By Jacob Engels
Joshua Oglesby is an incredibly focused and determined young man; an entrepreneur, businessman, rapper and survivor. His story is both inspiring and remarkable. Born in 1981, young J.O. was raised in Daytona Beach, Florida in a place called Madison Heights, at a time when turf wars and shoot outs were the norm, he remembers sitting on his parents porch at 5 years old being surrounded by gunshots and the sound of street violence.
His family was his sanctuary – his Mom had him inside the house by 5pm and at Church every Sunday. His father was a huge influence on his life, a respected man of the community, he worked for the city and owned property in the neighborhood, he taught J.O. the value of hard work and perseverance.
At 7 years old J.O. was introduced to a world that would have a powerful impact on his later life – Hip Hop – he would go to his cousins house to watch the latest Yo MTV raps video, artists like LL Cool J, Big Daddy Kane made quite the impression on J.O and unknowingly at the time carved out a career path for him.
It wasn’t until around 12th Grade, the 1995/96 era, when Southern “Dirty South” Hip Hop took hold of the nation with artists like Scarface, Goodie Mob and Master-P that J.O. felt he could relate to the content of rap songs – they spoke his language, lived a life he recognized – he recalls being 16 years old driving to school in his first ‘candy paint’ car.
In 2000 at 19 years old, J.O. built a recording studio, started recording songs and set up Fire Boy entertainment as a promotions company, bringing established rap artists to Daytona Beach / Orlando to perform, eventually bringing in huge stars such as Lil’ Wayne, Mystikal, Field Mob, Ying Yang Twins. Around 2002 He started making money and with his brother they got a retail license and opened up a convenience store in his local neighborhood. He would open up the store and go to class, pay business taxes, and at age 21 following his father’s footsteps he bought property in his neighborhood.
Things were looking very bright for J.O., alongside his burgeoning careers as promotions manager, and retail store owner, he was an emerging College Football star with 230 tackles in his first High School season. At 23 he was the number one draft recruit with an NFL agent on his side, with offers from University of North Florida, Florida State University and Ohio State but despite his father’s wishes for him to leave town J.O chose to stay home and attend Daytona Beach’s Bethune Cookman University.
It was at this fateful age however that his life took a wrong turn, a story of misplaced trust, young love, being at the wrong place at the wrong time. After an argument with an associate and a drug addict friend family member, J.O. was caught in the mix of a drug raid and was handed a 4 year sentence in state prison.
His football scholarship, his various businesses suffered as his life was on hold. Ever resourceful though J.O. used his time to educate himself, he read books on the music industry, publishing, royalties, licensing. Using every skill he had learned – J.O. hired an attorney and negotiated for himself to go on work release – He worked every hour he could at Taco Bell, he was so conscientious that when he was released from prison, he was offered a managers position, which is remarkable considering most parolees struggle to get a break.
Age 27, freshly released from prison J.O. had other plans; he kicked his Fire Boy entertainment into full gear and took on the name “FYE BOY” aka Florida Montana – establishing himself as a force to be reckoned with in the music industry. He bought a building, opened up a convenience store out front, and built a recording studio inside with a CD pressing plant – so he could control all the manufacturing of his music.
FYE Energy Drink, which can be found in 400 stores in Central Florida, including East Orlando.
His next goal was to get himself sponsorship for a Florida tour he was embarking on – he began approaching various energy drink companies, but after sensing bad deals with other companies he took over the discussions and using his incredible negotiating skills he carved out a deal with a trusted company from New Jersey – In 2012 FYE (FIRE YOUR ENERGY) drink was born (www.fyeusa.com) – FYE BOY was involved in every aspect, from the ingredients, to the taste, to the packaging. As of today FYE Energy is in 400 stores in Central Florida and Georgia and has plans to go nationwide. In a beautiful twist of fate, the Bethune Cookman University Basketball team is now looking for FYE Energy to sponsor them.
FYE BOY’s music can be currently heard on 10 commercials, his last record “Mr. Block” featuring Beanie Sigal hit 500 blogs with over 100,000 hits in less than 6 days, he is currently working with Grammy nominated, 3x Platinum producer AYO, as well as artists like Rick Ross, French Montana and 2chainz.
He is also committed to adding a philanthropic aspect to his endeavors, he wants to help educate kids – show them the results of a strong work ethic, teach them about the right path and educate them on how to record and register songs for a career in the music industry.
To learn more about his music, click here.
Jacob Engels, is the Founder of East Orlando Post & Seminole County Post. He is a seasoned political operative who has led numerous statewide political groups and has worked on several high-profile local, statewide, and national races. Jacob has been interviewed on national television & radio programs, with his work having been featured in the Orlando Sentinel, New York Times, Washington Post, Miami Herald and other publications nationwide. He can be reached at info@eastorlandopost.com
