- 1994 : first album by Latino female rapper JV aka Jennifer Velarde.
- JV is the long time unknown voice of "Ride 4 Me" by 2Pac, Fatal & Kurupt. "Ego Trip !". The beat was very probably for her before being given to 2Pac or Kurupt.
Tracklist - Discogs - Listen - LINK
- Stompin' On The Concrete (Like We Own The Street) feat. Chris Gunn (speaking)
- G-String
- Dog U Out
- Big Girl
- Back To Da Hood Of Things
- Nayba'Hood Queen
- I Need A Man's Touch feat. Khrys Allen (chorus)
- Time Keeps Slippin' Away (But I Keep Goin' On) feat. Melanie Taylor-Kimmel (chorus)
- Slow Down feat. A.L.T. & Kid Frost
- Give It 2 Me JV feat. Tony Gun & Rocky Padilla (chorus)
- Girlz Do It Betta
Producer - Chris Gunn (1, 5), Kid Frost (2, 3, 9), Tony Alvarez (4, 7), Baka Boyz (6), Jon St James (8, 11), Rocky Padilla & Tony Gun (10)
A gifted female rapper from the West Coast
First thing impossible to miss, we entered the album with the same Last Poets sample than on the intro of Dr. Dre's Chronic : "like we always do about this time", what was maybe also the idea of 2Pac for his album Out On Bail, announced in January of 1994 in the credits of Papa'z Song 12'', that sample being the introduction of "Nothing To Lose". The background vocals by Chris Gunn also remind of Dr. Dre's use to speak. But JV doesn't chose a side and her key eponymous track uses a sample taken from Eazy-E from NWA.
Both from the beats and from the raps, this a really good album, with no filler, even if tracks 7, 8 sound quite classic 'girl rapping with a smooth voice and a touch of R&B at the hook'. On every tracks JV maintains a good level of rhymes. And the album doesn't lay on the eponymous track. JV doesn't sound weak at all on side of ALT and Kid Frost (let's notice that Kid Frost, the first famous Latin rapper will be signed on Ruthless the next year for his third album Smile Now, Cry Later, a title which 2Pac also considered for his albums). The beats are provided by producers well known in the Latin Alliance (around albums of Kid Frost, ALT or Mellow Man Ace)
Thump Records - Lowrider Soundtrack Vol. 7
JV appears for the first time in Lowrider Video Soundtrack 7 in 1994, in "Bump Dat Ass" alongside Kid Frost, Rocky Padilla, Slow Pain and ALT.
Latino rappers mostly appears in the volume 3 of the Lowrider serie (cf. Discogs), Kid Frost in the volume 4. Thump Records probably gave Kid Frost the hand for the 7th volume (he is on 4 tracks), with mostly Latin rap (Frost's group Latin Alliance with ALT, Hispanic MC's, Chicano Soul N Power, Deuce Mob) and the Latin funk group WAR on two tracks. JV appears on two funky hit tracks both with ALT and Slow Pain (who will aslo release his first album on Thump Records in 95). "One Night Stand" and "Bump Dat Ass" are awesome good bouncing tracks. On both tracks, it is obvious that JV shines with her raps.
What's the link with 2Pac ?
Let's notice that at least one song of the album was recorded at Echo Studios, California, so eventually in 1993, like many 2Pac songs throughout the year for the Original Thug Life concept albums (cf. Thug Life Original and Mr. Middle Finger) until the leak of the Thug Life demo circa late September of 93. So it is not impossible to imagine an early encounter between them...
Let's remember as well that 2Pac always gave love to the Latino rappers. He was featured in 1992 on the track "Salsa Con Soufood" of his labelmates the Funky Aztecs, for their album Chicano Blues. And much later he launches that punchline : "L.A. wouldn't be L.A. without Mexicans" in "2 Live & Die in L.A." in Killuminati. But of course, how to forget Johnny J who was his most characteristic producer.
Considering 2Pac always supported women in rap (Yonnie, Nic-Nam, B.O.S.S., MC Smooth, Storm, Sylk E-Fyne...), and considering the look of JV in his eponymous hit in 1994, we could understand that 2Pac would have wanted to record a song with her, and maybe more, who knows...
But, let's admit, it is strictly speculation, without any proof. He can very well not know her at all !
Nayba'Hood Queen Official Video
Ride 4 Me...
The girl rapping was unknown for a long time. People often said Storm because they didn't really paid attention, and then Starr-Loc because the story of the recording of her verse from "Um Dumpin" (cf. Thug Pound) was said recorded over a Johnny J beat (what could be the case with an original unleaked beat which could be the one we can hear in the acapella deep background and would be similar to Daz' remix on Makaveli & Dillinger EP)... Both Storm and Starr denied... It doesn't sound either like Sylk E-Fyne nor Sh'Killa... Because she repeats three times "ego-trip", we used to give her that pseudonym. I was recently told by a comment in YT that it was in fact JV, an American-Mexican rapper from Downey, LA County, California.
Listen to the 1996 second album : LINK
Second album on Thump Records
In 1996, she was recording - or had recorded - her second album It Gets No Reala notably produced by J-Swift and with Buckwheat. J-Swift is an American-cuban producer who notably produced most of the classic album Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde in 1992, on which Buckwheat also appears. Both also appear in Candyman's 4th album Phukk Watch Goin Thru in 1995 ; if you remember well, Johnny J produced for his three first albums !
In a way, the vibe is sounding more "alternative" and boom bap than West Coast gangsta, but JV stays a strong rapper, not a pop singer at all. Unfortunately, the album received few promotion... Maybe the Latin community wasn't prepared for that artistic choice...
It is said Thump Records were not satisfied of JV's second album. In Lowrider vol. VIII in 1996, they chose to feature a song from JV's first album, "Time Keeps On Slippin' Away"...
What's the story behind the story "Ride 4 Me" ?
"Ride 4 Me" was recorded the same day Death Row organized the porn star Champagne Pendavi's birthday party... Was she at that party ? Not impossible... Did she record in the same session than 2Pac, Fatal and Kurupt ? Not sure... probably not. JV does not sound to rap over the same "ride" topic, but over an "Egotrip" topic, word repeated multiple times in her two verses. So no ! She certainly recorded her verses before or without knowing 2Pac and Kurupt have recorded (otherwise she would of course have used the same topic than the stars).
Idea of scenario. Maybe Overdose (? could be somebody else but it sounds like his beats - "These Reasons", "40z & Bud", "Don't Bang No More" for Kurupt's first solo project), who might have produced the song, originally produced the beat for her - maybe for her album -, and so she recorded two verses, and the song was then probably waiting for a guest, maybe a Death Row guest ? Kurupt if it is well Overdose... And instead of that, Kurupt makes 2Pac and Fatal listen to the beat and they recorded together on it... And the engineer who copied the thing on the DAT decided to let the JV's verses.
Let's add Kurupt was recording songs with Overdose around that time. There's a Kurupt tape named "Overdose Work DAT 4/6/96" with content : "Untitled, Would U Ride, Everbody Needs To Slow Down". Could one of the two first recordings be "Ride 4 Me" ? The second could well be an alternate title for "Would U Kill/Ride 4 Me (I'll Do)", but it is more likely a Daz produced beat.
Maybe JV (during that birthday party) or somebody else passing by in Death Row, simply gave the tape to the rappers and instead of giving her a featuring, they recorded their own song ! This song is kind of strange with JV two verses... Death Row would probably have removed her verses... Anyway, the song was unused.
It is also possible that JV was dropped from her label Thump Records and consecutively, the project of a featuring with a Death Row artist/producer was given up.
She released another rap album in 2002, Ladybug, still in Thump Records, with Don Cisco as the only well known name (half of the rap group Ghetto Politix with DJ Assassin) but it didn't encounter any commercial success either.
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