Jay Tee

Jay Tee, born James Trujillo, launched his recording career in the early 1990s as part of the groundbreaking Chicano rap outfit N2Deep from the Bay Area. After establishing the independent imprint 40 Ounce Records, he transitioned into a busy solo phase near the start of the new millennium. Alongside fellow N2Deep member TL, born Timothy Lyon, the Vallejo-based duo issued their first commercial single, the Johnny Z-produced “Work That Body,” on Rated Z Recordz in 1990. Profile Records soon signed the act, resulting in the 1992 album Back to the Hotel; its title track, also helmed by Johnny Z, climbed to number 14 on the Billboard singles chart and endures as a signature West Coast rap recording of its period. Although later projects did not match that commercial peak, N2Deep stayed active for the rest of the decade, delivering 24-7-365 in 1994, The Golden State in 1997, The Rumble in 1998, and Slightly Pimpish/Mostly Doggish in 2000. Jay Tee simultaneously participated in the Chicago-based Latino Velvet supergroup alongside Frost, Baby Beesh, and Don Cisco, which released its self-titled debut album in 1997. His own first solo offerings appeared in 2001: the retrospective The Knocks, covering material from 1992 to 2000, and the new studio set So Cold. Both projects, along with every subsequent release, came out on the 40 Ounce Records label he founded. Later solo albums comprise High Caliber in 2002, A Cold Piece of Work in 2004, The Thou$andaire in 2005, How the Game Go in 2006, and A.K.A. Jaime Trago in 2008, among others.