Joseph Johnson (born March 31, 1975), known by his stage name N.O. Joe, is an American musician, hip hop record producer and songwriter. N.O. Joe was a pioneer of the Southern Hip Hop sound during the 1990s. He operates a production company named Gumbo Funk, which is also a name given to his melange of musical styles

History

Johnson was born and raised in New Orleans While in high school in New Orleans, he began providing beats to local performers in Jackson Square. He was later encouraged to move to New York, where he began an affiliation with Universal Music Group as a producer. Then known as Joe Kool, Johnson collaborated with Devante Swing, and the production group Da Bassment with that he contributed to Jodeci's first album, Forever My Lady. Johnson went on to work with Brian McKnight, R&B artist Joe and D'Angelo before moving into the rap genre.

Southern hip-hop contributions

N.O. Joe contributed to the following albums (All album contributions not listed):

Artist roster

N.O. Joe has also contributed as producer to various labels such as Universal Music Group (1990–2003), and Rap-A-Lot as an independent production entity. N.O. Joe has worked on several platinum songs and albums, including a number 1 single "Pushin Weight", to Ice Cube's album War & Peace Vol. 1, LL Cool J's Grammy-nominated The DEFinition and has worked with:

Albums featuring N.O. Joe

Soundtracks

N.O. Joe's music has also been featured on the following soundtracks: