As a youth Jon began songwriting at age ten. In middle school, he began selling his own mixtapes out of his backpack and from the trunk of his mother's car. At age 14, with the support of his mother, he founded his own independent record label, All Varsity Music. By 16, he had financed and created an in-house studio with money he earned through odd jobs in the neighborhood.
2005–2010: Beginnings and early mixtapes On January 1, 2005, Jon Connor released his first official mixtape,
The Calling, Pt. 1: The Prequel. He followed that with another mixtape
Everybody Hates Connor in 2006. Then he released his third mixtape,
The Calling Pt. 2: The Second Coming in 2008. In 2009 he would link up with basketball player
Mateen Cleaves, then later basketball player
Jason Richardson, and Kendall "Young Sav" Freeman, vice president of rapper
Rick Ross'
Maybach Music Group record label to official start a record label. All who currently either run or co-own it. On September 29, 2010, Connor released his fourth mixtape, the
Entourage-inspired,
Jon Connor as Vinnie Chase: Season One. The album was met with positive reviews from music critics. William E. Ketchum III of HipHopDX stated, "
Salvation undeniably showcases a sincerity and hunger that are tough to find in much of Hip Hop today. If Jon Connor continues to build on the skill set he already has, living up to his fictional namesake shouldn't be so far off." The mixtape garnered 130,000 downloads on
Bandcamp within three months. The mixtape title is also a play on words, referencing Blue City Club, a group he leads. The collective consists of Mickey Wallace, Caas Swift, Brandon Bars, Lia Mack and D. Wayne, who are all prominently featured on the mixtape. On April 13, 2012, Jon Connor released the second installment of his "Best in the World" mixtape series, ''The People's Rapper LP
, which features him entirely rapping over classic Eminem instrumentals. The mixtape was executive produced and hosted by Don Cannon, also featuring guest appearances by his Blue City Club cohorts. The People's Rapper LP
was met with positive reviews, with Andres Vasquez of HipHopDX deeming it "EP-worthy." Following the release of The People's Rapper LP'', Connor toured the Midwest United States with rapper
Big K.R.I.T. On July 26, 2012, Connor released his eighth mixtape,
While You Were Sleeping, featuring guest appearances by
Bun B,
Mistah Fab, GLC,
Kid Ink, and
Killa Kyleon among others. Unlike his previous two releases,
While You Were Sleeping featured all original instrumentals produced by Connor and his
production team, The World's Greatest Music, Optiks and Brix. Connor called
While You Were Sleeping his most introspective work to date. During late 2012 to early 2013, Jon Connor toured with American rapper
Xzibit, who eventually led him to meeting legendary producer
Dr. Dre.
2013–present: Unconscious State and signing to Aftermath Entertainment In early 2013, Jon Connor revealed that he was working on various projects including, first, his debut studio album
Unconscious State, then
Unsung Heroes LP, a collaboration album with rapper
Chris Webby, his second studio album and a collaboration album with
Ski Beatz. On July 2, 2013, Jon Connor released
Unconscious State under All Varsity Music. The album featured guest appearances by
Danny Brown, Chris Webby,
Freddie Gibbs,
Royce da 5'9",
Talib Kweli and
Smoke DZA among others. Production was handled by Connor himself,
Mr. Porter, Brix and Optiks among others. The album was supported by the singles, "Michigan Shit" featuring Royce da 5'9" and "Rise Up" featuring
Talib Kweli. Upon its release the album peaked at number 35 on the US
Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and number seven on the
Billboard Heatseekers Albums charts. Connor told MTV that the two immediately had chemistry in the studio, and after working with each other over the following months, Dre signed Connor to his record label
Aftermath Entertainment, which is distributed by
Interscope Records. At the end of his freestyle during a cypher at the taping of the 2013 BET Hip Hop Awards on September 29, Jon Connor revealed that he had signed to Dre's Aftermath Entertainment. He said he chose to announce then because, "I was thinking, 'How can I end this? How can I make this a moment?' This was my first time doing the cypher and I wanted to make it a moment. I ran it by Dre and he was like, 'Yo, that's dope.'" On March 18, 2014, Connor released another installment in his "Best in the World" series, the surprise mixtape
The Late Registration of a College Dropout Who Had a Dark Twisted Fantasy of 808s and Heartbreak. Like his other Best in the World mixtapes,
The Late Registration of a College Dropout Who Had a Dark Twisted Fantasy of 808s and Heartbreak was met with positive reviews from music critics. Jordan Lebeau of
XXL gave a positive review as well, recognizing Connor's "own mastery of his voice, story, point of view and sense of humor." He released another mixtape,
BestInTheWorld: A Tribute To The Notorious B.I.G. Vol 1, on April 14, 2014, which features Connor rapping over beats from
The Notorious B.I.G. songs. Connor was also chosen for the 2014
XXL freshman class. In January 2016, Connor released a song highlighting the
Flint water crisis featuring singer
Keke Palmer. In May 2019 Connor revealed that he was no longer signed to Aftermath / Interscope and he would be releasing new music independently soon. == Musical style ==