This episode of Gems with Shom features J Scienide — Charlotte-raised, Washington, DC transplant, MC / producer, and a true student of music.

J Scienide takes us from his earliest days learning through pause tapes and digging through his father’s records… to pressing his first records… to becoming one of the most prolific independent artists in today’s underground.

It’s a story about music obsession and building a real career from passion — even when the path isn’t straight.

🎙 In this episode, we get into:

• Charlotte roots and early studio days

• First exposure to beat digging (drum breaks, grandma’s records, dad’s jazz/funk)

• Pause tapes, early beats, and the moment that made him start creating

• The first vinyl milestone - pooling money to press wax and getting an MF DOOM cosign

• The road to finding his lane

• Atlanta and DC chapters, rebuilding, and linking with Kev Brown + the Low Budget family

• The pandemic shift — setting up a home studio, locking in, and flooding the world with projects

• Major cosigns + momentum (Hot 97 / Flex, Rosenberg, global DJ support)

• Static King Records + Fat Beats distribution — turning the vision into infrastructure

• Flashes in the Dark — his latest project with UK producer Giallo Point

• Why the ear matters more than the equipment — and how limitations created his best work

This one’s for anyone who loves digging culture and the real story of how artists build something lasting from the ground up.

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