Jadakiss
(born Jason Phillips [1] on May 22,1975) is an American rapper. He is a member of the group The LOX. Jadakiss is one of three owners of the imprint known as D-Block. He recently signed to Roc-A-Fella Records, an imprint under Def Jam Recordings.
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Biography
By the age of 17, Jadakiss was a
freestyle rapper engaging in competitions. He and some of his friends were given the opportunity to compete in the "Jack the Rapper Competition" in
Florida, where Jadakiss was noticed for his battle rap ability. He met Dee and Wah of the
Ruff Ryders (then a management company), and began hanging out and battling outside of the Ruff Ryders' studio where artists like
DMX made their first hits.
Career
Jadakiss founded the rap group The Warlocks in 1994 with friends Sheek Louch, Chris "Lil Mac" Pelkey, and Styles P. They later signed to
Bad Boy Entertainment, where it was suggested that they change their name simply to "The LOX", which came to stand for Living Off eXperience. They made their first appearance on The Main Source's 1994 LP
Fuck What You Think
on the track "Set it Off".
The group, especially Jadakiss, developed a close relationship with
The Notorious B.I.G., during which time Jadakiss was taken under Biggie's wing. The LOX's first multi-platinum hit was the tribute to Biggie called "We'll Always Love Big Poppa" (the B-side to
Puff Daddy's "I'll Be Missing You") in 1997. In 1998, the LOX released
Money, Power & Respect. Following this album, they left
Bad Boy Records.
Jada's debut solo album,
Kiss Tha Game Goodbye, was released in August 2001 under the Ruff Ryders/
Interscope label. The album featured popular guests and producers such as
DJ Premier,
The Alchemist,
Snoop Dogg and
Swizz Beatz, but was written off as repetitive and uninspired. Jadakiss has acknowledged the criticism as, generally speaking, valid, saying the record was done less out of inspiration and more out of contract obligations to Bad Boy. The album produced the single "Put Ya Hands Up."
Jadakiss' second album,
Kiss of Death
, was released in June 2004. His song "Why?" (featuring
Anthony Hamilton) became one of the biggest hits of 2004, spawning a remix featuring
Styles P,
Common,
Nas, and Hamilton. "Why?" remains Jada's biggest hit, peaking at #11 on the
Hot 100. Another single from the record, "U Make Me Wanna" featured
Mariah Carey and was a much more commercially driven love song.
Kiss of Death
did not reflect the popularity of its lead single, but it was better-received than his first effort.
Recently, in late 2007, Jadakiss signed to Jay-Z's
Roc-A-Fella Records, a move Jay had been trying to arrange for a long period of time
[2]. Jadakiss released his latest album,
The Last Kiss
, on Def Jam/Roc-A-Fella Records in April 2009, executive produced by both Jay-Z and the Ruff Ryders CEOs/management team of Dee and Wah
[3]. The move comes on the heels of increased D-Block/Roc-a-Fella collaborations; in 2006, Kiss and former rival
Beanie Sigel collaborated on
DJ Khaled's album
Listen...
, and in 2007, on
Freeway's album
Free At Last
. Styles P has appeared on a radio freestyle with Freeway and Sigel. He has also appeared briefly in Jay-Z's latest video for his
American Gangster
second single, "
Roc Boys," in which he appears throwing up the famous Roc-a-Fella sign, "the Diamond."
In 2009, Jadakiss released his third official album,
The Last Kiss
. The first single is "
By My Side", featuring
Ne-Yo. The second official single is "
Can't Stop Me". The third official single is "Death Wish", featuring Lil Wayne. The fourth official single is "Who's Real", featuring
Swizz Beatz and
OJ Da Juiceman. Jadakiss was also featured on a song on
Raekwons new album,
Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II, the song also features Styles P.
Discography
Solo albums
- Kiss tha Game Goodbye
(2001)
- Kiss of Death
(2004)
- The Last Kiss
(2009)
- Top Five, Dead or Alive
(2010) [4]
The LOX Albums
- Money, Power & Respect
(1998)
- We Are the Streets
(2000)
- No Security
(2009)
- New L.O.X. Order
(2009)
References
- Jadakiss Biography ''Allmusic''. Accessed October 21, 2008
- J z Gets Jadakiss on Rocafella
- [1] Jadakiss signs with rocafela
- Jadakiss Wants Kanye West, Cam'ron On 'Who's Real' Remix. ''MTV News.'' Accessed May 15, 2009.