Jonathan Michael Wayne^[2] (born June 5, 1990), better known by his stage name Jonwayne, is an American rapper, poet, musician, and record producer.^[3]

Jonwayne was born in La Habra, California. He is a descendant of American Revolutionary War General "Mad" Anthony Wayne, from whom actor John Wayne took his stage name.^[4] As a high school student, he quit the football team in favor of getting involved in its theater and other arts programs.

Jonwayne briefly worked as a stage actor after high school.^[5] Through these activities he developed a crush on a girl who was interested in poetry; he then began writing his own poetry in order to impress her and quickly found a passion for it. Jonwayne's love of poetry led to his involvement in hip hop at 17 years old when a rap group from West Covina began bringing their equipment to a Young Artists Workshop that he attended. In early 2009, he began frequenting Low End Theory, the Los Angeles hip hop club where he would meet his friend and mentor, Dibia$e. By 2010, he had booked his first gig at Low End Theory and became one of the youngest artists ever to perform there. He came to the attention of Stones Throw Records head Peanut Butter Wolf when the two were on the same bill at a benefit show at Low End Theory in 2010.^[3]

He released his debut album, the instrumental Bowser, on Alpha Pup Records in 2011.^[6] He also released the mixtape, I Don't Care, which was listed by Pitchfork as one of the Overlooked Mixtapes in 2011.^[7] I Don't Care was his first release to feature his own vocals, largely because he had difficulty finding other artists to rap over the beats he had produced.^[8] His 48-track instrumental album, Oodles of Doodles, was released on Stones Throw Records in 2012.^[9] In March of that year he released the mixtape This Is False. The tape is split into two halves - the first was recorded in collaborator Zeroh's house using Zeroh's equipment with Zeroh present and the second was recorded by Jonwayne in his own room with his own equipment. Accordingly, he described the mixtape as "an executed concept in viewing how our surroundings change our energy and vibrations."^[10]

His rap career began in earnest with a series of mixtapes, Cassette in 2012 followed by Cassette 2 and Cassette 3 in 2013. Each mixtape was released only on cassette tape and the artwork for each cassette mimicked the trade dress of recognizable products - a pack of Marlboro cigarettes (Cassette), a can of Coca-Cola (Cassette 2) and a first generation iPod (Cassette 3).^[11] Philip Morris USA sent a cease and desist letter to Stones Throw alleging that the design of Cassette infringed its trademark in the Marlboro packaging design. Stones Throw agreed to stop producing anymore copies of Cassette, noting that they were "just about out of tapes anyway."^[12] In July 2014, a selection of tracks from the three mixtapes was released on vinyl as the compilation Cassette on Vinyl.^[11] "Cool Runnings", a track from Cassette 2, was listed by Drowned in Sound as one of the Top Tracks in April 2013.^[13] He released Rap Album One on Stones Throw Records later that year.^[14]

On February 17, 2017, Jonwayne released a studio album, Rap Album Two.^[15]

On December 4, 2018, Jonwayne released an online Christmas instrumental-rap album, Yuletide Bangerz.

Jonwayne is currently based in Southern California.^[16]