Fingazz

Fingazz
Birth name John Stary
Origin California, U.S.
Genres Hip hop, R&B, Pop, Rock, Chicano rap, Latin hip hop
Occupation(s) producer, writer, musician, artist
Instruments keyboard, talkbox, drums, guitar, vocals
Years active 1997 – present
Labels Fingadelic Music
Universal D (Japan)
Website Fingadelic Music, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube

Fingazz is a producer, writer, musician, and artist in Los Angeles, CA.

Biography

John Stary was born in Pomona, CA and has dedicated most of his life to playing and creating music. He played trombone in the Newport Harbor High School Band before switching to the drums when the drum line needed some help. Growing up appreciating all genres of music gave him the ability to write and produce any style. One year for his birthday his parents got him a keyboard at the suggestion of one of his friends and he became a self-taught keyboardist, Fingazz played for years in funk bands opening for old school legends like P-Funk All-Stars, Zapp and Roger, The Time, The Gap Band, and The Commodores. This is where he was given the nickname "Fingazz", when a fellow band member noticed his fingers flying over the keyboards. During these years he mastered the Roger inspired effect called "talk box", allowing one to sing with a synthesizer. He was also recruited to play keys and talkbox live on tour with the multi-platinum group En Vogue on the EV3 tour, performing nationwide for crowds of 30,000. After this Fingazz started playing drums professionally for live bands, all the while locking himself in the studio in all his free time to master his ultimate calling—producing.[1]

While performing with the funk band Slapbak at the House of Blues in Hollywood, his talkbox skills were noticed by Baby Bash and Kid Frost. He was approached after the show to feature on a record for Frost's album and B-side single. "Get Down" became Fingazz first official album release credit.

In 2000 Fingazz finally broke into the industry with the success of the West Coast classic "I Love Cali (in the summertime)" by Young Roscoe of the Dogg Pound. This was the first Billboard charting song that started it all. This song was also used as the opening/closing theme for the Harrison Ford and Josh Hartnett movie "Hollywood Homicide".

This G-funk style production with signature talkbox hook made Fingazz a sought-after producer for many of the West Coast's biggest MC's. Fingazz productions have been blessed by legends like Snoop Dogg, Kurupt, Daz Dillinger, Bad Azz, Nate Dogg, Kokane, Mack 10, Suga Free, Kam, and Too Short to name a few.

Fingazz style also complimented the sound of Chicano rap, with his experience performing funk and oldies music, and he became an integral part of the movement. Having already worked with the legend Kid Frost, he later created monumental Chicano rap records with artists like Lil Rob, Baby Bash, Down aka Kilo, Capone-E, Lighter Shade of Brown, Lil One, Mr. Sancho, Ms. Sancha, Brown Boy, Knightowl, and Mr. Shadow to name a few.

Over the years Fingazz has created independently released hits that were making marks in the charts that typically only major label machines could make, such as Brown Boy's "Superman" which featured Fingazz singing with the Auto-Tune effect before T-Pain was on the scene. This record reached #22 on the Billboard Rap chart. Then Fingazz paired up with Lil Rob on the smash "Summer Nights" which was the #4 most played rhythmic radio record in the country. MediaBase reported spins of nearly 6,000 a week in the summer of 2005 which took this record to #13 on the Billboard Rap Chart. The next milestone from Fingazz was hit with the pop culture phenomenon from Down aka Kilo called "Lean Like a Cholo" which had the country buzzing. In 2007 this record reached #15 on the Billboard Rap, #34 on the Hot 100, #32 on the Hot Digital Songs, and #14 on the Ringtones charts. This single has been certified Platinum with over 2.5 million ringtones, and nearly 2 million digital single sales. Fingazz is also an artist and has performed around the world with his custom talkbox instrument called the "Talkstar". Talkbox players and fans have recognized Fingazz as one of the most notable players of the instrument. His talkbox has been heard on features with mega stars like Flo Rida, Mike Posner, and Just Blaze & DJ A-Trak. He has even released 2 of his own albums which pay tribute to some of his major influences called "Classics For The O.G.'s Pt 1 & 2".

Fingazz has production and writing credits on projects worldwide. Numerous credits also include film scores and TV theme songs.

Discography

Production credits

Miscellaneous productions

Diamonique

Diamond In Da Ruff

(Entire album)

Singles

Down AKA Kilo

Lil Rob

Mr. Capone-E

T-Weaponz

[r] Remake of the original version. Original artist may or may not be present.
[c] Pre-censored prior to its release, only the radio edit/clean version exist.

Talkbox/Auto-tune Contributions

(All songs listed below feature Fingazz only as a guest artist)

Radio Singles

Year Song Artist Hot 100 US Pop US Rap Rhythmic US Latin US Ringtones
2000 "I Love Cali (in the summertime)" Roscoe - - 90 - - -
2005 "Summer Nights" Lil Rob 36 30 13 5 - -
2006 "Superman" Brown Boy 99 - 22 - - -
2006 "Don't Get It Twisted" Mr. Capone-E feat. Twista - - - 40 39 -
2007 "You Should Be a Model" Mr. Capone-E feat. Fingazz - - - - 32 -
2007 "Summertime Anthem" Mr. Capone-E feat. Fingazz - - - - 29 -
2007 "Mami Mira" Mr. Criminal feat. Nate Dogg and Mr. Capone-E - - - - 26 -
2007 "Lean Like a Cholo" Down aka Kilo 34 - 15 - 42 14
2008 "Light My Fire" Mr. Capone-E feat. Snoop Dogg and Fingazz - - - - 26 -

References

  1. ↑ "Fingazz: The Indie Artists' Choice". BallerStatus.com. Retrieved 2016-04-06.
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