For 10 years, Jasiel ‘Yung Joc’ Robinson struggled to get on the radar. While doing so, he remembered the words of his father: ‘Plan your work and work your plan’.

He eventually burst on the hip-hop scene in 2006, a solo act with his debut album, New Joc City, which featured hits like, It’s Goin’ Down, which charted at number three on the billboard top-100 and number one on the hip-hop chart, and I Know You See It.

“For the most part, I continued to hone my craft. I began to take it more and more seriously, I prayed about it, I sacrificed a lot and I put every effort that I possibly could into fulfilling my dream,” said the confident and composed rapper.

express myself

Inspired by ‘the greats’ like Slick Rick, Run DMC and Biz Markie, the 25-year-old Joc has had his heart set on becoming a rapper since he was 10 years old.

“It’s just something I was born to do, I love to express myself and I love to entertain, so it made it easier for me to pursue this particular genre of music,” he said.

Yung Joc is one of a number of artistes set to perform at Saturday night’s ‘Face to Face’ at Temple Hall Estate, including Trey Songz, Playaz Circle and Assassin. He promises that his audience will not be disappointed with his performance.

“I’ve got a lot of energy. I never stop, I just go,” he said. He added that his energy is natural.

God first

The young rapper said that he is aware that there are many who dream of taking a similar path and he had some advice for them.

“Make sure that you take the time to understand the industry that you’re going into. Know the business, know your craft, and put God first because everything else is irrelevant,” he said.

Joc is still in the preliminary stages of launching a sunglasses line, which he says will be out once he finds “the right look”. He says that he would also like to eventually pursue an acting career, remarking that he has no desire to play a rapper in a film and that he would prefer action, thriller and suspense movies.

This is his first visit to Jamaica and though he has not yet had a chance to experience much of what the country has to offer, he finds that everyone has been so hospitable.