DX: You have favorites from Shakespeare?
J: Maybe Othello. Seeing different [film] versions of that [play] - and the whole story itself is just incredible. How his homeboy ended up betraying him…

DX: What did you take in school?
J: Communications in undergrad and a fancy curricula called Media Ecology in grad school but that’s basically communications theory; New York University.

DX: Does that knowledge help you today?
J: It has helped me - like when my parents introduce me: “Oh, I graduated from NYU.” Like I went straight from undergrad to grad school ‘cause I was graduating in the undergrad around 9/11, so the economy was on its way down. So I thought maybe I should stay in school. I wrote a little essay to get it and they accepted it. And I said, “Maybe I’ll stay in, get a better degree and by the time I get out of school, the economy will be on the rebound.” So I graduated in 2003 and found out that that was not the case due to the fact that I didn’t get a job right out of undergrad a lot of people said you’re overqualified and inexperienced. So that kind of played in the title of the album…I would say it helped me in the short term but not in the long term as of yet; still waiting to see.

DX: What brought about “MySpace Sensitivity?”
J: [Laughing] I would say basically just the frustration that we just have. The dudes we listen to for years and looked up to, to holla at these dudes and not hear nothing back… and plus, it’s just a phenomenon: it’s really changed the way people look at themselves as rappers; the fact that it’s free and easily acceptable. I really just saw a big change in the underground once MySpace blew up. I definitely wanted to talk about it. I know it’s been overdone but I felt I had another interesting take on it.

I have a girlfriend that I love and basically when people hit up her page and then compliment her and whatever have you, that shit bothers me. And same with her: she’ll see comments on my page from women or whatever have you, so I think we’re all sensitive to it and everybody’s trying to pose on MySpace like they fly, they superthug, supermodel, at the end we mad sensitive – everybody.

DX: [Laughing] Well-put. Do you and your girl get into fights over the Top Eight?
J: Oh Definitely. She’s talking to old dude, snatch her off the Top Eight, people ask, “Are you y’all cool?” A week later she’s back. We’ve had those situations. I take her off MySpace, next day I check her page, I’m not in the top anymore and then we kiss and make up a few days later and then I’m right back where I was. It’s almost like a microcosm: how you dealing with that loved one and the world. If people pay attention to your MySpace, they can pretty much figure out what’s going on…We posture and we front but in the end, we all have feelings and it’s not that hard to spark those feelings.

DX: Very true. How has being a member of a duo influenced you as a solo artist?
J: Wow. I would say I learned a lot from my partner, Monsta X [of Monsta Island Czars]. He’s a freestyling master, he’s a performing master…he’s just a showman, fiery and passionate. Plus he’s a Leo and I’m a Cancer, and I really feel inspired. I’ve learned a lot from performing to freestyling to writing too – he got amazing styles and flows and punch lines. He’s just a sick emcee, a very individual, original brother. And he got crazy swag, he’s real confident and I’ve learned to embrace that too. In this game it’s good to be humble but you gotta kind of know your place; you gotta know you’re worth something too.

DX: Anything you want to add?
J: Thank you everybody for reading this. I thank you Mina and also HipHopDX for giving me the opportunity to speak to the people. Shout out again to my brother Monsta X, my niece and my nephew. Please check the MySpace too [click here].