Mighty Rock

Born in Youngstown in 1971, JG spent his early years moving across the Northeast and Midwest. A 1979 trip to visit his uncle in Nashville left a lasting impression, and when the Rust Belt economy declined, his family moved to Middle Tennessee. He settled with his grandparents in Mt. Juliet just as breakdancing and hip-hop were taking hold.

A television segment about New York crews who breakdanced instead of fighting changed everything. Mt. Juliet had an active scene, with crews battling at school and at the roller skating rink. JG bought his first hip-hop records at the brand-new Target at Hickory Hollow Mall and dug for more at Cats Records in Rivergate Mall and New Life Records on Charlotte Pike. On a holiday trip back to Ohio, at his family’s roller rink, he watched northern and southern kids come together at a breakdance contest, and Mighty Rock was born: small but tough, a bit like Mighty Mouse, ready to rock the floor and the microphone.

Inspired by Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, the Treacherous Three, and Run-DMC, JG started writing rhymes in high school. His first group, the Oreo Crew, won the school talent show with an original song, beating out a metal band. In late 1988 he formed MJ Posse, which drew label interest after a Nashville talent contest and was played on Vanderbilt University’s college radio.

In the 1990s he co-founded Freedom of Knowledge with MTSU music student Lance Dibble, DJ Jason Grey, and jazz drummer Noel Rose, blending live drums, samples and scratching. Some called it acid jazz, others experimental hip-hop. The group landed on a Moonshine Records compilation and drew interest from Grand Royal and Gee Street, but around 2000 JG stepped away. He cared for reptiles at the Nashville Zoo, earned a biology degree from MTSU at 30, and spent 25 years traveling the world for work.

On January 30, 2024, JG learned that his friend Sputnik had died. He reached for a pen and an entire song poured out in one sitting, his first rhyme in decades. “It was like a faucet had opened that had been closed for years,” he says. A chain of connections followed: a friend’s son, Jay Markert, who made beats and still listened to Freedom of Knowledge; family members Evan Blocker and Mark Roberts, who ran a recording studio; and a barber who introduced him to a label owner. JG recorded “Sputnik” in a single take. Near the end of the sessions, Mark encouraged him to bring back the name Mighty Rock, and the album took its title from the way everything had come back around.

“I feel a purpose now,” JG says. “The songs have more meaning to me now. You can hear my feelings in the lyrics.”