BUY A FROM THE UNDERGROUND UP TEE!

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Amor Jones is the man. If you haven’t heard “Finally,” one of the exclusives on Hiptics.com’s From The Underground Up mixtape, then now’s your chance. Nefarious on the beat!

Amor Jones recently hit us up about 2010 Takeover Vol. 2. The LA-based MC is prominently featured on the front cover thanks to the excellent contribution Jones and Know Juander (producer) made to the mixtape. It also helps when your first name starts with “A.” Download the mixtape after the jump! Read the rest of this entry »

Amor Jones Interview on 91.1 WDUB w/ Chris Franco

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Amor Jones (@AmorJones) called my radio show the night of the From The Underground Up release. I originally posted this interview following the show as a download. However, I think y’all will appreciate the stream version since it’s that much easier to listen. Make sure to check for Amor Jones; he’s the future of hip hop. -Chris Franco (@ChrisFranco)

We came across this ReUpSpot post about Amor Jones’ debut mixtape, Epic Failure. You might remember that Hiptics.com premiered Amor Jones’ mixtape back in May. For new (and exclusive) Amor Jones material, download Hiptics.com’s From The Underground Up mixtape. We’re confident that you’ll love it!

Amor Jones talks to 91.1 WDUB’s Chris Franco about moving to California, his work with Nefarious, and the music he made for Hiptics.com’s From The Underground Up mixtape. The Amor Jones interview took place on December 8th, 2009.

Listen to Amor Jones’ Radio Interview

Download Hiptics.com’s From The Underground Up Mixtape

Amor Jones recently got some press in Denison University’s newspaper , the Denisonian.

“Amor’s ardor for music resonates far beyond The Hill” by Tristan Edan

Previously: Amor Jones – “Finally” (Prod. by Nefarious)

Amor Jones, most famous for his critically acclaimed Epic Failure, performed at Denison University this past Thursday (Nov. 5, 2009). The Amor Jones performance took place at a small night-spot called The Bandersnatch, and was hosted by Hiptics.com. For those of you who could not make it out to Amor Jones’ show, here’s some photos courtesy of Wynne!

Stay tuned, because later today Hiptics will be posting some EXCLUSIVE Amor Jones music! In the meantime, check Amor Jones on MySpace.

More photos after the jump!

Read the rest of this entry »

MP3 DOWNLOAD: Amor Jones – “And More”

The homie Amor Jones played this for me in August as we were sitting in my truck, in his driveway. Good times in Coulmbus, Ohio. Anyway, “And More” is based on a true-story, and features a great chorus that hip hop fans of both sexes will appreciate. You can expect to hear Amor Jones’ latest music on my radio show this Tuesday. -Cfro

REWIND: Amor Jones Compares Himself To Jay-Z | Download Amor Jones’ “Epic Failure” Mixtape | Amor Jones “Summer Breeze” Mp3 Download |

Download Amor Jones’ Critically Acclaimed Mixtape, Epic Failure, For Free!

Amor Jones will be calling in to my show at 9:55 PM. You can listen live here. I’ll post the audio asap. -Cfro

Amor Jones performed live on Friday night at Oldfields aka in the heart of Columbus, OH. He told me the lighting in the video makes him look whited-out; I told him he looks like a rap angel (haha!).

The songs Jones performs in the video appear on his critically acclaimed mixtape Epic Failure [download].

I filmed an interview with Amor Jones [MySpace/Twitter] a little while back. I decided to transcribe the audio for anybody who has moral objections against watching YouTube videos. If you simply didn’t know about the Hiptics.com-produced “Who Is Amor Jones” video, click here to watch.

Hiptics.com: If there’s one rapper you would compare yourself to who would that be?

Amor Jones: Probably Jay-Z. I’m not trying to reach too far up, but maybe Jay-Z cause he’s like the lyrical mainstream rapper, and there’s not many of them left, and that’s what I want to be. I want to be lyrical and mainstream.

Hiptics.com: How often do you write rhymes?

Amor Jones: Everyday. I was writing before I came here. I was writing on my way here.

Hiptics.com: What’s some of the craziest things your peers have said to you about pursuing a rap career?

Amor Jones: I was told in school, like I quote this, “you’ll never be famous because you don’t rap about crack.”

Hiptics.com: You’ve got Epic Failure coming [click to download], what’s after that?

Amor Jones: After Epic Failure [I'm] probabaly dropping the tape. It’s called Packing My Bags. It’s going to drop the day that I leave, going back home to L.A. It’s going to talk about everything I’ve gone through in Columbus, how I hate slash love this city. It’s a love-hate relationship I guess.

Download: EPIC FAILURE

The original zShare download link for Amor Jones [MySpace] mixtape album Epic Failure went down at roughly 700 downloads. I have no idea why it went down. The demand is still there so I’ve got to supply. Check out some of the press about Epic Failure: Read the rest of this entry »

Do you know Nefarious? Nefarious is a 18 year-old producer from Hayward, California who deserves your attention. With a self described “soulful” production style, Nefarious puts his all into his instrumentals, crafting as many as 10 per week. The internet hip hop community has been buzzing about for his work on Amor Jones critically acclaimed debut, Epic Failure. After all, Nefarious produced 4 of Failure’s 14 tracks, more than any other beat-smith. I recently had the chance to talk to Nef about linking up with Amor Jones, his production secrets, and future plans. Pay attention!

On working with Amor Jones:

I linked up with Amor Jones through Steven Logas because he told me I should send him a few beats. I said I would but I don’t think I really planned to because I passed this off as another person just trying to get some free beats for their homie. I never really checked his music out until he started bugging me for beats on MySpace on the regular [laughs]. This was back when he still went by Killah Matriks; he didn’t change his name until after we did “Love Jones” [which is featured on Epic Failure]. “Love Jones” was the first beat I sent him, I was actually kind of mad because I originally sent it to him as a test just to see how it would come out. I didn’t know how much attention it would get on the blogosphere and didn’t expect to be producing 4 joints for his next album. I thought he was just going to write a track about a girl in his life like a lot of rappers I work with do on those type of beats. I never really tell the rapper what to talk about because I expect them not to tell me how to make my beats. Jones never really told me how to make my beats because he knows me and him just sound good together with whatever I come up with. I was on the phone with him while I was making the beat for “Get It In” which is also on the album [Download Epic Failure]. He just co-signed the beat and I went back to work. We are going to drop an album that will consist of my beats but that is all I can say for now. I think he sounds best over soulful beats because it mixes well with what he says and his voice.

On how he got his start:

I actually started out as a (wack) rapper who no one would work with. I was in a crew with other rappers and we just needed some beats to rock to. I then got FL Studio 7 and tried making beats. After a while the crew split up and I was the one who owned all of the equipment (the mic, programs, everything) so I ended up being the only one who really never stopped making music. I switched to Reason 4 and learned how to do everything through my Sound Design class at school.

On his choice of production tools:

My first beats were extremely wack. My drums had no swing to them and I only looped samples because I didn’t know how to chop them. I improved a lot just by trying new things. I started chopping samples up even though my peers told me it was wack and I should stick to looping. I just took that as motivation to prove them that I could do it and eventually my chops started sounding dope. I started out using FL Studio 7 and no hardware. Pretty much every beat I made on Fruity Loops was wack. It just wasn’t doing it for me. [I was] sent to a continuation school that had a Sound Design class. That’s where I learned how to use Reason and I’ve never touched Fruity Loops again since I switched over. I currently use Reason 4, an Akai MPD32, a M-Audio Axiom 25 midi keyboard, and a M-Audio KeyRig 49.

On future plans and projects:

For the future, I’m going to drop an album called The Soul Dojo this summer that will be my beats and various other rappers I work with. In 5 years I plan on being done with college and moving to Los Angeles because ain’t shit in the Bay Area for me. I just don’t fit in with the type of people and music that is made down here — for the most part.