Wojack, previously known as MC Deff, is an emcee, producer, and activist raised in Tacoma, Washington. He began his career in the 80s by founding the crew Def City Rockers, and released projects with NastyMix Records as well as Just Cash Records. He was a founding member of the group Criminal Nation, which gained popularity and national recognition in the early 90s, and moved on to gain success as a solo artist. He is currently recording and releasing music with Inline Productions of Lacey, Washington.
Early Years
King Wojack was born 1970 in Monterey, California, and raised in various neighborhoods across Tacoma, Washington. He became drawn to Hip Hop at the age of 9 after hearing songs like “Rappers Delight” and groups such as Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5. He also listened to K-Fox and was inspired by local DJ Nasty Nes Rodriguez. In 10th grade. Wojack built his first DJ station in a shop class at Henry Foss High School from a work bench, two turntables, a small Korg drum machine, and a mixer. Gathering all the albums he could find, he began spinning for parties at the Al Davies Boys Club and other venues under the name DJ Icy Rock, even entertaining prisoners at Shelton and Monroe in 1986. A part of a vibrant urban arts scene in Tacoma that was being ushered in by young Hip Hop collectives such as Apache Playboys and Casanova Crew, Wojack’s own crew, Def City Rockers, honed their craft, battled, and threw parties and car washes to raise money for equipment, jackets, trips, and other expenses in the constant competition to be on top. Then one fateful night, Def City Rocker emcees met their match in young female rapper named Goldie, an incident which Wojack credits as the reason he began pursuing emceeing. After graduating high school in 1988, he began focusing on writing rhymes and performing, often with his partner DJ Eugenious, and was soon making waves, winning rap competitions all over the city, and opening for Hip Hop giants such as Sir Mix A Lot, Run DMC, Young MC, NWA, and more.
Accomplishments
In 1990, Wojack was signed to Cold Rock Records distributed by Nastymix Records, leading to the launch of his first professional work called Release the Pressure with the newly formed group Criminal Nation, comprised of himself and DJ Eugenious. The two singles from the project, “Insane” and “Black Power Nation” gained recognition on Billboard, Hot Rap Singles, and other national music charts. He dropped two more albums with Nastymix, Criminal Nation’s sophomore album the 1992 Trouble In The Hood, and a compilation called The DCP Organization, before learning that the label was going bankrupt in 1994 after their deal with Ichiban Records of Altanta, GA. On a new leg of his solo career, he teamed up with Just Cash Records to release Where Ya Going Wo in 1996, which sold 2,500 units in its first month. That same year, Wojack was instrumental in the organization of a city wide boycott of Kube 93. The two day boycott was called to bring attention to the radio station’s lack of accountability to local artists, and resulted in the establishment of Seattle’s first radio awards show, on which he was honored with album of the year. He continues to gain recognition for his work in both music and community as a consistent voice of empowerment and inspiration.
Criminal Nation
Criminal Nation, a group which was active from 1990 to 1992, was comprised of principle emcees MC Deff aka Wojack and Eugenious, and has been associated with D-Rob, Spade, Bumpy, and Clee-Bone of DCP Organization. Criminal Nation released two projects with Nastymix Records, Release the Pressure in 1990, and Trouble in the Hood in 1992, both of which gained national attention on Hip Hop music charts, before the group disbanded. In 2000, Ocean Records released a project called Resurrection under the group name Criminal Nation, which included artists with the original group, but without founding member Wojack.
Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminal_Nation
https://soundcloud.com/criminal-nation-lives
https://soundcloud.com/king-wojack-productions https://www.facebook.com/KingWojack
www.linkedin.com/pub/king-wojack/4b/567/413/
markwomacksjourney.blogspot.com
http://www.africasgateway.com/2004/02/25/wojack-criminal-nation-then-today-the-guerilla-factor/
