Who is G.I. Joe? In a music industry saturated with cookie cutter deejays, that might be an easy question to ask. But when you take a closer look at the incredible Hip-Hop talents of Joseph Rivera , p.k.a. DJ G.I. Joe, comparisons won't be that easy to make. Born in New York City, Joe moved to Boston at age 10, and since then has spent a lot of time in both cities. At the young age of 15, Joe was first inspired to become a DJ and dancer by watching Def Comedy Jam, which featured both Hip-Hop choreography and the DJ skills of the legendary Kid Capri. Captivated and inspired, life wasn't the same for Joe after that, and he spent the next several years developing his skills.
In 1995, Joe joined a b-boy crew called Lords Of Illusion, which gave him some of his first performance experience, including the opportunity to open up for a Method Man concert. Upon leaving the crew in 1998, G.I. Joe continued his growth in the Hip-Hop scene. In 1999, he danced for the New B Wear All Stars and deejayed several New B Wear break competitions, put together by Crazy Freddy. Joe even got his first taste of club deejaying, by being booked to spin at The Palace in Saugus, Massachusetts. Around 2000, G.I. Joe joined Phunk Phenomenon, a dance company, founded by Reia Briggs-Connor, which performed at College shows, fund raisers, and even Boston Celtics halftime shows. Things started to pick up for G.I. Joe around this time and being motivated to advance his career, he felt that moving back to New York City would be a smart move.
In 2003, Joe connected with DP One, a friend of his in the scene, and moved to Brooklyn. Within a month of moving there, he landed his first television commercial for Target, which featured him doing head spins. This aired for a full two months. Later that year he joined Full Circle Productions, a b-boy theater collective, which put on shows all over the world. Joe even performed with Full Circle at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Still continuing to put himself out there, Joe joined Break, the urban funk spectacular, which traveled to showcase b-boy performances. G.I. Joe deejayed and danced in the show, and completed a full college tour. Break helped G.I. Joe with his stage presence development, and he was even given the opportunity to open up for Kanye West twice.
G.I. Joe was then inducted into The Turntable Anihilists family, and continued to do work with fellow member, DP One. In 2004, the duo performed with Soul Purpose, opening for Slick Rick at club South Paw in Brooklyn. G.I. Joe also did guest scratches on DP One's Aggressive Approach mix CD and G.I. Joe, venturing into production, produced and did cuts on the song This Is How It Should Be Done, which was featured on the Movementality Two [LP]. 2004 also marked G.I. Joe's final year in Full Circle, which he left to focus fully on The Turntable Anihilist movement. Since then, G.I. Joe has laid cuts on Fire, a track on Blowout's debut Realeyez [LP] and collaborated with DP One on the scratches for Akir's song Treason featuring Immortal Technique which was released as a single. G.I. Joe also completed two Mix CDs: Fire Your DJ Vol. 4 with DP One, and the Mix Show Power Summit sampler Fire Your DJ Vol. 5 with the rest of the Turntable Anihilist crew. Fire Your DJ Vol. 4 was positively reviewed in Tablist Magazine.
Recently G.I. Joe, alongside his cousin Militant Mike and partner Tactic Tone, have formed Militant Tactics. The trio are now working on recording projects. Joe has also started deejaying and touring with several Hip-Hop artists. He has completed both The West Coast Invasion tour and a European tour with Immortal Technique and is currently doing shows and performing with Immortal Technique, Akir, Poison Pen, Diabolic, and Cymarshall Law of The Red Army Crew (which G.I. Joe is also the official deejay of). In between touring he has completed Pumpkinheads Park Slope Renaissance Volume 2 CD and managed to release several new mix CDs; Pon Der Riddim (reggae), A Break Away From The Breaks, The Reggaeton Afterparty, and Underworld. G.I. Joe has even made an appearance dancing and deejaying in the We Will Not Lose video single off of Majestys new album titled, Inter Mission "The Man And His Plan" on Skammadix Music. The video was produced by All Area Crew and No Frames.
With a burgeoning career in front of him, DJ G.I. Joe will undoubtedly answer the question posed in the beginning of this story. With talents that range from deejaying, to b-boying, to producing, it is obvious that G.I Joe is a serious up-and-coming talent. Stay tuned for big things on the horizon in for DJ G.I. Joe......
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…shrink me down again