Jaz, now known as Jaz-O (Real Name Johnathan Burke) is an East Coast rapper, active in the late 1980s and early 1990s, best known for being a mentor of sorts to Jay-Z. Jaz is also known as The Originator. He had a song called “The Originators,” which featured a young Jay-Z in the late 1980s. As simply The Jaz, he had success with his 1990 single “Hawaiian Sophie,” from his debut album Word to the Jaz. He has been featured on some of Jay-Z’s songs, such as “Bring It On” (Reasonable Doubt) and the single “Nigga What, Nigga Who (Originator 99)” (Vol. 2: Hard Knock Life) as Big Jaz, and produced the single “Ain’t No Nigga” from Reasonable Doubt and the song “Rap Game/Crack Game” from In My Lifetime, Vol. 1.
