A Harlem native, Dominican rapper J.R. Writer grew up listening to Big Pun, Big L, and his all-time favorite, 2Pac. As a teen he worked the Harlem hip-hop circuit hard, appearing on local access cable television shows and joining every open-mike competition he could. It was at one of these battles that he met Cam'ron and Juelz Santana, members of a crew known as the Diplomats or Dipset.