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THEN AND NOW-

Born on the St. Lawrence river a stones throw from Ontario Canada, in the northern most region of New York State. Long before the internet made its way into our homes; B Boying was the art of passion circa 1982. This was a few short years after arriving in new home Albany, NY. Soon after Justin Gates began writing rhymes under the moniker MC-JP. While working with other rappers he recorded a number of demo tracks at Albany, NY based Hyland Recording Studios as an mc in the mid to late 1980's. By 1990 he had started mixing and scratching music on local radio stations, at house parties and outdoor gatherings with friends and local inspirational favorites under the name DJ Justnyce. During that period Justin Gates gave birth to a popular DJ night spot appropriately named “THE RELEASE” on Albany’s southern urban/suburban border; located underground in the basement of a friend’s restaurant. The weekly in which Justin played the night’s entire set of music, sometimes pulling marathon five hour Hip-Hop / House, Techno and R&B sets for a mixed urban and suburban crowd for two consecutive years was a significant step forward in 1990-91 and moreover for the New York Capital Region's dj /dance culture collective. It was solidification, one sought and seeking to crosscut socio-economic and stylistic barriers. “The Release” came into fruition before the region had a weekly Friday and Saturday night standard with this diverse a crowd at any other independent venue until such time.

Along with the significant efforts of other producers, dj's and dancers of yesterday and today it helped pave the way for today’s Hip-House, Hyphy and Ghettotech-Street Techno musical sub-genres. A corner was turned and the script flipped with a new found focus to forge a relationship between electronic music engineering and the street music that so fascinated him as he and the music were maturing. Justin played the rave circuit throughout the 1990’s and hosted / DJ’d several F.M. radio shows, some he engineered on his own in efforts to maintain the conceptual purity of the music and context. Many tracks were originated from the recording studio to the airwaves instantly (same day play). Some of the more recent and notable F.M. Radio shows were “THE SOUNDS OF JUST NYCE” and “THROUGH THE FADER” that aired every Saturday night in New York's Capital Region and throughout various parts of New England from 2001-2004; Kicking it Live 10,000 booming watts strong thanks to "Jesus" and listeners throughout the surrounding communities .

Currently, the focus is making new and original experimental dance music with respect for the many other hard working contributing artists and minds of today and God willing tomorrow. Inspiring true creativity and education with music and dance, as a viable alternative to stagnation, negative life cycles and patterns. Justin Gates has a long list of dj / musical credits with a full catalog including past and present night club event appearances, video / audio / print interviews with major artists, official news publication and a history of mix-tape work. Somewhat paradoxically, musical genres are still very much not important, because the focus remains finding good grooves to dance to and bringing folks together in a unification of positive music, relations and movement. Genres have a way of complicating this process and are tossed aside accordingly. The past is done and with each new day comes a new opportunity for a musical future that has yet begun! Justin is working on his next full length L.P. release, the follow up to "This One Does Not End" L.P.