Growing up in the Bronx, Jones watched his mom hustle and grind to make a living. "My mom was one of the first ladies to move crack, she got rich doing it. As time went on I started to get a little bit looser because there really wasn't any guidance. They shipped me to Harlem to stay with my grandmother in the projects."
Even as Jim Jones found himself in the throes of street life, he also discovered rap music, finding inspiration from a vast array of hip hop artists.
Jones says he's still trying to get to church and along the way, he'll continue to drop pearls of wisdom for others to pick up along the path that he's paved for them. But he feels he's getting closer. He's already reached some of his goals, he says. "People might think my goal is to sell a million records. No! I already passed my goal. I did it. Being in this game is my goal. This is my first album. Just to get on it and get the shit in the stores -- I reached my goal. Everything else is just a blessing."
