Johnny Based, located in New York City, is a multi-medium, musical and visual artist. As a solo artist, he combines hip hop/rap with the eccentric elements of punk rock. He pushes against boundaries and challenges himself with every track, creating music that is genre-bending and sonically unique. Johnny is also involved in the New York based, hip-hop/rap collective, NXGN, who were featured on XXL under The New New 15 New York City Rappers You Should Know. Johnny’s performances span venues such as AfroPunk Fest, Webster Hall, Sound Of Brazil, Le Poisson Rouge, Trans Pecos, Chelsea Music Hall and most recently Terminal 5, where he opened with NXGN for Gunna, Rico Nasty and Flipp Dinero. Additionally, Johnny has performed at countless underground New York based parties and events, even performing on the subway, where he attracted two hundred New York teens onto a moving car. As a solo event, Johnny daringly creative directed the event, GothFlex, on Halloween night, performing solo and inviting other New York based artists on stage. His performances radiate with a youthful energy that leaves the audience adrenaline-filled and craving for more.

Considering visual art as his first love, Johnny illustrated for his mother’s children’s book, Fela: Let Music Be the Weapon, at only age twelve. He is now a passionate, visual artist, working with acrylic paint, marker, pencil and more. Inspired by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Salvador Dali and Dr.Seuss, Johnny creates work that is influenced heavily by surrealism. He also creates all of his cover art, which bridges both his music and visual art and has designed clothing, eventually creating his own brand InkBased. In the upcoming year, Johnny is pushing himself even further, practicing videography and directing for his self-produced music videos. As a charismatic and malleable individual, there is nothing that seems to hold Johnny back from challenging himself to learn a new art form. Throughout all his mediums, he maintains a love for conquering the impossible and bending traditional images, techniques and sounds into something profoundly one-of-a-kind.