Casual

Casual
Birth name	Jonathan J. Owens
Born	December 19, 1973 (1973-12-19)
Origin	Oakland, California, U.S.A.
Genre	Hip hop
Occupation(s)	Rapper, record producer
Years active	1992-present
Label	Jive (1993-1994) Hieroglyphics Imperium Recordings (1997-present) Stimulated Records (2001) Loud Records (2001) Steven Rifkind Company (2001) Fat Boy Music Group (2011)
Associated acts	Hieroglyphics, J. Rawls, Ron Jon Bovi

Jonathan J. Owens (born December 19, 1973), better known by his stage name Casual, is an American rapper and record producer from Oakland, California. He is one of the founding members of the alternative hip hop collective Hieroglyphics. After his 1994 debut album Fear Itself garnered both critical and commercial success, Casual went on to become one of the most prominent members on the Hieroglyphics roster. Despite an absence of both sales and critical acclaim of his albums that followed his debut, Casual has garnered a following amongst devoted hip hop fans, particularly in the Bay Area hip hop scene, largely due to his specialisation in hardcore battle rhymes. 

Influences

Casual considers EPMD, Big Daddy Kane, LL Cool J, Too $hort, Kool G Rap and the Juice Crew as influences.

Discography

Studio albums

• 1994: Fear Itself
• 1997: Meanwhile...
• 2001: He Think He Raw
• 2003: Truck Driver
• 2005: Smash Rockwell
• 2011: He Think He #Rapgod
• 2011: The Hierophant
• 2012: He Still Think He Raw
• 2013: The Return of the Backpack

Collaborative albums

• 2012: Respect Game or Expect Flames (with J. Rawls)