Sunspot Jonz

Corey Johnson has operated chiefly under the Sunspot Jonz moniker since 2000, anchoring the independent West Coast rap scene as its pivotal figure. As a resolute rapper and producer, he has anchored both Mystik Journeymen and Living Legends while compiling an extensive solo catalog that begins with the 1999 beat tape Beatdie Delites and reaches forward to the 2019 A Plus collaboration Stoney Hawk. An Oakland native who has also recorded as BFAP, Vision, and Dusty Black, Johnson first rose in the 1990s within Mystik Journeymen, the duo he formed with his enduring partner Luckyjam. The pair later co-founded the Living Legends collective, which, like Mystik Journeymen, sustained itself without major-label support and generated numerous independent studio albums. Johnson’s solo career took shape in earnest during 1999—the same year Living Legends shifted its base to Los Angeles—with the release of Beatdie Delites, the opening installment in a run of beat tapes that originally appeared on cassette. While Living Legends expanded, he delivered a string of full-length solo projects throughout the 2000s, opening the decade with Underground Legend and closing it in 2009 with Fight-Destroy-Rock and The Darkside ov Heaven. Although the collective slowed during the 2010s, Sunspot Jonz pressed ahead early in that decade via Galaxy of Dreams (2010) and Galaxy of Dreams, Vol. 2 (2011). After further interim releases, he resurfaced in 2019 with Stoney Hawk, a joint effort alongside Souls of Mischief’s A Plus.