Vondo

VONDO

“And if it ain’t Von, it’s a no-name”

The founder of High Roads Only, Javantae Cureton (born November 29th, 1996) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. He began to take rap seriously in the 10th grade where he showcased his talents in rap cyphers and recorded on laptops in the basement of his home. Born in Newark, and raised back and forth between Elizabeth and Roselle, NJ, Von initially gained recognition as a rapper following the release of his debut mixtape “Don’t Leave, I’ll Be Back.” After that release, he headed down south to Atlanta and spent time learning the production process during studio sessions with Atlanta producer TrueBeatzz. That sparked an interest in him which later led to him fully producing his next project, Say What You Will, which released in February of 2019. The release of Say What You Will led to further recognition and a bubbling Von Prospa fan base. Von’s music is centered around his relationships, experiences and life lessons.

Early Life

Javantae Cureton was born on November 29th, 1996, in Newark, New Jersey. His father, an African-American who was a house-music DJ involved in the street life, and his mother, an Italian-American who went to school for cosmetology and worked as a receptionist. Javantae was exposed to a diverse ethnic background at a young age, raised primarily by his mother. He would often spend weekends with his fathers side of the family, where he learned the skill of rapping through his oldest sibling, Jeremiah, and was exposed to various styles of music which became the base of his passion.

Javantae’s parents split up when he was very young, and he would go on to stay with his mother, while his father would end up dealing with a number of jail stints. Although he and his family would move a lot, Javantae was raised primarily in two New Jersey neighborhoods; Roselle, a small borough nicknamed “The Gorgeous Borough” where he’d done all of his schooling, and Elizabeth, a more poverty stricken city that schooled him on everyday life.

It was in Elizabeth where Javantae was exposed to the harsh realities of life. Just outside his home, people were dying and the neighborhood was flooded with drugs and gang violence. Inside his home was an abusive step-father, arguing and the constant worry of his mothers well-being. During these times is when Javantae found his interest in writing, where he would find time to hide himself and write poetry in a notebook he’d gotten from school. The poetry would later turn into rap verses as he aspired to be like his brother, as Von went on to state in his record Make It Out Alive, “Miah always spit in Nanna car, he was the rapper first.” Javantae also accredits his brother with introducing him to 50 Cent during his Get Rich Or Die Trying era.

On the contrary to life in Elizabeth, Javantae would spend his school days in Roselle where he’d meet his friends, now, the crew recognized as 88:HRS (pronounced eighty-eight hours). It was also in Roselle where he was introduced to the likes of Jay-Z, DMX and Kanye West by his uncles who were heavy into hip-hop and allowed Javantae to be surrounded by the genre of music. Similar to his father, VONDO’S uncles were also involved in the streets, and they would use their stories from personal experiences to teach Javantae lessons on life and how to maneuver.

Career

2005-2011

After being inspired and being surrounded by music and watching his brother freestyle, Javantae began practicing freestyling at the age of 9 but would hide it by practicing in the shower and in his room. By the age of 14, Javantae had numerous notebooks filled with written verses and song ideas. At one point, his mother found the notebooks and threw them out after reading and learning about the explicit content written in them. Javantae would continue to write music and eventually steal his mothers credit card to order recording equipment so he could finally record the verses he had been writing. He would record freestyles over classic records from his favorite artists at the time and upload them to Soundcloud and Facebook. After a few months his uncles and family members began to see potential in Javantae, but his mother would remain hesitant.

2013-2014

Javantae’s uncle, John Collier, who spent many years in a band and as a musician in the music industry, began inviting Von to record in his studio. It was in these sessions where Javantae’s mother started to believe in his talents as her and family members would watch Javantae and John record music for hours. During these days, Von was using the Monikers Unorthodox J, J The Unorthodox and Trippy Weezlo. On Say What You Will, Von touches base with this era rapping, “I miss them sessions back at UJ’s, back when laying one verse would take me nearly two days.”

2014-2016

Javantae became eager to record full projects, so he would put together mixtapes and hand them out at the local Wendy’s with his friend and long time music collaborator, 6K. The mixtapes recorded during this era include Never Enough, From Me To You and G.P.N (a collaboration project with Atlanta artists and long time friend GNOIR). A couple of these projects may still be accessible on the internet.

2017

In 2017, Javantae released Don’t Leave, I’ll be Back, his first project released officially. This project generated his recognition as a rapper throughout his state and local neighborhoods. In a video he released on his Youtube, VONDO states that the project was all-in-all a compilation project of songs he recorded throughout the months. The project received a lot of positive feedback and helped him book his first live performances in New Jersey and New York.

2018-2019

After the release of Don’t Leave, I’ll Be Back, Javantae went down to Atlanta to spend time with his childhood friend and artist, GNOIR. Down there is where he formally met producer TrueBeatzz. During this visit he sat in studio sessions and picked up the interest in music production after a few tips and convos with True. Javantae has stated that what turned him onto producing is True telling him that he views producing "as a video game." Later returning to New Jersey, Javantae spent the next 6 months honing in production and learning the skill. As he got better, he decided that the next project he releases will be fully produced by him. That idea birthed Say What You Will. On February 20th, 2019, VONDO released his first official project with Say What You Will. A lot of pride was taken in with VONDO producing, writing and recording the entire project himself. Upon release, Say What You Will received critical acclaim and was picked up by multiple media outlets including The Rap Fest, Music On The Dot, The Hype Magazine and Unsigned Hype. The project was accompanied by 2 music videos and would go on to be a staple in the early stages of Javantae’s career.

2020

On March 18th, VONDO released his project "Hear Me Out". The album includes artist and production features from GNoir, TrueBeatzz and King Leek. The day before the release, a short film was released to highlight the project and took a minor insight to VONDO’S up bringing, career and work process.