Lighting Bangkok's fire

Q Bar celebrates Thailand’s undying love for hip-hop tomorrow night by throwing a party for Just Blaze, whose 15-year career has made him one of the biggest fixtures in the hip-hop scene.
Just Blaze began producing for well-known artists in the late 1990s, leading to a breakout role in producing the majority of Jay Z’s “The Dynasty: Roc La Familia” and his follow-up opus “The Blueprint”. He reached international fame with Cam’ron’s 2002 summer smash “Oh Boy” and since then has worked with Snoop Dogg, Usher, Mariah Carey, Kanye West, TalibKweli, Busta Rhymes, Rick Ross, Drake and many more.
Between producing five tracks on Eminem’s Grammy-winning comeback album “Recovery”, hosting Viacom’s DJ competition show “Master of the Mix”, upcoming projects with Ludacris, Fabolous, Jay-Z, and creating soundscapes for “Ice Age 4”, he does the odd gig and Bangkok is his latest stop.
Just Blaze (or Justin Smith as his mum likes to call him ) grew up in Paterson, New Jersey. He developed his interest in music at a young age and was greatly influenced by an older cousin, who introduced an EPMD record to him. After high school, hi interests turned more to the production side, and he dropped out of Rutgers University after three years to pursue his dream. His production work earned him the name Just Blaze.
“I grew up around all sorts of music,” the DJ recalls. “From hip-hop to disco to rock, ‘80s pop, new wave and just about everything else. House was the next evolution of disco so it’s all the same lineage to me. I couldn’t think of one record that specifically did it for me. If I had to go back to my earliest recollection of actually mixing house records with one turntable and a tape deck as a kid, it was probably Todd Terry’s ‘A Day in the Life’ and ‘Can You Party?’. After that I think it may have been Maurice’s ‘This is Acid’ and of course ‘I’ll House You’.”
Smith went on to produce for many of the acts signed to the Roc-A-Fella. After the retirement of Jay-Z in 2004, Just Blaze decided to create his own label. Initially, he went to Roc-A-Fella with the idea, but they could not afford to grant a vanity label at the time. Smith then went to parent company Def Jam Recordings, who was not willing to take such a big risk on a pet label. Finally, Atlantic Records agreed to give him a label to be 50 per cent owned by them. He named it Fort Knocks Entertainment.
The label’s first release was Saigon’s, “What A Life”, featuring Tre Williams, which was quickly followed by his album, “The Moral of the Story”. Around the time of these releases came Jovan Dais’ “Another Man Will”, its remix and Fedex. Saigon's album was certified Gold within a year of its initial release date, while Dias’ album sold more than 400,000 copies. Saigon quickly became a mainstream star and the most popular act on Fort Knocks. In 2007, the label added Naledge to its ever-growing roster.
In the early stages of 2008, the label signed numerous acts including Seven Dirty, Armel, Aimee Terrin, M.E.D., and Jha Jha. The label was able to revive some of these acts’ careers and provide them with attention that they lacked at their previous label.

FAN THE FLAMES
Just Blaze performs at Q Bar on Sukhumvit Soi 11 tomorrow night. Entry with two standard drinks is Bt600.
Call (02) 252 3274 or check www.QBarBangkok.com.