23-year-old Justin Mohrle the next great Dr. Dre protégé?
Just when you thought Dr. Dre had ditched music in lieu of headphones comes the news that he has brought a new artist under his wing. Even more surprising may be who the artist is: Justin Mohrle, 23, is a virtual unknown outside of the Dallas suburbs in which he lived until recently.
Before Mohrle is hyped as the next Marshall Mathers, let’s clarify that while Dre may have taken interest, the songwriter/rapper is actually signed to a 360 deal through Silverback, The D.O.C.’s company. That much is buried in the nearly-3,000-word profile on the nascent rapper in D Magazine, which broke the news.
The D.O.C. did not initially take interest in Mohrle. According to D Magazine, Mohrle was discovered by “independent artist development scout” Tony Hall of Deep Ellum Music Group, who then made the concerted effort to get The D.O.C. on board. The effort led to a deal with Silverback to produce a demo EP, “with the intention of pitching Mohrle to Dr. Dre.” They did just that, scrubbing any trace of Mohrle’s pre-The D.O.C. work from the Internet. From there, the feel-good story continues: Dre heard the demo and thought enough of Mohrle to fly him out to L.A. and get him in the studio.
Little is known of what Mohrle’s sound is – or what it will be – but the young songwriter has apparently been logging 13-hour studio sessions in Dre’s Sherman Oaks studio Record One. Among the artists he’s worked with in some capacity include King Mez, BJ The Chicago Kid – an R&B singer signed to Motown Records and incorrectly identified as a rapper in D Magazine – and Gwen Stefani.
From the way The D.O.C. is describing Mohrle and Dre’s work, it appears no different from how Dre does it. Dr. Dre, after all, is known for bringing in songwriters and collaborators, from Kendrick Lamar and Drake to Jay Z. Before taking on Justin Night moniker, Mohrle went by JT.
“JT and I worked on a couple songs; Dre fell in love with the songs; Dre stole the songs from the kid, because he wanted to put them out as a unit,” The D.O.C. told D Magazine, later adding that after developing Mohrle’s talents, the plan is to “help us build a classic for the youngster.”
Only time will tell if Justin Mohrle’s Aftermath tenure will explode into stardom like Eminem ‘s or go by the wayside as Bishop Lamont or Slim The Mobster’s. Besides blogs, iTunes and radio, make sure to check album credits and what not for Justin Night sometime before next Christmas – word is some manifestation of his work will come out by then.