Jon Connor


Jon Kevin Freeman Jr., better known by his stage name Jon Connor, is an American rapper and producer. Connor has released various mixtapes and an album effort during his career including the Jay-Z inspired The Blue Album, and the Eminem inspired The People's Rapper LP. He has released one studio album, Unconscious State. He is best known for being signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment from 2013 to 2019, where he did not release a single album. In 2015 he was featured on Dr. Dre's album Compton as well as The Game's album The Documentary 2.5.

Early life

Jon Freeman Jr. was born on April 13, 1985 in Flint, Michigan, the son of Mahley and Jon Freeman Sr. His father, a musician turned Christian minister, served as his earliest musical influences. Jon Connor has stated that he grew up listening to Genesee County acts such as Top Authority, The Dayton Family and MC Breed.
He graduated from Flint Powers Catholic High School.

Musical career

As a youth

Jon began songwriting at age ten. In middle school, he began selling his own mixtapes out of his backpack and from the trunk of his mother's car. At age 14, with the support of his mother, he founded his own independent record label, All Varsity Music. By 16, he had financed and created an in-house studio with money he earned through odd jobs in the neighborhood.

2005–2010: Beginnings and early mixtapes

On January 1, 2005, Jon Connor released his first official mixtape, The Calling, Pt. 1: The Prequel. He followed that with another mixtape Everybody Hates Connor in 2006. Then he released his third mixtape, The Calling Pt. 2: The Second Coming in 2008. In 2009 he would link up with basketball player Mateen Cleaves, then later basketball player Jason Richardson, and Kendall "Young Sav" Freeman, vice president of rapper Rick Ross' Maybach Music Group record label to official start a record label. All who currently either run or co-own it. On September 29, 2010, Connor released his fourth mixtape, the Entourage-inspired, Jon Connor as Vinnie Chase: Season One. Jon Connor as Vinnie Chase: Season One was produced primarily by Connor and All Varsity Music producer Optiks. Rappers Saigon and Consequence would be featured on the remix to his song "The Message".

2011: ''Salvation'' and ''Season 2''

On July 12, 2011, Jon Connor released Salvation, a collaboration album with producer Rob "Reef" Tewlow, who has produced for 50 Cent and Bad Meets Evil in the past. The album was met with positive reviews from music critics. William E. Ketchum III of HipHopDX stated, "Salvation undeniably showcases a sincerity and hunger that are tough to find in much of Hip Hop today. If Jon Connor continues to build on the skill set he already has, living up to his fictional namesake shouldn't be so far off." Later in 2011, Connor was in talks to sign with Def Jam Recordings, however that deal fell through. On December 12, 2011, Connor released his fifth mixtape, a sequel to Jon Connor as Vinnie Chase: Season One, titled Season 2. The mixtape featured guest appearances from GLC and Freeway. The mixtape garnered 130,000 downloads on Bandcamp within three months.

2012: The "Best in the World" series and ''While You Were Sleeping''

On February 14, 2012, Jon Connor released The Blue Album, a mixtape featuring him rapping over various Jay-Z instrumentals from the three Blueprint albums, The Blueprint, and The Blueprint 3. The mixtape title is also a play on words, referencing Blue City Club, a group he leads. The collective consists of Mickey Wallace, Caas Swift, Brandon Bars, Lia Mack and D. Wayne, who are all prominently featured on the mixtape. He told MTV that he wrote the whole mixtape in four days. Adam Fleischer of XXL gave the mixtape a positive review: "Lyrically, Connor is a clever artist that is able to weave words together and astonish without simply relying on punchlines.... Connor's lyrics, energy and microphone presence make every song sound fresh."
On April 13, 2012, Jon Connor released the second installment of his "Best in the World" mixtape series, The People's Rapper LP, which features him entirely rapping over classic Eminem instrumentals. The mixtape was executive produced and hosted by Don Cannon, also featuring guest appearances by his Blue City Club cohorts. The People's Rapper LP was met with positive reviews, with Andres Vasquez of HipHopDX deeming it "EP-worthy." Following the release of The People's Rapper LP, Connor toured the Midwest United States with rapper Big K.R.I.T..
On July 26, 2012, Connor released his eighth mixtape, While You Were Sleeping, featuring guest appearances by Bun B, Mistah Fab, GLC, Kid Ink, and Killa Kyleon among others. Unlike his previous two releases, While You Were Sleeping featured all original instrumentals produced by Connor and his production team, The World's Greatest Music, Optiks and Brix. Connor called While You Were Sleeping his most introspective work to date. Edwin Ortiz of HipHopDX gave the mixtape a positive review. During late 2012 to early 2013, Jon Connor toured with American rapper Xzibit, who eventually led him to meeting legendary producer Dr. Dre.

2013–present: ''Unconscious State'' and signing to Aftermath Entertainment

In early 2013, Jon Connor revealed that he was working on various projects including, first, his debut studio album Unconscious State, then Unsung Heroes LP, a collaboration album with rapper Chris Webby, his second studio album and a collaboration album with Ski Beatz. On July 2, 2013, Jon Connor released Unconscious State under All Varsity Music. The album featured guest appearances by Danny Brown, Chris Webby, Freddie Gibbs, Royce da 5'9", Talib Kweli and Smoke DZA among others. Production was handled by Connor himself, Mr. Porter, Brix and Optiks among others. The album was supported by the singles, "Michigan Shit" featuring Royce da 5'9" and "Rise Up" featuring Talib Kweli. Upon its release the album peaked at number 35 on the US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and number seven on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums charts.
On July 20, 2013, it was revealed that Jon Connor had recently been in the studio with Dr. Dre. Connor told MTV that the two immediately had chemistry in the studio, and after working with each other over the following months, Dre signed Connor to his record label Aftermath Entertainment, which is distributed by Interscope Records. At the end of his freestyle during a cypher at the taping of the 2013 BET Hip Hop Awards on September 29, Jon Connor revealed that he had signed to Dre's Aftermath Entertainment. He said he chose to announce then because, "I was thinking, 'How can I end this? How can I make this a moment?' This was my first time doing the cypher and I wanted to make it a moment. I ran it by Dre and he was like, 'Yo, that's dope.'" His freestyle during the 2013 BET Hip Hop Awards was well-praised, including being named the third best of the night, by XXL.
On March 18, 2014, Connor released another installment in his "Best in the World" series, the surprise mixtape The Late Registration of a College Dropout Who Had a Dark Twisted Fantasy of 808s and Heartbreak. Like his other Best in the World mixtapes, The Late Registration of a College Dropout Who Had a Dark Twisted Fantasy of 808s and Heartbreak was met with positive reviews from music critics. Jordan Lebeau of XXL gave a positive review as well, recognizing Connor's "own mastery of his voice, story, point of view and sense of humor." He released another mixtape, BestInTheWorld: A Tribute To The Notorious B.I.G. Vol 1, on April 14, 2014, which features Connor rapping over beats from The Notorious B.I.G. songs. Connor was also chosen for the 2014 XXL freshman class.
In January 2016, Connor released a song highlighting the Flint water crisis featuring songstress Keke Palmer. In May 2019 Connor revealed that he was no longer signed to Aftermath / Interscope and he would be releasing new music independently soon.

Musical style

His gritty lyricism has earned praise from rappers such as Busta Rhymes, The Game, Scarface, Nas, Rick Ross and fellow Michigan-native Big Sean.

Discography

Studio albums

Collaboration album

Mixtapes

As lead artist

Guest appearances