Glass Joe

Most so-called “gangsta” rappers only recite tall tales of pushing pure white Pyrex bowls, folding bulged bank rolls of cash, fighting Fed cases and surviving the perils of penitentiary. But only a small few can actually speak from experience with the same skills in the recording booth to match their notorious credibility on the streets. One such rapper is Nashville, Tenn.-based hardhead Glass Joe.

After being caught with more than 500 pounds of marijuana and $90,000 in cash, eventually beating a federal drug case and being recently released from a three-year in the belly of the beast, Glass Joe seen it all . Now with his newest single “I’m Winning” on independent label Felonious Records steadily gaining momentum, Joe is well on his way to making his mark in the world of music with the same tenacity as he did on the other side of the law.

“Rappers upset me talking about what they did. They’re talking about drugs and going to the pen but ain’t been to county jail,” he says. “But I really lived it.”

Ironically, though, Joe’s upbringing was nothing like the life he chose to lead. He was raised just outside of Atlanta in the suburban town of Fayetteville in a Christian home and moved with his family to Tennessee at 16. Although he was the son of an African Methodist Episcopal preacher, the allure of breaking the law relentlessly beckoned him. By the age of 12, he figured that walking the straight and narrow wouldn’t warrant the finer things in life that he so desired.

“My parents tried to steer me in the right direction. They did what they could for me,” he admits. “But I wanted the diamond rings. I wanted to ride in Mercedes Benzes. And I did what it took to get that.”

Obtaining life’s little luxuries meant selling anything that would turn a buck. Unfortunately for Joe, drugs earned more profits than recycling aluminum cans. So he dove into the dope game head first. “I wrecked like three for four Benzes in high school,” he remembers. “It was nothing.”

But even though he was knee-deep in drugs, he always wanted to pursue a career in music. He had grown up with ex-G-Unit artist Young Buck and watched his friend go from being a local, unsigned aspiring rapper to a platinum-selling success.

music by Glass Joe

[Buy Music Here]

Glass Joe on Myspace