Boardman native Tepper raps up road to success

By John Benson

Under the name Throwback, the recent graduate is working hard on his music career.

Just over a year ago, Jonathon Michael Tepper’s future seemed set.

As a member of the Boardman High School Class of 2007, the young man would study business marketing and fashion merchandising at Youngstown State University in hopes of one day starting his own fashion line.

However, fate had other plans for Tepper, who often casually pursued his love of hip-hop by karaoke-ing his favorite songs. While people would often praise his MC talents, he didn’t take the idea seriously until he attempted to attend rapper Ludacris’ Youngstown show last spring.

On his way to the gig, Tepper was involved in a car accident. Not only did he not make the show, but his life changed forever.

“That kind of put things into perspective for me,” Tepper said. “I’m in the back of the ambulance thinking, ‘I could die at any given moment. Wow, maybe I should really take this rap thing seriously. This is what I want to do.’”

From that point on, the Boardman native started writing his own material under the name Throwback. He recorded a few songs here and there, and finally released his local debut CD, “Ballin’ Since Birth,” which is a combination of old school (Brand Nubians and Run-DMC) and modern sounds (Young Jeezy and Kanye West).

Right away, Tepper started to make inroads, with his single “Get This Dough” being voted the No. 1 independent song on http://HotNewHipHop.com. That’s when out of nowhere he received an e-mail from New York City-based hip-hop label Affluent Records.

“It’s like 4 a.m. and I’m groggy, I check my e-mail and thought it was a dream,” Tepper said. “ I’m walking around campus and go to DeBartolo [Hall Computer Lab] to see if this is for real and I’m like, ‘Get out of here.’ They really want to sign me to a record deal. So I reply back, they give me a call and the next thing I know, I’m on a flight to New York City.”

“Probably the first question that comes to the minds of many is why would a New York City label sign an 18-year-old out of Youngstown, Ohio?” said Affluent Record label owner Oscar Sanchez, whose r sum includes an A&R stint with Def Jam Records. “The answer is pretty much simple: talent. I have had the chance to work with many great urban artists we all know today. They all started from the bottom, but they all shared one common aspect among them that made them stand out. They all had star power.

“Throwback shares the same trait. He has the ability to move the crowd and his rhymes are as articulate as many of today’s top rappers. He has complete crossover potential naturally and he brings to the table a fresh new look of what hip-hop currently is, a multicultural movement voice for the youth.”

For Tepper, his career passion and dream – albeit less than a year old – quickly became serious with the record label’s interest. So the college freshman turned to the one person he knew could successfully guide him through the lecherous music industry. He asked his father, Scott, who owns his own business as a chief restructuring officer, to become his manager.

“It doesn’t really matter because every company is just another company,” said Scott, a Pittsburgh native. “I don’t get enamored by anything, and it’s a good management project for me, too. But keeping him level-headed hasn’t been as hard as I thought it would be.”

He added, “This man — I won’t call him a boy — is an unusual singer. He’s the most dedicated person you’ll ever meet. That’s what the label has said to me. They haven’t seen anybody like this in years because normally they have people who don’t want to be in the studio constantly and don’t want to work. He wants to be there, and he’s so dedicated towards success. He just has the bloodlines for success.”

While the clich d story would find Tepper all alone in his show business endeavor with his hard-working father discounting such dreams as frivolous, Scott is different.

“I believe that if you’re going to do anything in life, you have to go for it for the fullest,” said Scott, who studied vocal performance in college. “It’s a Tepper thing.”

So far so good in Tepper’s wild ride. He’s finishing up his major label debut, “Ballin’ Since Birth,” which is actually his local debut only remixed with added songs. The album is due out this summer and will be followed by major touring, including stateside and perhaps visits to Europe and China.

Even more surreal for Tepper is the fact he recorded a song with Brand Nubians’ member Sadat X, who has been one of his idols for years.

“It was incredible,” Tepper said. “But I just try to keep myself level-headed and remember that this can go away at any moment. Like things come and go, and I could be a one-hit wonder.

“I hope for an extended career and to make a full living off this, but that’s why you have to have a backup plan. You have to have that safety net.”

Part of that safety net involves finishing up college; however, both Tepper and Scott have agreed he’ll finish the current semester and then take some time off to see how far Throwback can take him.

Said Tepper, “Yeah, it’s out of control.”