“A rapper, songwriter and singer all in one, we bring to you Johnny Cross, a male artist who “delivers more than sound.” While Johnny’s roots belong to Puerto Rico, where his parents were born, he was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. Currently working as an independent artist, the music Johnny produces is primarily rap, alternative rock, pop or reggae. Johnny’s love for music developed when he was only 11 years old and began listening to Jay Z and Bleek on his brothers CD player. He was on his first mix tape when he was only 15 years old! While he has been releasing music on YouTube on Instagram for years, he was recently on Fat Joes for the making of his tape and is now ready to release his first official song.
The artist believes that his music is real, with depth and meaning which is why it provokes emotion in the listener. He believes that the power of his music is in the lyrics that allow him to send such feelings across to the listener. For Johnny, a typical day of making music would be him blowing smoke in the air, playing instruments over and over and freestyling loudly at the same time till ideas and creations pop into his mind and he is ready to write them down. Life was not easy for Johnny, and he had to go through quite a bumpy road to reach where he is today. Being sexually abused as a child there were a lot of tough times, and he was more aware and self-conscious of his surroundings than most other kids. At the age of 11, his father walked out on him, and he has not seen him since. While thing was hard for the artist to understand, he feels he has a lot to be grateful for like his four healthy and beautiful children.
Just two years ago Johnny had to go through open heart surgery despite fearing it. Though he had 8 different tubes cut through his stomach, he is grateful for them as that is what kept him alive. His scars made it difficult for him to breathe and he had to fight to survive because the doctors and nurses told him that he was lucky to be alive. Then came a point where he lost his voice and Johnny remembers that he gave up on music, on what he had loved doing for so long. He gave up, didn’t want to write music anymore, but one night while he was listening to Nas One Mic, everything turned around. The artist decided to repeat the lyrics to the song as hard as he could and decided that he would never give up on himself again. That is the night that he found his voice back.
At the age of eleven, when his father walked out of his life, Johnny’s whole world changed, and he feels that was a major turning point in his life. Growing up in church till the age of 9 that was the only music that he was familiar with, but he remembers his brother listening to music with such an amazing sound and beat that it used to give Johnny a special and amazing feeling. One night, on the way to his friend’s house with his brothers CD player he heard and felt a song of Memphis Bleek and became familiar with hip hop music. Though he knew the music and the sound of it he now fell in love with the feeling it gave him. From then onwards it was just fireworks for the artist! In the future, Johnny’s listeners can expect a lot more music with fire and furry mixed with passion and emotion, which he feels is something that he music industry lacks now. He aims for growth with the people and a lot of learning on the way. He always wishes to send out a lot of love and rewards for his supporters. The energy and strength from his children and his loved ones are the reason that he is here. He feels that all the ups and downs, everything that he had to go through happened for a reason and brought him to where he was today only to be a source of inspiration and help for others. ”
