WJV Music Group Presents...Minister Wes-E

Early Years

Iorwuese “Wes” Ifan or as his fans call him, Wes-E, was born February 18, 1981 in Nigeria in the town of Gboko.  His family moved to Madison, Wisconsin in 1982.  His mother had quite an influence in his early development.  She stayed home to read books to him and instill a strong affinity for education.  As a boy, Wes was always entertaining people.  Whether he was imitating television characters or imitating dance moves on television, you could tell that he had an outgoing personality.  Wes seemed to have a God given gift with the pen as a toddler.  He imaginatively created his own story books at the age of 5! 

Early Influences

Music entered into his life very early.  In fact, at the age of 8 Wes picked up the trumpet for the first time!  Early on, even his mother could see the determination that Wes had to be the very best musician in his school.  Wes practiced the same song tirelessly until he mastered it!  He worked himself to first chair trumpet by the time he was in 5^th grade.  There wasn't a doubt that music would play a significant role in his evolution into a young man.

Later on, Wes would explore other artistic outlets and forms of expression.  He was encouraged by his mother to read scripture verses in church to build his public speaking confidence.  At the age of 13, he delivered his first sermon at a youth Sunday service at his home church.  He continued to explore other musical outlets by participating in the church choir.  Later, he would expand on his expressive writing talent by writing poetry.

Musical Career

Known for his spoken word approach to hip-hop, Wes-E has an infectious personality that shines through in his music.  He always finds a way to tug at your emotions with deep introspective songs. Wes-E has a knack for writing some of the most memorable stories in his rhymes...you might say his albums are audio books for the masses!

Wes is highly focused on creating music that appeals to a wide audience.  His fan-base ranges from corporate suit wearers, to blue collar workers; all the way down to the youth of the inner city!  In many respects the new wave of hip-hop music that Wes-E has embarked on has evolved into the sub-genre of Urban Inspirational Music.

Wes-E currently runs his own label, WJV Music Group.  He has an unconquerable passion for what he does and you can see it and feel it when he performs in front of a live audience.  We shouldn’t be surprised if Wes-E is mentioned among hip-hop's elite in the very near future! He isn't gunning for overnight commercial success. What he wants is to leave a lasting hip-hop legacy! 

WJV Music Group Presents...Jus Gu

Early Years 

Ngutor Justice Ifan a.k.a. Jus Gu was born August 12, 1985 in Madison, Wisconsin.  Although he was born there, he grew up for the most part in the state of New Jersey.  First in Linden, then the town of Piscataway where he'd spend 11 years of his life. It really shouldn’t surprise anyone that Jus Gu has a thirst for the microphone.  His first exposure to hip-hop started when he was in kindergarten.  Often he would debate with classmates about which artists were the best lyrically.  His favorite lyricist of all time is Biggie Smalls.  The storytelling ability he had, as well as his nonchalant approach to rhyming would be influential in Jus Gu’s eventual marriage to hip-hop music.

Early Influences

Much like his older brother, Jus got involved in music early.  In fourth grade, he started playing the saxophone and would be involved in concert band and jazz band through eighth grade.  He experimented with singing in choir at church at various intervals, but his breakthrough came when he took english in highschool.  When he took a creative writing class in highschool, he started to realize that he had a talent in writing.  He took that and ran with it.  Eventually, he'd start writing rhymes while practicing his freestyle skills.  You could see that he had an affinity for humor and sharp punchlines sort've like one of his favorite artists... New Jersey's own Redman.  Jus always says that he feels like he's starting to rap in the wrong era of hip-hop.  His flow and approach is much more in line with the classic hip-hop of the late 80's and early 90's.

Musical Career

Jus has been patiently waiting to bring his style of hip-hop to the forefront.  He has been working hard behind the scenes to make WJV a success.  His primary responsibilities are to executive produce the Wes-E albums and spearhead promotions for other artists.  He is also currently working on his long awaited debut album.  WJV Music Group is being very careful not to put a release date out just yet.  This album is sort've like Detox; you'll know it when it drops.  Jus doesn't want to just put out a whole bunch of songs on a CD.  He wants to give the world a seamless offering of incredible music.  What you’ll hear from Jus Gu is a classic hip-hop approach with a new flair.  Boom Bap is back in effect!

WJV Music Group Presents...Kappa Flex

Early Years

Garfield Sebastian Coke or as his fans know him Kappa Flex, was born January 5^th, 1974 in Westmoreland, Jamaica.  He was heavily influenced by his mother and father growing up.  Like many young children Kappa had a very strong imagination and began exploring his creativity at a young age.

Early Influences

Kappa was introduced to music very early in life.  Music was always played in the house.  Many of the major influences for the music he makes today were from records that were played in the house by his parents.  Kappa admits that his major influences for reggae music are Buju Banton, The Late Garnet Silk, and Zilla.

Musical Career

When Kappa came to the U.S. he was already seasoned in his ability to control the mic.  Kappa finally got an opportunity to record some of his music in Plainfield, NJ.  There, he linked up with a friend who was working with a producer from the 316 Crew.   This gave him material that he could perform at various open mics throughout the state of New Jersey.  Once he realized that he could put together compelling music, he decided to work on an album.  Through a mutual friend he got introduced to Wes Ifan from WJV Music Group.  At their initial meeting Wes and Kappa really clicked and soon began working together on additional songs for the album.  Kappa sees this music going worldwide.  He certainly believes that the music will make an impact.  As he puts he wants to make a career of this music and “take care of his family!”