Down AKA Kilo

{{short description|American rapper}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Down AKA Kilo

| birth_name = Juan Jose Martinez{{cite web|url=https://www.ascap.com/repertory#/ace/search/workID/422334370 |title=LEAN LIKE A CHOLO |website=ASCAP |publisher=American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers |access-date=May 1, 2023}}

| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1985}}

| birth_place = Oxnard, California, U.S.

| genre = Hip hop

| occupation = Rapper

| years_active = 1998-present

| label = Familia Records, Silent Giant, Machete, Universal

| website = {{url|www.myspace.com/downakakilo}}

}}

Juan Jose Martinez (born 1985), better known by his stage name Down AKA Kilo, is an American rapper from Oxnard, California.

Martinez was born in Oxnard; his parents were undocumented immigrants from Mexico.{{cite magazine|last=Ben-Yehuda|first=Ayala|title=Down aka Kilo|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1052483/down-aka-kilo|magazine=Billboard|date=April 27, 2007|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070617193513/http://billboard.com/bbcom/breakenter/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003577853|archivedate=June 17, 2007}} Growing up, he listened to Cypress Hill and N.W.A and began rapping at age 13. He made his first recordings at the garage of childhood friend Edward "E-Dub" Rios, who would later become producer of the Power 106 radio show Pocos Pero Locos. He released his debut album California Cowboyz in 2003,{{cite web|last=Cordor|first=Cyril|title=Down aka Kilo Biography|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/down-aka-kilo-p918812/biography|publisher=allmusic|year=2007|accessdate=April 17, 2011}} and his second album Definition of an Ese in 2007, with two singles from the album, "Lean like a Cholo" and "Definition of an Ese."

On March 28, 2009, Down was injured in a car crash at Farmington, New Mexico and put in a coma while hospitalized.{{cite news|last=Barlow|first=Zeke|title=Oxnard rapper injured in New Mexico crash|url=http://www.vcstar.com/news/2009/mar/31/oxnard-rapper-injured-in-new-mexico-crash/|accessdate=September 5, 2011|newspaper=Ventura County Star|date=March 31, 2009}}