TJ Fredette was born April 21,1982 in Glens Falls, New York. He grew up playing basketball and listening to hip-hop music with a very tight knit group of friends. As a senior in high school, a friend who was an aspiring hip-hop artist from New York City encouraged him to start writing rhymes. It soon became a passion for TJ, and not long after, he was performing in local hard rock clubs as the only rapper among a heavy metal crowd.

Within a year he hooked up with other MCs, mostly kids from the Bronx and Brooklyn who moved upstate to escape their tough environments. They formed a group called the Designated Hittaz, and they began performing and recording material all over New York State. Although nothing major ever came of the group, they were able to create a buzz and establish a decent following. TJ strived to keep his music positive, and drew on his childhood experiences of growing up in an upstate New York neighborhood. This contrast to his counterparts growing up in tough neighborhoods in NYC quickly showed in the lyrical content. After a couple years together the group decided to break up and each member pursued solo careers with the promise that if one member made it solo, they would not forget the others.

While TJ was beginning to chase success in the music world, his little brother was dreaming of the big time, too. His brother Jimmer was quickly becoming a high school basketball superstar, and TJ was his biggest supporter. TJ, a basketball player himself, mentored Jimmer to help him become a basketball star. He invented drills to build Jimmer’s mental and physical toughness as well as his fundamental skills. Jimmer continued to develop his game which resulted in a full scholarship to play Division I basketball for Brigham Young University in Utah. Seeing Jimmer play and succeed at this level has been a dream come true for TJ.

Everything was going well in TJ’s life when suddenly it was turned upside down. After tearing his ACL playing basketball at the local YMCA, TJ suffered some partial brain damage from a routine operation. For the next year and half he lived his life on the couch too dizzy, weak, and off balance to stay on his feet. His life became nothing more than an everyday battle to keep the desire to stay alive long enough to rehab his brain back to normal. His motivation to survive was Jimmer. Seeing Jimmer succeed at such a high level and looking forward to his games on TV twice a week was the only pleasure TJ got out of life at that time. Supporting Jimmer gave him a reason to persevere through his struggles. Soon TJ was doing much better, and was eager to get back into music as well as attend Jimmer’s games in-person.

His recent struggles inspired him to write the song Amazing for his brother. The song is based on the hard work and the experiences the pair shared while they morphed Jimmer into a basketball star. TJ also created an emotional video for the song with footage from the family’s personal collection.

Jimmer, a junior at BYU, listens to the song for inspiration before every basketball game. His recent NCAA Men’s Tournament success has also translated into much exposure for TJ.

Today, TJ performs, records, and writes songs on a regular basis.