PHOTO : ASHLEE HUTCHINSON /@ AHUTCH
THE STUDIO MONK How Junia-T Unlearned the Past to Record 200 Songs & Make a Masterpiece
BY MICHAEL RAINE
It ’ s lows , Junia-T was in a rut and
a story that seems almost too perfect . After a decade of promising highs and frustrating
feeling pressure to quit the music industry . At that moment he finds himself in a life-changing creative environment and emerges two years later with Studio Monk , an album that sounds , simultaneously , so original and classic that he ’ s being showered in critical adoration and artistic admiration .
Born Jonathan Lindo , his dad Derrick Lindo was and remains a professional drummer , “ So , me tagging along with him really seeded my love for music ,” Junia-T says . “ MCing started at a young age for me because I freestyled for my cousin when he used to beatbox and stuff . Those are the main seeds or ingredients for me in terms of being musical . I sang in a church choir later in life , but as far as what I do now , MCing was the first skill and then I started making beats for my raps .”
In 2012 , the wider hip-hop world was introduced to Junia-T . Alongside Crooklin in the duo Smash Brovaz , their only album , Think It ’ s a Game ?, got very positive reviews from the likes of Exclaim ! and Torontoist , but it didn ’ t set the world alight commercially . In retrospect , though , it foreshadowed some of the musical elements Junia-T would later perfect , from the jazz-infused analog vibes of “ Casserine ” to collaborating with Beatchild ( then Slakah the Beatchild ), who would play key role on Studio Monk years later .
The Smash Brovaz album was followed in 2014 by Junia-T ’ s first solo LP , the independentlyreleased Eye See You . Though it again got good reviews and some buzz in the hip-hop blogosphere – and also featured his friend , a relatively-unknown Jessie Reyez , on the track “ We Got This ” – it again didn ’ t bring the commercial success its creator was counting on . He had invested a lot in Eye See You and the corresponding touring and didn ’ t feel like it was paying off .
“ After what I ’ d just invested in and done , I was hoping it would ’ ve snowballed more consistency into something , and it didn ’ t . To do what I pulled off that year with very minimal hands on deck was really draining , so I just didn ’ t know where to go next , really . I wasn ’ t even thinking about making music , to be very real ,” he shares . “ I ’ d been a dad for a number of years and there was a lot of pressure for me to get a regular job . Also , I was sharing a studio space with somebody and was no longer doing that . And me working out of my home wasn ’ t working for me anymore .”
It ’ s while he was in this rut that he connected with his friend Addy Papa , manager for Rich Kidd and WondaGurl and overall “ Toronto music maven ,” as Complex called him . Papa had reached out to Junia-T simply to ask if he ’ d come freestyle at a showcase for some of the Remix Project ’ s recent music production students .
“ When I went , I told him my situation . [ Addy ] was like , ‘ You know , it ’ s crazy because if you hadn ’ t talked to me today , I wouldn ’ t be able to give you the opportunity to work out of this space that we just so happened to stumble upon .’ So that was just the beginning of me ending up in L . A .,” Junia-T recalls . In L . A . were Papa ’ s Riot Club sessions – essentially , a group of
44 CANADIAN MUSICIAN