JBilla Still Holding It Down

Milwaukee, WI — In the raw streets of Ghostown, where every block has a story and every story has scars, JBilla rose from the ashes, fueled by soul music, the streets, and pure survival instinct.

Born Jevoni Tremaine Rhodes on Milwaukee’s East Side, JBilla’s life changed when he moved to the notorious 53206 area at age 12. With music bumping at every family gathering — courtesy of eight uncles and seven aunts — the rhythm soaked into his DNA early. A drum set at age 8 sparked it. Early Hip Hop legends like Blowfly and Kurtis Blow sealed it.

By middle school, JBilla had formed his first rap group with childhood friend D Rock. But at 16, the pull of the streets nearly silenced his music dream. Survival came first.

It wasn’t until Biggie’s “Ready to Die” dropped in ‘94 that JBilla found his way back. The passion reignited, the notebook reopened, the grind resumed.

“Ghostown raised me. Hip Hop saved me.”

JBilla linked with The Dre, Dray Luv, and SZ Wikd to form The N.S.S.G’s, dropping “Nothing but a Thang”, an album that shook Milwaukee’s underground. Even as the group dissolved, JBilla doubled down — this time as a producer.
With Gunz Down Productions, he built a platform brick by brick, releasing six solo albums and producing for other rising artists.

He linked up with his younger brother Drastic to form Bev Boyz, dropping gems like “Our Peace of Art” and “Free Rhyming”. The chemistry was undeniable — real bars, real life, real Milwaukee.

“No labels. No middlemen. Just me, my story, and the people who feel it.”

Today, JBilla is the face of the Direct-to-Consumer movement, running his own empire at gunzdownproductions.com, dropping music, videos, and the documentary “Hip Hop Saved My Life: The JBilla Story” on his own terms.

Next up? His highly anticipated seventh solo album, “The Bald Head Stepchild” — a project promising no gimmicks, just straight survival music.

“Every beat, every rhyme — it’s all a piece of my survival.”

From the dirt roads of Ghostown to the digital streets of today’s rap game, JBilla is proof that when you bet on yourself, the world eventually has no choice but to listen.