This is JSWISS’s Artist Profile: a dedicated space that allows J to bring his ideas, inspiration, and ingenuity to a one-stop spot at Sweetwater. In the run-up to his exhilarating Public Records live event on July 24, 2026, J’s Artist Profile illuminates the creative processes and spotlight-worthy gear that will ultimately power his performance.
Read on to keep up with the journey, stream his latest Daily Bread LP, and learn more about JSWISS.
- Watch JSWISS Perform “Slow Down” Live
- The Journey: Road to Public Records — No Sleep till Brooklyn
- Transformations: JSWISS & the BOSS RC-202 Loop Station
- Essential Studio & Stage Gear
- Future Forays: What’s Next for JSWISS’s Gear
- Stream JSWISS’s Daily Bread
- Content Spotlight: JSWISS on Storytelling, Michael Leonhart Collaboration & the Art of the Emcee
- Who is JSWISS?
Watch JSWISS Perform “Slow Down” Live
The Journey: Road to Public Records — No Sleep till Brooklyn
From his collaborations with Grammy Award–winning trumpeter Michael Leonhart and saxophonist Sly5thAve on the respective Bona Fide and Somebody’s Gotta Do It full-length records to his 2024 LP You Never Really Know landing in the year-end list of listeners’ top 100 albums for Seattle’s celebrated KEXP radio station, it’s impossible to deny JSWISS’s latent potential. And for an exciting, ambitious upcoming show at Brooklyn’s Public Records, JSWISS brings to the main stage a reimagined take on his hybrid jazz-rap performance prowess with a live band in tow.
Between his writer/journalist background and his penchant for challenging the creative norms of the emcee art form, it’s no surprise that JSWISS’s dedication to the transformative, revolutionary power of language emerges well beyond his imaginative lyrical craftsmanship. In fact, it was his prosodic penmanship that earned him the esteemed title of “gifted storyteller” from none other than Public Enemy’s co-founder and leader, the legendary Chuck D.
Transformations: JSWISS & the BOSS RC-202 Loop Station
Resting at the heart of the hybrid heat ready to ignite Public Records’ stage is a BOSS RC-202 Loop Station. Here’s JSWISS in his own words:
“As an emcee operating in this hybrid hip-hop/jazz world that’s very much experimental and improvisational, I not only consider myself a strong lyricist; I think about my voice as an instrument. So, I’m also thinking about ways to stretch how I think about and use that instrument.
“A couple years ago, I added the BOSS RC-202 Loop Station to my collection. In 2026, I’m finally being diligent about mastering the Loop Station and using it as a tool during shows with myself and live instrumentation, which is different for an emcee.
“I’ve been working on getting real familiar with the RC-202 so that I can do things like layer vocals, use echo and vocal pitches, and even bring vocal samples in and out to serve almost like ad-libs. It’ll allow me to make choices and effects that would usually be done in studio, with edits, but do them on the fly in a way that enhances and adds even more possibilities to a live setup that’s already versatile because I’ll be performing with a live band of instrumentalists instead of a static track. As I experiment with the RC-202 in my studio, I’m also having fun beatboxing and building instrumentals with my voice to rap over, so that’s always an option to implement in the live show, though that’s not my main focus for the Loop Station right now.
“I’m excited to take my Sweetwater community with me on this journey to master and push the limit of what I can do with the RC-202 and be an example for how emcees like myself, and other musicians, can use it onstage.”
Essential Studio & Stage Gear
In his own words, JSWISS dives into his creative workflow and gives a behind-the-scenes look at his artistic process for both home studio recording and live performance.
“As an emcee, my home-studio vocal setup is not complicated, but it’s extremely reliable and has served me very well. Between late 2013 and early 2019, my process consisted of recording vocals at home using Logic Pro and a USB mic for reference tracks. After perfecting the delivery and even doing some reference vocal production/layering and mixing, I’d book a studio session and knock out as many final recordings per session as possible.”
Shure SM7B
“In 2019, with no clue of the pandemic that was to come, I decided to upgrade my home setup to one where I could confidently record my final vocals before sending the stems off to be mixed.
“At the time, I’d had great experiences in-studio with the Shure SM7B dynamic microphone and the AKG C214 condenser mic (and its big brother, the AKG C414). Since I knew I’d be recording in a home setup that wasn’t heavily soundproofed all around, the Shure SM7B, which is known for not being overly sensitive to background noise, was the answer. If I’m in somebody else’s studio, I’ll still look out for a C214 or C414 as backup.”
Solid State Logic SSL 2
“The SM7B’s advantage of not picking up too much background noise left me with limited interface options since the SM7B requires a high level of clean gain to record at a good level. That meant I’d need an interface, plus the right preamp, or the right interface.
“I opted to keep it simple and skip the preamp, and fortunately among my limited interface options was a great one in the Solid State Logic SSL 2.
“For more than half a decade, the SM7B and SSL 2 have proved to be the perfect pairing for a home-recording vocal setup, and Solid State Logic has options if you want the same interface with more than two inputs.”
On Stage
“Onstage, my vocal setup is fairly simple, though I am in the process of adding more toys. I love a wireless mic, in particular, the Shure BLX24/PG58 wireless handheld microphone, but in the case that wired is necessary, my go-tos are either the Shure SM58 cardioid dynamic vocal mic or the Sennheiser e 838 I got as a gift several years back. Add in some slight reverb (not too much), and I’m good. In soundcheck, I’m usually asking front-of-house to roll off a little bit of the low frequency, compared to the typical vocal EQ, and boost the mids and highs a touch — that’s just me.”
Future Forays: What’s Next for JSWISS’s Gear
Comfort is the enemy of creativity, and JSWISS’s penchant for exploration and innovation means he keeps an eye toward the future, how his artistry will evolve, and the tools required for growth. This portion of J’s Artist Profile serves as your sneak peek into what’s coming next for the multimodal emcee, straight from J himself.
Akai MPD218 MIDI Pad Controller
“While I don’t consider myself a beat maker, I am a producer in the more traditional sense, and so I’m very involved in the arrangements and development of musical ideas for my songs, even if I’m not typically playing any instruments.
“The Akai Professional MPD218 16-pad MIDI pad controller is a piece of equipment my frequent producer Paul Bloom has in his studio. So, I’ve dabbled with it as we’ve built songs from scratch, with him doing most of the playing and programming.
“I could see this being a future addition to my own studio setup as I decide to start building demos from scratch on my own more frequently (the RC-202 Loop Station has been good for this, as well). It’s intuitive, especially for someone like myself who has a little bit of formal music training as a drummer in middle- and high-school band and informal training as a passionate student of music in general.”
Stream JSWISS’s Daily Bread
Content Spotlight: JSWISS on Storytelling, Michael Leonhart Collaboration & the Art of the Emcee
Who is JSWISS?
The nickname JSWISS was given to him by a childhood friend several years before he adopted it as his artistic moniker and embarked on a now 17-year journey writing, recording, releasing, and performing music worldwide.
As an emcee, he’s had a unique career rapping with the likes of Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Elvis Costello as well as performing alongside some of the most sought-after jazz instrumentalists, including Nate Smith, Marcus Strickland, Nicholas Payton, Ben Williams, Chris Dave, and Michael Leonhart. JSWISS’s collaboration with Nate Smith, “UNDEFEATED,” appears on the latter’s “Best Alternative Jazz Album” Grammy Award–winning record LIVE-ACTION, which puts J in rare air as a rap artist featured in a Grammy Awards jazz category.
JSWISS has released several projects and dozens of collaborative features — including “UNDEFEATED” — that were recorded right in his home studio, engineered by himself with his trusted equipment, and aided by mixing and mastering engineers who he trusts just as much.
Live, he’s performed internationally at clubs and festivals spanning Paris, Marseille, London, Manchester, Milan, Los Angeles, and, of course, his home base: New York City. Moreover, J has graced myriad iconic stages from the Apollo Theater, the Blue Note Jazz Club, and Nublu to the Jazz Standard, Preservation Hall, and the landmark New York Botanical Garden — the last of which made JSWISS the first-ever hip-hop artist to perform on its historic grounds.
In the words of Erick Sermon, the producer, emcee, and one half of legendary NYC hip-hop duo EPMD: JSWISS is “what hip-hop needs.”
