Dub J

"Build a solid team. Don't try to do it all yourself. If you believe in it... others will too."

CoolIodub J

Q. Thanks for interviewing with us.

Tell everyone who you are and what you do?

A. Thanks for having me. I’m a veteran music producer in Canada of more than 2 decades. I’ve worked with pretty much every who’s who artist in Canada over the past 20+ years.

Q. Who do you look up to for inspiration or mentorship?

A. I gain a lot of positive energy from people I’ve worked closely with for decades. JD Era is one of those people. We feed off each other, always having new ideas or projects to work on. I look up to guys like Maestro Fresh Wes as well. He’s the OG and he’s out working us all. At this point in my career I get inspired off new talent. I love the challenge of breaking a new artist. People outside of Toronto didn’t even know there was an issue and not enough artists in the industry were speaking up on it, so I wanted to bring together an A List group of artists to address the issue. We got the best of the best. The Godfather of Canadian Hip Hop Maestro Fresh Wes, JRDN, JD Era, Bizz Loc, Turk, Roney and Jelleestone. Wish I Could went #1 on iTunes Hip Hop and #1 on iTunes All Genres charts. The song was covered by more than 200 major news outlets. It accomplished our priority goal to bring national attention to the issue.

Q. What advice can you give to the next generation of male leaders?

A. Build a solid team. Don’t try to do it all yourself. If you believe in it… others will too. You just need to find your followers and continue to build your loyal base.

Q. As a male leader what has been the most significant barrier in your career?

A. The major barrier in this industry is snakes and evil-minded people.

The industry in Toronto is very negative. A lot of artists think they are big time when they aren’t.

A lot of artists don’t have good teams behind them, causing them to make extremely poor choices. Majority are in it for themselves. I still struggle to this day to help others understand that collaboration is key and that there is enough for everyone to eat. Good things happen when people work together. Bad things or nothing happens when you hold each other back.

Q. Tell us about “Wish

I Could” and the motivation behind it?

A. Wish I Could happened because I just got really frustrated with how bad the gun violence was getting in Toronto. It’s at the point where everyone has been directly impacted or at a minimum is close to someone who has been impacted.

Q. Let’s talk about your foundation

“Enough is Enough” and how it got started?

A. The ENOUGH IS ENOUGH movement was founded while making “Wish I Could”. We wanted to have something that lives longer than the song.

We felt with our collective fan bases and contacts, we could come together with a unified team to help bring awareness to the issue of gun violence in

Toronto. We’ve already done some amazing things. We held an amazing resume writing and job readiness workshop with

Maestro Fresh Wes and industry leaders. We’ve had JD Era and Roney join youth sessions with various organizations.

We released an app to allow users to be notified in real time when there are shootings and respond with positivity. https://

Q. Are you living the life of your dreams?

A. Absolutely. I have an amazing wife and family. I’m healthy. I feel great. I have everything

I could ask for… and get to make amazing music and work creatively. What more could I ask for?

Q. How would you describe your future in three words?

A. Family. Fun. Successful.

Q. Are you working on any new events or upcoming projects?

A. Absolutely. I just released a record with an upcoming artist

Kastilla called Diamonds. The record is doing really well and charted to #5 on iTunes Hip

Hop charts, It’s the biggest record she’s ever had so that’s exciting. I am also working with an amazing new artist Tara

Lord. Her talent is off the charts.

We have a ton of new records coming. I have full confidence she will be a huge success.

You’ll hear her on singles I’m releasing this summer and on my upcoming album that will be released in the fall. We’re also eagerly awaiting the release of the motion picture Sons 2 the Grave this summer that houses Wish I Could as the lead song. Very exciting!

Q. Where can the readers follow you?

A. On IG follow @ TheRealDubJ or visit my website at DubJMusic.com