Jojo Pellegrino

Staten Island native JoJo Pellegrino idolized Slick Rick along with other golden-age MCs during his formative years. As a preteen he roamed his local streets in search of fresh inspiration and fellow up-and-coming MCs willing to trade rhymes in battle. Within the Brighton and Stapleton projects he quickly grasped how difficult the path to recognition would be, yet he returned daily equipped with fresh verses and a talent for overpowering opponents through intense, off-the-cuff freestyling. Although Violator A&R executive Eric Nicks was not the first to spot Pellegrino’s potential, he became the key figure who advanced the young rapper’s trajectory. Soon afterward Pellegrino’s verses surfaced on New York mixtapes while his white-label records found their way into DJ crates. In summer 2001 his debut album, Pellegrino Story, reached the public through Violator/Loud and fulfilled an early goal by documenting everyday realities through eyes already marked by experience, as well as his enduring effort to leave behind street-corner life and earn respect as an MC. LT Hutton, Shim, Calogero, and Giz handled production duties, while guest appearances came from Busta Rhymes, Method Man, and Kurupt, among others; together with Pellegrino’s own autobiographical rhymes these elements demonstrated that the Italian-American artist was no mere exploitative white rapper. Over the next ten years he lent tracks to a wide range of albums, compilations, and mixtapes, and he issued the forceful singles “Devastate” (2010), “Top of the World” (2012), and “My Borough” (2015).