John Dough is an artist with a true passion for all music. Born in Cameroon, West Africa JD spent his early childhood in Chicago after strikes and bank closures forced the family to cash out their accounts (minutes before the bank locked its doors and froze all accounts) and catch a flight to Chicago where his grandparents lived. The family moved to Houston when JD was in the third grade. JD flourished as a member of both the orchestra and band early in his early academic career, and was immediately captivated by harmonies and rhythms. He put music aside, however to pursue his basketball career; but after playing two years at the Division-I level (Dartmouth College- Ivy League) and cycling through a multitude of coaches and setbacks, he decided to return home to Houston and take a year off to re-center himself. During this time he rekindled his love for music and got serious about creating a finished product. Hence, the “Return of the Mic” project was born. With 22 tracks it was JD’s first official musical release, dropped in May of 2012; it featured a multitude of classic hip-hop beats as well as two original beats built by well-established Houston producer Trakksounds who played basketball with JD in AAU during high school and for a semester at Dartmouth. “Return of the Mic” was followed in December by “Pandora’s [BOOM]Box”, a quick 9 track tape where JD explored his range of musical styles, with influences from indie/electronic bands such as The Octopus Project as well as legendary hip-hop icons Nas and J-Dilla. It also features two masterful productions by Trakksounds and three industry level beats by the up and coming southeast Houston production duo Smallz and Stevie C. He is currently working on his new project “Stained Glass Floors” to be released early next year.

Twitter:                  @RedBeemsAndMICS

Facebook:             fb.com/johndoughmusic

Soundcloud:          soundcloud.com/john-dough-1