JON MCXRO

JON MCXRO is an acronym made from its lead members’ names. A group within a group, with Jon Yip aka ‘Jon Street,’ Jeremy Reeves aka ‘Jerm Beats’ and Ray Romulus aka ‘RayRo’ of the Grammy- nominated, multi-platinum production team the Stereotypes (Far East Movement, Chris Brown, Justin Bieber, Mary J. Blige and many more) joined by Houston emcee Three (government last name McDaniel). Prior to the forming of the Stereotypes, RayRo was an A&R at Def Jam in New York City. At 22-years- old, Ray was the youngest A&R in the history of the label. The first act he signed coincidently was Three, an artist discovered by Jon who was working at Interscope as an A & R admin at the time. “He was just so talented,” Ray recalls. A triple threat of singer, songwriter and emcee, Three’s humble beginnings are deep rooted in his hometown of Houston, Texas. “My mom listened to a lot of Isley Brothers and old Isaac Hayes,” Three explains. “I’d scratch the records and rap.” At eight years old, he rocked over the Isley’s “For the Love of You” and knew that one day he’d be on the mic fulltime. Raised on NWA, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Screw music and influenced by southern greats UGK and Outkast, Three combines rhythmic rhyme patterns with punchy lyrics. When Three caught the ear of Jon after interrupting his sushi dinner to listen to the aspiring emcee’s music through his car speakers in the parking lot – Jon knew right away it was something Ray had to hear. With executive changes happening at Def Jam in 2004, Three’s major label album release never saw the light of day. Shortly thereafter, Ray was unexpectedly laid off after 3 1⁄2 years working at the major label. A month later the New York native was LA bound and joined the Stereotypes as the production team’s third member. Three was in Houston about to drop a new mixtape, when a fateful call from Jon had him on the first flight to Los Angeles. “Jon hit me and said, ‘You should just come to LA and get in with us and just start writing,’” Three says. He wrote on Far East Movement’s debut album, and continued to build the momentum for his own potential projects. As the Stereotypes grew in demand as hit makers, Jon felt it was time to flex his skills as an emcee as well. The Sacramento native started rapping in junior high because most of his friends were breaking and deejaying. “I can’t breakdance. I can dance when it’s time to get my two-step on, but when it comes to backflips and spins and stuff, I’m just not agile,” he jokes. “Plus deejaying equipment was too expensive, so I started to rap. Rapping didn’t cost me anything.” He also started producing as a means to create music for he and his group to perform to. On his paper route, Jon would listen to Eazy-E, who was the main catalyst in his love of rhyme. While rapping was his initial passion, he opted for behind the scenes work due to, ironically, stereotypes. “I thought being behind the scenes was going to be easier especially being Chinese American. At the time you didn’t see too many Asians on American TV or hear them in music,” he explains. He cites the mainstream success of Far East Movement – who’s debut album they executive produced in addition to facilitating their Cherrytree Records/Interscope deal in conjunction with their production company Stereotypes Music – as one of the main influencers in his decision to pick up a mic again. With Jon Street and Three as the group’s lead emcees, RayRo and Jerm Beats assist with verses and production. “I don’t really consider myself a rapper but more of an entertainer,” says Ray who can be heard supporting Street and Three with his witty punch lines and smooth verses on majority of the tracks on ‘The Fifth of Never,’ “Everyone says I’m pretty good though,” he laughs. “I’m not one of the rappers in the group…yet,” jokes Jeremy, who solely writes and produces on the group’s debut album.The group describes their process as coming together and building a foundation for the songs. “We just sit in the room, collaborate and vibe,” says Jeremy. “We all contribute to each other’s verses.” With the Stereotypes on the beats, the combination is foolproof. “We don’t do anything different when we make a track,” Jeremy says of JON MCXRO. “Only difference is instead of creating the track and giving it to another writer, we’re writing and performing it ourselves.” Melding together three of Hip-Hop’s four corners: The East Coast, the West Coast, and Down South. “I think it’s really dope what we’re doing,” says Three. “We have this East/West/Southern group going and it all comes together seamlessly. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.