Joseph Johnson (born March 31, 1975), known by his stage name N.O. Joe, is an American musician,
hip hop record producer and songwriter. N.O. Joe was a pioneer of the Southern Hip Hop sound
during the 1990s. He operates a production company named Gumbo Funk,[1] which is also a name given to his melange of musical styles
History
Johnson was born and raised in
New Orleans While in high school in New Orleans, he began providing beats to local performers in Jackson Square. He was later encouraged to move to New York, where he began an affiliation with
Universal Music Group as a producer.[1]
Then known as Joe Kool, Johnson collaborated with
Devante Swing, and the production group
Da Bassment with that he contributed to
Jodeci's first album, Forever My Lady. Johnson went on to work with
Brian McKnight, R&B artist Joe and D'Angelo before moving into the rap genre.[1]
Southern hip-hop contributions
N.O. Joe contributed to the following albums (All album contributions not listed):
N.O. Joe has also contributed as producer to various labels such as
Universal Music Group (1990–2003), and Rap-A-Lot as an independent production entity. N.O. Joe has worked on several platinum songs and albums, including a number 1 single "Pushin Weight", to
Ice Cube's album War & Peace Vol. 1,
LL Cool J's Grammy-nominated The DEFinition and has worked with:
In 1995, AZ's album Do or Die peaked on the Billboard as the No. 1 R&B/Hip-Hop Album with chart topping hits such as the title track, produced by N.O. Joe, "Doe or Die" which reached the top twenties on the Billboard chart.
In 1992, N.O. Joe teamed up with Brian McKnight to produce "Goodbye My Love" which was his first album release. The entire album went platinum and the single produced by N.O. Joe peaked on the Billboard chart in the Top 50.