Unabashed, uninhibited, irreverent, mystical and musically gifted... Those are just a few adjectives that describe rap music's newest, most fearless hip-hop lyricist, Joie 13. Purveyor of the genre of music soon to be known as Narco-Pop, Joie 13 blends narcotic lifestyle tales with popular music over hauntingly gritty and soulful tunes. The result? A peak into the world of drug crimes with the most magnetic soundtrack and passionately powerful storytelling. Joie 13's story is partially embedded in his name, which embodies a myriad of complexities akin to his own make-up. "Joie is a nickname which I changed the spelling of to reflect my daughter Zoie," Joie 13 states. "13 is my shoe size which I've always been self-conscious of since I was young. And 13 is also an infamous number. There is a lot of body geometry in the number - 13 major joints in the body for instance. And there are a lot of ways that nature is aligned using the number 13. There are 12 planets but 13 cycles in a year. It's kind of a double entendre." Clearly, 13 serves as a numerical muse for the fashionable feather headpiece toting emcee, but what really fuels Joie 13's unique sound and provocative content is his life experience. Raised in the automobile industry town of Lansing, Michigan (also home to other greats like Malcolm X and Magic Johnson), Joie 13 is the product of a bi-racial union. His late German and Irish mother, whom he credits with teaching him self- reliability, raised him and his sister in a single parent home. "My mother used to tell me I was in the future," Joie 13 says, "I had a bad temper when I was young. I would get it into with black kids about being bi-racial and with white kids about being half-black even though I wasn't really affected by color." Joie 13 found inspiration in sports, playing soccer in a select league that traveled state to state. But that wasn't enough to keep him away from trouble. He also had a penchant for crime. "I wanted to be a spy. I was intrigued by James Bond. I was a little thief," he admits. "But I was into stealing from stores out of necessity. I didn't have money growing up. My mom worked hard to provide for us but we were poor." Thus began Joie 13's exploration and involvement into the underworld of crime and later narcotics. Stealing wore off rather quickly largely in part because that called for a certain type a person – a person Joie 13 wasn't. But drug dealing and doing presented something different. Something Joie 13 refers to as a culture and while he has paid his debt to society for the crimes he has committed, he still considers himself a part of that culture. With this tumultuous yet gripping past, Joie 13, musically inspired by the soulful offerings of Prince, Wu-Tang Clan, E-40 and The Temptations' lead David Ruffin, crafts a hybridization of hard beats and wicked rhymes creating songs equally as alluring and provocative as his life. After moving to Washington DC, Joie 13 was finally able to pursue his musical interests. The catapult was a friend gifting him with a beat machine on Father's Day. "I had just went through something with a business partner and it made me reevaluate my life. I had also just got my daughter back in my life after two to three years. So in June I made a decision to do this music thing. I wanted to give my daughter something tangible." With that beat machine Joie 13 took his years of free styling and being a music enthusiast to the next level. And when doors, open, opportunities fly in. In October of 2012, GZA ended up at the same studio Joie 13 had been working out of. Word got to Joie 13 that Wu-Tang was in the building and he immediately made his way there with a song he had wrote with Raekwon in mind and another song that would be great for Killa Mike who was also in the studio that day. As time passed, things moved quickly. Joie 13 quickly established a partnership with Kay, Raekwon's brother and well- known music industry manager. With his first mixtape 13 Ravens in the works, Joie 13 pushes the proverbial envelope resulting in the production of melodic beats complimented by shockingly real and deep lyrics. As for the undeniable forthcoming feedback, Joie 13 simply states, "I'm actually welcoming it. I'm well read. My mother had over a 1000 books. I want to engage the conversation. I like human reactions. I want people to talk." This sentiment is clearly exemplified in his music. Joie 13 gets extra introspective on the head-nodding track "Biracial Angel" where he speaks directly to being a mixed child, how the world see race, and identity drama. At one point, Joie reveals that despite being birthed and raised by his white mother, he was forced to register as black when he went to jail. He also poignantly points out: "They don't say Richard Nixon was the 37th white president. Why do they say Obama is the first black president?" While this song may show one facet of Joie 13's personality, he delves into the underworld on another mixtape singles called "American Psycho." On this infectious, mid-tempo, instrumental, Joie 13 cleverly countdowns 13 reasons why a rival rapper met his fatal demise. It is precisely this type of unique storytelling ability and fascinating perspective on the world that sets Joie 13 apart on a musical, mental, and mystical level. Prepare for the influx: Joie 13. 13 Ravens. 2013.
