Since finding (literally) his instrument of choice in 1995, NYC-based singer-songwriter Jon Braman carries and plays the ukulele everywhere he goes. His unique style of music, which combines Jon’s rapping and ukulele playing with a live hip hop band, was born after listening to Outkast’s classic album ‘Southernplayalisticadillacmuzic’. With drums, bass, keys, saxophone, trombone, beatbox, harmonies, lyrical sparring with fellow MCs - the Jon Braman Band is a truly one-of-a-kind musical experience going down right now in NYC. Without exaggeration, you have never heard anything quite like this, and are almost guaranteed to get hooked on the first listen.

Dubbed ‘Father of ukulele hip hop’ in 2007 by the Washington City Paper, Braman hasn’t looked back. He has opened for reigning ukulele world champion, Jake Shimabukuro at Gramercy Theater, is the resident songwriter for WBAI’s Artsy Fartsy show (99.5 FM) and co-hosts’ NY’s hottest underground cross-genre jam-session, 'The Melting Pot' at Pianos in NYC’s Lower Eastside. Performing regularly throughout the NYC, Jon has solidified his unique sound to record his second self-produced CD, You and Me, in 2011. AVAILABLE HERE:

'The 99' video is HERE!!! Feat. MaG and Webbafied

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The ukulele is not a genre.

“It's just small and easy to carry around. Music is music. Hip hop isn't a brand name.”
Read More

Picture the scene. It's Wed night circa 9 pm and you're in a dark lounge on the Lower East Side. On the poorly lit stage are about 6 or 7 people. Drums, bass, keys, sax, trombone. The guy in the middle has just started a pulsing, steady groove on what looks like a 4-stringed acoustic guitar. Then the bass and drums drop, and people at the bar who had been talking suddenly get quiet and turn around. The guy with the ukulele steps to the mic.

When the words start, that's when your heart starts. As the story is told, the harmonies and horns swell up like a wave around you. With a sudden flood of electricity, you understand all at once that the music, the city, is alive, coming to life right before your eyes. And you think: this is it. Read More

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You And Me

An album about relationships. A snapshot of a band coming into its own. A unified, full-band sound, but never grandiose, with the lyrical energy driving the drums, bass, keys, horns and harmonies. The ukulele in context, at last.
Climatastrophunk

What is the sound of the climate falling apart? Eco-conscious rhymes and melodies to guide you. Beatbox, harmnonies, kitchen implements, organ, trumpet, scatting - each song explores and a new corner of this home-brew sound.

view lyrics:
Sprouting Daisies Out of My Hair

Sit on the couch and play the first 10 ukulele rap songs ever written. We'll call it an album. Funky, political, totally unique. Dense rhymes and catchy melodies that will stay in your head for weeks, and give you something new every time you listen.

The ukulele is not a genre.

“It's just small and easy to carry around. Music is music. Hip hop isn't a brand name.” Read More

“It's just small and easy to carry around. Music is music. Hip hop isn't a brand name.”
Read More