CHAPTER 1: The Beginnings
"Everybody always asks me where I got my name from.
I just say it's all I drink", laughs producer JDanielz.
But it wasn't always like that for Jack.
Born in the small village of Hoktenberyan, Armenia in 1989, Jack's family moved to Los Angeles, USA in 1996 in search of a better life. His first taste of America was the L.A. lifestyle, influencing his everyday dreams. Soon Jack had visions of succeeding big in the entertainment industry and became infatuated with the infamous "American Dream."
It was that year, that a very young Jack learned of Tupac Shakur's untimely murder. Affecting him deeply at the time, Danielz discovered West Coast gangster Rap and fell in love with the sound. The music of the time also influenced him heavily such as Nas, Snoop, Dr. Dre and more. His arrival on the West Coast was timely because of the overwhelming popularity of West Coast "Gangsta Rap."
CHAPTER 2: The Past
Jack's friend, an older, Russian/Armenian rapper, Arsen Beremesh. The two met in high school and began working on projects together. However; Arsen ultimately decided the music business was not for him. Before parting ways professionally, he gave Jack some contacts he knew from the Ruff Ryders Crew.
One of those connections was another up-and-coming artist, rapper Act Da Fool. "Act" took Jack backstage at the Dub Show downtown, where he was introduced to a plethora of emcees and musical talent. At only 15 years-old, Jack knew this was what he wanted to do for a living.
From there, he was instroduced to Nelly at his music video shoot "Flap your Wings," and met more influential people in the business. Rapper Young Will soon became close with Jack and began teaching him the fundamentals of beat-making from structure to formatting. This proved to be life-changing for Jack. Saving money any chance he could, Jack began researching and purchasing studio recording equipment with the help of his father's investment team. Within a year he had a full, professional "lab" working out of North Hollywood, California. Another fellow producer and friend by the name of Dramz, helped Jack define his true style and motivated him to dive deeper into music. With their relationship, Jack grew more and more efficient as an engineer and was soon looked at as a child prodigy by many. Dramz started his record label, West Coast Bombz Entertainment and has current projects underway.
Producing was also becoming more than just a hobby as his resume expanded. Mixtapes with Sly Boogie, Mobb Deep, Nas, Xzhibit and Jeezy to name a few, followed.
Soon enough, the name JDanielz AKA Jack Danielz spread throughout L.A. All of this caught the attention of another young, successful rapper, Chicago's Yung Berg. Berg's camp (Young Boss Music Group) contacted Danielz and the rest was history. Jack has since worked with their up-and-coming artists and was invited to the set of Yung Berg's video shoot for "With Da Business ft: Casha."
Another growing camp also showed interest in "JD"s vast talent: Time is Money Entertainment, "K" Kingston, Sean Kingston's brother's start-up label. They soon teamed-up and began working together on their future business venture.
THE NAME
He hung close with Act Da Fool and it was they who coined his official name: Jack Danielz. Hakop translates to "Jack" in English. It stuck with him ever since. Jack's buzz became so apparent when the Jack Daniel's Whiskey Brand rep. emailed Jack and threatening him with a lawsuit unless a name change was considered! Jack never wanted any legal problems therefore changing his stage-name to JDanielz.
CHAPTER 3: The Future
Long-time friend and fellow business partner, Allen Sarkisyan started his company, ALS Media Group. The company specializes in graphic design, websites and video. Jack and Allen collaborated on a feature film from Num Lip Entertainment. The film entitled, "A Mutual Affair" will be out in early 2009. Jack provided major portions of the audio work.
The two are also planning on launching the brand new Jack Danielz Myspace page in fall of 2008. Jack has relied much on his other Myspace page to generate a buzz. (Avg. 3,000 clicks/week)
Not only is Jack revamping his Myspace, but he also announced recently that he'd be expanding his horizons and working with a new sound out of Hollywood. Rapper, Eric Jay's group Shytown, an acoustic, hip-hop group with much promise has been recording with Jack in his studio. Major label's are already scouting the group. He'll be Co-producing and engineering their debut album set to drop in 2009.
Another talented rapper, Cleptoe has been recording with Jack solely. Plans for the official Jack Danielz Mixtape have been put into action, title and release date TBD.
Another venture for Jack Danielz came about when his father launched an Armenian promotions company, International Entertainment Services Inc, which Jack quickly became VP of. Producing a number of successful shows already with the company, Jack realized that this could be another avenue to pursue in music.
They're now working on assembling a massive Armenian show in Las Vegas, Nevada around NYE 2009. Artists who are expected to perform are Persian/Armenian pop artists Andy, Alla Levonyan, and Nune Yesayan.
At only 19 years-old, the future remains limitless for the young producer/engineer. With multiple projects on hand, numerous talented artists to work with and a variety of connections, Jack has his plate full for 2009.
So what's next?
"Yall don't even know, I might start rapping myself," Jack says with a big smile.
