BY LEON B. CREWS
Sentinel Staff Writer
In the competitive world of hip-hop music, how do you release music that will get the attention of an audience that changes its taste practically overnight?
J-Roc Jones and Jus Henry think they have the solution.
“We capture the attention of our audience by letting them know it’s not all about the music,” said J-Roc.
“You have to be a part of the crowd you’re entertaining, and you have to be in tune with your audience..”
On August 11th at Ybor City’s Crowbar club, 1812 17th Street, the duo will feature a “30th birthday album release party.”
The event will feature performances by Solo 350, J’nelle, TK Phresh, Hype Cuz, Mighty Jai, 2nice Annex, Touch The Sky Jinx, and others.
The duo said selecting the Crowbar Club for their show was great, because unlike other clubs, it is specifically set up for entertainment. As far as the album, “Refreshing,” is concerned, they worked on it for a year.
“A lot of thinking and effort went into this album. We took a step to see what was going on, but we’re so polished, we know how to put our product out there.
“Everything flows from talking with each other. We also visit other clubs to see what the other acts are doing, and how the crowd is reacting to their performance.”
J-Roc and Jus Henry said they don’t worry about taking risks.
“People are apprehensive about not following trends. People don’t think not to follow. They want to be a part of the crowd. They’re scared to take the hard road.
“We think one innovative thing we’ve done is have a live band on stage with us. It brings an entirely new piece to what we do by making the audience a part of our performance. Our band consists of the old and the new, with members ranging in age from their 20s to their 60s.”
The duo thanks PlayStation for sponsoring their show, and there will be a PS3 Bundle Raffle that will include a 160g PS3 and 5 games. The first 20 people that enter the raffle will receive a PlayStation gift bag.
The show will start at 10 p. m.
