Bump J

Chicago rapper Bump J was born Terrance Boykin and started taking his rap skills seriously after his brother’s gang-related murder in 2001. Focusing his energy on music, Bump J became part of notorious Chicago rap crew the Goon Squad, which included other venomously fierce MCs like Brainz Hustla and Sly Polaroid. In 2003, Chicago producer Xtreme Beats started working with Bump J and introduced him to a slew of music industry higher-ups, including Kanye West’s manager, Phil Edwards. His profile grew over the next several years, and he eventually landed a deal with Atlantic Records and worked with top-shelf producers like Kanye West and TrackBoyz on material for his debut album, Nothing to Lose. That album would never materialize, however, due to Bump J’s involvement in a 2007 bank robbery. Bump went to court and faced life in prison for his part in the robbery, but signed a plea bargain and in 2009 was instead sentenced to ten years in a Federal Correctional Institution. He ultimately served only seven years of his ten-year bid, and began working on new music immediately after his release from prison in April of 2017. With his debut album from a decade earlier still tied up in major-label bureaucratic red tape, Bump J started work on new tracks with noted producer Cardo, who had contributed heavily to Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. album just months before Bump J returned to life outside of prison. ~ Fred Thomas