Richmond - "A man with an agenda" - That is exactly who Ahmad Jamaul Bizzell of Richmond is.  He's better known by his stage name J Bizz, and seems to be the epitome of determination.  I met J Bizz at the "Best of the Best" show in Stafford, Virginia a couple months ago.  He has quite the personality.  He was very quiet, yet his ambition and his determined approach to his the rap game has made him a force upon the stage.  J Bizz’s music reminds me alot of early hip-hop in the way it was mostly his raw experiences put to music.  This guy refuses to remain silent when it comes to hip-hop.

33: How long have you been rapping?
JBizz: I’ve been rapping since I was nine.

33: When did you wake up and realize that you were this rapper?
JBizz: I didn’t wake up and realize it because music was in my family.  Everyone could sing, but I couldn’t sing like them.  When I was nine, I wrote my first lines, and I stuck with it.  I didn’t get serious with it until 11^th grade in high school.  I’m about to drop my first official mixtape.  I have done many compilations, but this is the first time I said I was going to sit down and do this mixtape, and I got it done. 

33: Define hip-hop.
JBizz: It’s an art, a way of expressing how you feel in a way that’s commonly uncommon.  It’s a way of articulating that feeling.

33: If you could do a collaboration with any artist, who would it be and why?
JBizz: I have a few!  Snoop Dogg definitely because… because… [laughs] I don’t know I just want to work with the man, he’s just that awesome in my book.  T.I. for sure - there aren’t very many true southern lyricists left in the rap game, and T.I. is one of them.  I would really like to do something with Maxwell.  I was thinking that I have never heard him do a hip-hop hook and that would be something that I would love to do.  I want to work with Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill as well.

33: I see you are big on the B-side music.
JBizz: I mean, I dabble in everything; I have it in my roots.  I like music, music in general.

33: Where do you see yourself in 15 years?
JBizz: I can go down to two.  Fifteen years is too much.  I probably will be way past where I want to get and be thinking about some new things by then.  In two years I will be in the game with many billboard hits doing shows, still no kids, and just going hard in the music.  Hopefully doing movies and have my line of barbershops open - that’s another passion of mine.  I’m a rapper, but I really want to be an entertainer. 

33: Do you have any advice for the rappers who are coming up behind you in the game?
JBizz: Stay in your lane.  Don’t try to be too much like everyone else, and try not to be too different.  You can’t do anything but yourself in your music.  Stay determined, stay connected and make good business decisions because this is a business.  Do everything the right way, and keep only positive energy around.  Utilize your outlets, and create your dream's reality.

J Bizz on Facebook and Twitter

By Correspondent: Monet Freeman

Monet Freeman hails from Virginia Beach and has her roots dug deep into music.  Most of her childhood was spent singing in the church choir Voices of Tomorrow in elementary school and chorus in middle school.  By the time she reached high school she found that her calling was not in the spotlight but behind the scenes.  Finding comfort in journalism, she began to write poetry and raps to help cope with the growing pains of life.  Now she has found that the best way to find herself is in the service of others, thus leading her to aid the exposure of others who are finding their way in the music industry.  With her loves of fashion, cosmetology, photography, writing and music, she feels there is no better way to live than with her heart planted in hip-hop.