me better. That’s why I went from J Black to Jovi. I didn’t wanna be known as J Black no more. That’s the nigga that picked up the pack and fumbled. Then picked up the pack and fumbled again! I’m better than that. I’m greater than that. My J gon mean something this time.

You sound like you’re having fun but serious about your lyrics.
Sometimes I have fun a lot, but for the most part that’s my style. My style is to say shit that niggas say on the porch. All day every day. All my shit is real. It’s all me. When people say they’re real you have to ask yourself what real is. Real is you and who you are. Fuck what they think is real. Who are you really? His reality isn’t my reality. Rick Ross reality is dropping French fries in a Maybach. That’s real for him. My reality is the shit I talk about. So all my shit is real.

When it comes to the new project, does the Pressure and the Pain refer to? The Pressure is the upbeat raw talent telling people they better step their bars up because I’m home and I don’t care who their favorite rapper is. The Pain is what I went through. It’s what I feel. Prison. When you get the CD and get to listening you see there’s problems there. I’m not happy. I’m rebuilding with my daughter, my family, my niggas, my fans. That’s the pain. I’m older, I’m catching up. But stay with me. I’m not going anywhere this time.

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