Free Agent

TJ Hooker (nee Tyler Joseph)

By: Jason Rodriguez

September 20, 2005

>NAME: TJ Hooker (nee Tyler Joseph)
>AGE: 27
>HOMETOWN: N.E. Portland, Ore.
>GENRE: Rap
>FAVORITE ALBUM: Reasonable Doubt
>DREAM COLLABO: Pharrell

For TJ Hooker, it all became clear in 2000. That’s when the first-year multimedia student at the Art Institute of Portland took an on-air gig at the city’s Jammin’ 95.5. “Radio is more than playing songs and talking between breaks,” he says. And being around records like Juvenile’s “Ha” and Jay-Z’s “I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)” inspired Hooker — like Ludacris, another jock turned rapper — to chase his own mike dreams. He’s since relocated to Los Angeles looking for the right deal. His material includes the skillful Jay-Z dedication “It’s on You,” which casts Hov as a big brother figure. Hooker acknowledges he takes a cue from Jigga’s swagger. “My style is quarter suburb, half ’hood, and quarter pimp,” he says. Sounds ludicrous, but it just might work.