Jackson Turner aka Heretic is a hip-hop artist from NYC. He has been rhyming and performing since he was 15 years old. When he was 19 he released his first EP, sold and distributed independently. When he was 20, he won second place in the UB Freestyle Battle, which was aired on MTV. Jackson eventually moved to Beijing, China where he reentered the music scene in 2011, performing in local Beijing venues. In 2013, he released his first full length album “Long Time Coming”, collaborating with producers Soulspeak, Jay-Dub and TB-Ray. The album focused on Jackson’s experiences growing up in NYC and the personal and political views he developed as a result of these experiences. It was titled “Long Time Coming” because it was a culmination of almost ten years of musical and artistic development. Jackson has since released three music videos for this album, all in collaboration with Sbazzo and Xiao Ma-Ge Productions. Jackson has performed both in and outside of Beijing; including performances at the 8th and 9th Section 6 Anniversaries and the 2014 Chongqing International Music and Beer Festival. Jackson Turner’s new album is titled "The Foundation EP". This title represents the new sound and direction of Jackson’s music. The album tries to get back to the roots of classic hip-hop, while at the same time staying innovative and relevant to contemporary sounds. Compared to his last album, The Foundation is more musical and up-beat. It incorporates many soul and funk samples from the 1970s; the same sounds which gave birth to hip-hop. The Foundation displays the variety of styles that Jackson is capable of—ranging from the deeply philosophical, to the hard core, to the romantic, to the party groove. The album should have a song for everyone. The Foundation is also the name of the last song on the album. This song is about understanding love as the basis of humanity. Naturally, the album’s title, The Foundation, carries this meaning as well. Overall, the album has a positive message and advocates the conscious values that characterized early 90s hip-hop. For this project, Jackson collaborated with a variety of producers, mixers and featured artists. He again teamed up with the immensely talented pianist and producer Jewell Fortenberry, who has worked with Chinese singers Tia-Ray and Fang Da Tong; as well as collaborating again with the acclaimed Chinese American producer Soulspeak. Other producers include the Norwegian producer DJ Peewee, African producers from the Triad Music Crew DJ Moss Da Boss and DJ Shaba, and the Azerbaijani producer Dojo Shaolin. On the album, he has featured the German/Danish singer Lisa Rowe, who’s 2012 single “United” with the Danish duo Nik & Jay reached number one on Tracklisten, the official Danish single charts. A second feature is from French reggae artist General Huge, who’s group the Ultimate Band Crew has received much acclaim in France, Africa and China. Finally, the album was mixed by two incredibly talented individuals. Firstly, the German mixer Michael Seifert from Yuli Studios Beijing and secondly, Tyler Scott from Mirrorball Studios North Hollywood. Jackson Turner acted as executive producer throughout, providing the overall vision and scope as well as coordinating, arranging, revising and funding all the music on the album.