BIOGRAPHY: OZURUU

Born Jesse Berry Smith, 1984, Ozuruu is a Vallejo native who has resided within the city since he was three years old, and is the youngest son of three brothers. He graduated from Jesse Bethel High School in 2002 and is currently attending San Jose State University, majoring in accounting.

Ozuruu has always had an interest in the arts; at a young age he would write poems and draw as a way to manifest his inner feelings. In the third grade, he received an award from the Vallejo Times Herald for an art piece he created competing city wide amongst young artist. Ozuruu loved to create art. Although, he never tried to publish any of his literature Ozuruu says that he would write just as much as he would draw.

One fateful night, during his sophomore year of high school, Ozuruu and the other members of the group were free-styling in a friend’s garage and the response they gave him was so encouraging that he decided to focus and write his free-styles onto paper. Ozuruu prefers to write his words down but will also partake in free-style sessions when the mood is right. Ozuruu has been seriously rapping for the past eight years and has performed in various clubs in the city; GlasKat in San Francisco, Vice in Walnut Creek, and El Rincon in San Francisco just to name a few. His brother, his friend, and himself formed a company in 2008 called the 808 Kingdom and have performed shows around the Bay Area.

Ozuruu’s style and taste in music is eclectic, though he always wants his sound to be smooth enough for any listener to understand where he was coming from at that moment. Ozuruu lives by many quotes. One quote that he likes to keep in mind as he writes is “I am not the originator, sho-nuff initiator, perpetual indicator, that I am… the motivator.” This in part means, if I’m not the First person to say, or do, something. I’m going to make it worthy of imitation for the next who think they can make what he has created, better.