There aren’t many 21-year-old’s that can say they’ve been in the rap game for 8+ years. North Chicago rapper J.R. Donato is one of the few that can. At 13, rapping as Young J.R., he had a regional hit with “500 Degrees.” Still, his peers didn’t take him very seriously as he was distributing CD’s of his music at school – finding the music he worked to make on the floor or in the garbage didn’t deter his ambitions, rather it pushed him to take things a few steps further. Falling under the wing of local vet Twista, J.R. dropped out of high school and began touring the Midwest. The teen-aged rapper that garnered attention for rapping over Lil Wayne beats was coming into his own, and soon he crossed paths with Wiz Khalifa back stage on the Under the Influence tour. Wiz later enlisted J.R. for a feature on his Cabin Fever 2 mixtape before signing him to Taylor Gang Ent.
“Make It Count” is an embodiment of the work that J.R. Donato’s put in to this point, as he’s turned doubters into believers and aspires to continue this effort with his forthcoming Fast Money & Freedom project. While last year’s North Pole boasted big name features like Wiz, Iamsu!, Ab-Soul, Chevy Woods, and Smoke DZA, Fast Money & Freedom’s only guest appearance comes from J.R.’s The Jetsonz cohort Cody Blankz as the project is produced in-full by Sledgren. With “Make It Count,” J.R. Donato has also announced the September 28th release date for Fast Money & Freedom.
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