"Now where I'm from some people don't attend college academies, families fish in the Francis Drake for salaries. The kind of motivation that could come from the inside, making a man grow a couple crops in the hills is for real," - Solomon Jazz

In an area where hip hop is not as commonplace as reggae and calypso, Solomon Jazz (born Tremis Skeete) was 11 years old when his brother gave him a hip hop mixtape which contained music from Dana Dane, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, Salt and Pepa, just to name a few. Before that time, the only rappers Solomon knew of were Run-DMC and the Fat Boys. "I did not realize how creative hip hop music was until I heard Dana Dane rap a story about Cinderella - except he was the "Cinderella" character and he called himself 'CinderFELLA'. It was genius. That was when I became a student of hip hop."

In high school, Solomon Jazz used to love rapping other rappers' songs. "During a school talent show, I did "Cinderfella" and "Parents Just Don't Understand" with a friend of mine in front of the entire school." As he grew up in High School, Solomon's crave for hip hop music also grew. "As I got older, I started hunting down hip hop music, but it was hard to get good hip hop in Tortola unless you knew people in the United States" he explains. "It was hard to get the music at the same time it came out in the United States and I could not wait for local record stores to get the music because it would be at least a month or two before they get the latest tapes. I used to want hip hop music so bad that I used to cut class, catch the ferry boat to St. Thomas just to get the latest tapes."

It was not until he was 15 years old that he would find his calling. "I remember watching the video "Self Destruction" and then this rapper I never heard of before came on: D-NICE. To me, he was different from the other emcees in the video. In my opinion - his verse was the best in the song, because it was straight to the point, and he did not use any gimmicks! He was dressed like a regular guy, and he was rapping about being intelligent, self-sufficient, and how rap was created to teach others. Those lyrics had an impact on me. D-NICE just did his own thing - and he made his own beats!"

That's when it occurred to me - "I can do this too." Solomon started writing when he was 16, but he did not start making beats until he was 19. "I built my first studio with money from my first job out of high school. I wanted to make my own hip hop music." Solomon Jazz made his debut as an emcee (his name was "Trejam" at the time) on two of his cousin's (DJ KID MIX) hip hop mixtapes. He also recorded radio commercials for DJ COMMODORE and Z-ROD 103.7, both based in the Virgin Islands.

During his freshman year at Hampton University in Hampton Virginia he completed his first demo album – "The Sounds of Trejam". "I can remember being in my one bedroom apartment, finishing up the demo at three in the morning" he recalls. While that demo did not garner success like he dreamed for at the time, it did serve as a source of motivation to develop his music. For a time, he did put his hip hop goals on hold and decided to pursue a career in corporate America, but fate introduced him to another aspiring emcee and producer named Ra Luxor Allah. "Ra Luxor was the catalyst for the rebuilding of my studio" he admits. "That was when I realized that I had to get back into this music and see how far I can go."

Now living in Brooklyn NYC, Solomon Jazz has come a long way. His forthcoming album "I KNOW WHERE I COME FROM" brings an interesting mix of vintage Hip Hop influenced by his love for the music, the culture, and for people. "Hip Hop to me is very personal, because it brought me through a lot of moments where I did not know where my life was going. Now, like all the other emcees that inspired me to do this, I am ready to share my stories through my music because I KNOW WHERE I COME FROM. Once I remain true to that, other people, no matter where they are from will get the picture."

"Guess they didn't know that I was from an island called Tortola; look, the sun don't always be shining; but my fellow islanders they always be grinding, because they want a house on the hill before retirement," – Solomon Jazz