Artist Profile: St. Laz

Brian Johnston was born in New York, NY, to African American mother Donna Johnston and Puerto Rican father Louis Rosa. After three years his parents separated and St. Laz moved with his mother (who was originally from Brooklyn) back to Brooklyn, NY, where they lived at 510 Chauncey Street. His mother Donna had become involved in an abusive relationship with a man and Brian often witnessed her being assaulted and verbally humiliated, one night after having enough of the abuse, his mother quietly woke him up in the middle of the night and escaped from the abusive man while he was asleep, grabbing whatever possessions she could carry; Donna sought refuge in a shelter for battered women where they stayed until they found an apartment in Park Slope, Brooklyn. At the time, Park Slope, Brooklyn, was a run down poverty filled neighborhood with escalating violent crime and a growing drug problem, St. Laz has been quoted saying, "people used to think we lived in a abandoned building." Empty lots, stray dogs, gangs and burned down tenements filled the area's atmosphere. At the age of six, St. Laz's mother Donna finally got a call from the "New York City Housing Authority", and was informed that she had been placed in the "Howard Houses" project development in Brownsville, Brooklyn, where others of the Johnston Family already lived. They moved in immediately, happy to escape the dark and dangerous streets of Park Slope and to see some familiar faces, Donna's sister Amy, her nephew Gerald (also a rapper out of Brownsville, BK, stage name "Valdon") and her two nieces Adrian plus Courtney lived right in the next building and the family was excited to be united again. The sisters had grown up together in the Williamsburg projects, also in Brooklyn.

St. Laz was a shy and quiet kid with no brothers and sisters, he attended Public School 298 located right across the street from Howard Houses where he did exceptionally well. He was always placed in the top classes with impressive city wide testing scores, he developed exceptional reading, writing and comprehension skills. At the age of twelve, he attended Junior High School 275 on Hegeman Avenue and Rockaway Avenue in Brownsville, Brooklyn. In seventh grade, he and his buddies became class clowns and were more interested in hanging in the hallways rather than actually doing school work. St. Laz began to rebel at home and his best friend at the time (although only twelve-years-old) was a known crack dealer and trouble maker. Brian (St. Laz) and his friend would sneak crack cocaine and guns into the junior high school to impress their peers. His mother's boyfriend Dwayne Dockery (Wayne), had now been around for years and lived in the project apartment with them. Wayne was the only male role model around for St. Laz. Wayne struggled with a crack addiction leading him in and out of confines for years. Although St. Laz loved Wayne and called him his stepfather he was embarrassed to live with a crack addict, he rarely expressed it but he hoped that one day Wayne would get clean. Wayne was the first person to show Brian a gun, he also showed him Cocaine and Crack Cocaine and made him promise he would never use it. Often, St. Laz would wake up early mornings to use the bathroom only to see empty glassine bags floating in the toilet water, proof that Wayne had been using again.

By fifteen, St. Laz was infatuated with the streets, guns, drugs and gangs plus wanted to emulate what he heard about and witnessed. His older cousin (Gerald, then known as "Slave") was involved with the above in the neighborhood. In the early 90's, Gerald ("Slave") was employed by one of the most notorious drug dealers in Brooklyn's history: "Boo Bear." Young Laz was impressed with the stories he heard and the things he saw in Brownsville and waned to become involved with that lifestyle. He began to carry guns and make small runs for neighborhood thugs to gain acceptance. He started smoking marijuana and drinking, his mother worried, but there wasn't much she could do to prevent him from hanging with the wrong crowd. At sixteen, while at a teen age hooky party, he was involved in a tragic gun accident killing one, he was charged with homicide (Murder in the Second Degree) and sent to Rikers Island's C-74 jail for adolescents, the charges were later reduced to a lesser charge of Manslaughter, he pleaded out and was sentenced to 3 to 9 years in prison in New York State, of which, he did six years in confines. St. Laz spent most of his days in prison listening to Hip-Hop on his cassette walkman. Also, he discussed Hip-Hop politics and dabbling with trying to write his own rap songs, while in Greene Correctional Facility, he again united with his older cousin Gerald (or "Slave") who had also been sentenced to state prison to serve five years for a armed robbery. There, they formed a rap group called "The Seven Dons", which later became "The Last Dons", and ultimately evolved into "Pottersfield." They vowed to leave crime alone and take over the rap game when released.

Upon release from prison, St. Laz immediately sought out a recording studio and began to orchestrate songs with his Pottersfield Members: Chuck Burns, Valdon, Pow-wow, Mr. Mar-vel, and more. After a few years of recording music and stalking A&R's from Def Jam and Atlantic Records, Laz became frustrated with waiting for a shot and began to press and distribute his own music in Dyckman Projects, located in upper Manhattan, where his mother had moved to and now had lived for years. There he met The Boy Bucka, Rave Roulet, Opium, Wooden Souljah, and NY Siddd. Thereby, extending The Pottersfield Group, Laz filmed several videos independently and serviced his videos to public access video shows all around the five boroughs of New York City and beyond. His videos were also featured on a very popular show called, "Video Music Box". He developed a relationship with VJ Ralph McDaniels, who he had grown up watching play Hip-Hop Videos on TV. He got his first big buzz when Hot 97 Radio DJ Kay Slay recognized a song and video he recorded with fellow Brooklyn artist M.Reck called, "BK Madness." The song gained underground notoriety and was played on Hot 97 by several well known New York DJs. Noticing how the internet was growing, St. Laz began to study every Hip-Hop website, he found out who ran what and began to contact these people relentlessly. St. Laz was often the only indie artist amongst major label artists on huge websites. From this, labels began to complain that their artists weren't receiving half the promotion as St. Laz although unsigned. St. Laz was informed of these complaints by webmasters, he laughed and knew then, he was on to something.

In 2010, he filmed the video, "Show Off", with reality TV star and rap artist Jim Jones and fellow New York rapper Vain. The song was an instant hit amongst the underground Hip-Hop World and was featured on hundreds of Hip-Hop Websites including worldstarhiphop.com . The song was played on Hot 97 and Power 105.1 FM in New York City throughout the Summer and Fall of 2010, giving St. Laz a no nonsense reputation on the New York Rap Scene. Today, St. Laz is known worldwide for his highly descriptive rhyme style, his Mix-Tape consistency and heartfelt music. St. Laz is currently writing an autobiography on his life called, "God Will Provide", rumored to be adapted to film. Although independent, St. Laz's music continues to be shared online in major volumes and played on both major radio stations in his hometown of New York City: WQHT Hot 97 and Power 105.1. His music is also played at Sirius Shade 45, making him an inspiration to indie artists everywhere.

Most current, you can find his blazer with Papoose, world premiered on, "Joker Presents: Summer Shit 7", @ http://www.datpiff.com/Joker-Presents-joker-Presents-Summer-Shit-7-mixtape.260500.html. Lastly, St. Laz's music can be found on various, "Joker Presents" Mix-Tapes @ http://web1.datpiff.com/profile/LeSisM.

@StLaz on Twitter
@ facebook.com/stlaz

This is his video on MTV.com @
http://www.mtv.com/videos/news/222208/starve-the-ghetto.jhtml

Watch his video on Worldstar @
http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/video.php?v=wshhqVFv03Bls1SrY9Ig


Watch his video with Jim Jones and Vain on Worldstar @
http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/video.php?v=wshhQtyl42XmVc6Z3Hy0

This is one of his many songs being played on Hot 97 (major FM Radio) @
http://youtu.be/WO_zQYum7Lc

This is his song with Papoose being played on Power 105.1 (major FM Radio) @
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J3xFeowAEI

LISTEN TO HIS STREET ALBUM HERE!! @
http://thatcrack.com/mixtapes/st-laz-as-above-so-below-the-street-album/