John Overton–True to the Music
“Being white and from suburban America, I never believed there was a place for me in the genre until I heard Eminem’s The Marshall Mathers LP. I remember ripping a copy of my best friend’s older sister’s CD on a cassette tape (I didn’t have a burner at the time) and just playing it constantly. From that point on, I just dove in as a fan. I knew every artist, every song. Then one day in middle school, I remember thinking to myself, “I could do this.”
John Overton with Rick Ross
“I started writing immediately. Here was this person who looked just like me and who came up right here in the Midwest just controlling the art form at that level. In today’s game, you’ve still got cats from the Midwest like Asher Roth, Mike Posner, Mac Miller, and Machine Gun Kelly, who still make it real to me…the idea of being able to pursue it to that point of success being who I am and where I’m from. Of course, I write hip hop because it is my means of self-expression…but pursuing it as an actual career has been inspired by those I’ve mentioned and many others.”
He sings, raps, and even does the business side of his music. It takes a versatile person to do all of those things while still carrying a day job. He knows that no one is going to do it for him and no one is going to discover him if he’s not putting in the work. The guy has a drive for the music industry and for his own passion that it’s hard to keep up with his next move. When he gets off work from his day job, he grinds til he goes to sleep on networking, researching and overall working on the bigger picture of his music–being mainstream. He said, “there are different mindsets in hip hop, but I am here to be mainstream. I am here to have my music heard by as many people as I can. Those are tall goals, but why reach for less than that?” He has the mentality that if he’s going to do it, he’s doing it big. One of the artists he looks up to the most is Eminem.
John Overton
A certain beat can change someone’s whole mood or emotion. Anytime I’m in a bad mood and a good hip hop song comes on, you’d think I was bi polar the way it turns my good mood switch on. The beat, the lyrics, and the artist is what ultimately sells the song. By making it relatable and something to vibe to, people will flock to your music. The beat is one of the final touches to a song so an artist usually has to hear the beat first beforevthey write their verse, hook, or full song.
“My best songs usually come from just going with it. I will listen to a beat, it will bring out an emotion in me, and I will just write according to that emotion. There are definitely songs that I, or Kut and myself, will concept out before or during writing them though. I usually am always there with Kut during production, so it’s cool to be able to help craft that part of the experience for the listener too.”
http://soundcloud.com/joverton/sky-high-the-drop
Sky High Album Cover
John’s Brand
With no brand, you get no looks. Without you promoting and selling yourself, you as a so-called artist, don’t exist. You’re just another person trying to be a rapper. Some artists’ brands are very simple; some are extravagant. John Overton has nothing else to prove but his love for music and wants to share that with everyone. The guy is different than your average hip hop artist. He knows he has skills, but has no reason to be boastful or brag unless it’s necessary. Like he says….
“I’m just myself in terms of branding. What I like and think is dope is what my image consists of…from the music to how you see me in pictures. In terms of promotion, I personally am just hitting the Internet hard…a lot of persistent social networking, putting the music in front of people everyday…and a couple of other surprises!”
Tumblr: johnwoverton.tumblr.com
www.facebook.com/jofanpage
“Every Time” w/ Ever So Shy: http://youtu.be/DzJ3D_odi4w
Single By Single Releases
Be ready for the suspense when John releases his next project single by single. I don’t know anyone else who is doing this right now and it’s going to create quite a buzz, especially because every song is different than the next. Like I mentioned before, John is a versatile artist and can switch it up at the drop of a beat. Every song is a different emotion. When he releases them, just listen and you will see what I mean.
“At this point in my career, I’m not interested in making people wait for the music I’m creating. I want my core fans to hear my new songs as soon as possible. I record professionally, not in my own space, and to do that, it costs money at any level in this business. Because I am independently budgeting my releases, it is beneficial for me to release single-by-single at this time in my career. It’s also fun for me to gauge what the fans are digging on a track-by-track basis as I continue to evolve as an artist. So many people have helped inspire me to make this music though, and that’s who I want to focus on…just to make sure they know they have my credit for that and give them some quality shit to bump in return.”
“No matter how far I go in this industry, you can always count on quality product from myself and my team.” –John Overton
Hip Hop 'Til You Drop 