At some point in his teens, J.R. started rapping in the streets of
New York, battling with other
MCs which gained him prominence in Harlem's underground rap scene which led him to appear on local cable access television programs and joining every open mic competition he could. He became a well-known lyricist and freestyle champion throughout Harlem and has listed
Big Pun,
Big L,
2Pac, as his influences, and later on in life,
Cam'ron. At one of his rap battles, het met
Cam'ron and
Juelz Santana around the time Cam signed to
Roc-A-Fella and Juelz was up-and-coming. It was then he went to make his commercial debut on Juelz's studio album
From Me To U, appearing on the track "Squalie". This led him to becoming a member of
The Diplomats and signing a joint venture deal with
Diplomat and
Koch Records to release his debut album. He has released one studio album and fifteen mixtapes since 2003, having collaborated with Cassidy, Fred Money, Lloyd Banks, Tito Green, Ransom, Drag-On, Sen City, Paul Wall, T.W.O., Duke Da God, A-Money, Vado, Jae Millz, AraabMuzik and more. He released his debut album
History in the Making in 2006, through
Koch and
Diplomat Records. The album peaked at number 25 on the
Billboard 200 and at number 2 on both the
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and
Top Rap Albums, held from the top spot of both charts by
Pimp C's
Pimpalation. On February 23, 2014, Writer released a 13-track mixtape titled
The Return of Greatness, which includes guest appearances from Styles P, Fat Trel, Vado, Hell Rell and Fred Money as well as production from Track Officialz, SpecX2, Butter Beats DBK, Razah, Myes William, Stat Five Ave, Stoopid On The Beat and Automatik Beatz. On March 18, 2014, Writer began a prison sentence at Ulster Correctional Facility in New York State. On January 26, 2019, Writer released a
diss track aimed at
Tory Lanez called "Head Shot". One month later, he released another titled "Run Tory Run". ==Discography==