| Jadakiss | |
|---|---|
Jadakiss in June 2011 |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Jason Phillips |
| Born | May 27, 1975 Yonkers, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | Hip hop |
| Occupations | Rapper |
| Years active | 1994 – present |
| Labels | D-Block, Ruff Ryders, Def Jam |
| Associated acts | Fat Joe, Rick Ross, Swizz Beatz, Pharrell, DJ Khaled, DMX, Jay-Z, Nate Dogg, Jaheim |
| Website | www.jadakiss.com |
Jason Phillips (born May 27, 1975),[1] better known as Jadakiss, is an American rapper. He is a member of the group The LOX. (a member of the hip hop collective Ruff Ryders) Jadakiss is one of the three owners of the imprint known as D-Block. In early 2007, Jadakiss signed to Roc-a-Fella Records / Def Jam Records.
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By the age of 16, Jadakiss was a freestyle rapper. He and some of his friends were given the opportunity to compete in the "Jack the Rapper Competition" in Florida, where Jadakiss had been 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 such as DMX made their first hits.
Jadakiss founded the rap group The Warlocks in 1994 with friends, 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 hit was the tribute to The Notorious B.I.G. 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. Though the record was successful, eventually going Platinum, The LOX grew unhappy with Bad Boy Records and Puffy's glossy, radio friendly production. Following this album, they left the label to sign with Ruff Ryders Entertainment
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, DMX, 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.
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][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...the Album, 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. In 2010, Jadakiss left Roc-a-Fella to reunite with the Ruff Ryders label.[4]
In 2011, he was featured on two DJ Khaled tracks, one of them titled "It Ain't Over Til It's Over", also featuring Mary J. Blige and Fabolous, and "Welcome to My Hood (Remix)", also featuring Ludacris, Busta Rhymes, Twista, Mavado, Birdman, Ace Hood, Fat Joe, Game, Bun B and Waka Flocka Flame.
In July 2004, Jadakiss was arrested in North Carolina on marijuana and gun-possession charges.[5][6] Several months later, he reached a plea agreement on misdemeanor charges and was ordered to pay a $900 fine.[6][7]
On October 7, 2006, Jadakiss was once again arrested in his hometown of Yonkers, New York, on gun and drug-possession charges.[6][8] A Yonkers Police Department spokesperson said Jadakiss was one of four men sitting in a 2006 Toyota Camry that was parked near the intersection of Nepperhan Avenue and Elm Street in Yonkers at around 5 a.m. Saturday. Officers said the vehicle's driver was behaving oddly and said they noticed a strong odor of marijuana while approaching the car. Inside the vehicle, police found a .38 caliber revolver that had been reported stolen. According to The Associated Press, the weapon was loaded.[6][8] All occupants were charged with possession of a stolen firearm; Jadakiss, was also charged with possession of marijuana (a small amount was found on his person).[6][8] The driver, Darnell Frazier, was charged with driving under the influence. The other two men in the vehicle are listed as Benjamin Lockhart and Kristian Smith. All were remanded to Westchester County Jail and were held until at least Tuesday of that year, when they were due in court.[8]
Police arrested two men on multiple felony charges, after they raided Jadakiss' Yonkers, New York apartment and found large amounts of heroin and marijuana.[9] According to police, multiple amounts of narcotics were discovered in the rapper's waterfront home.[9] The incident took place in morning of August 24, 2009.
Both men were reportedly in police custody and had been slapped with criminal charges.[9]
Jadakiss was engaged in a long feud with several Roc-A-Fella Records artists, specifically Beanie Sigel and State Property, beginning in 2001. The feud began when Jadakiss stated in a radio interview that many Philadelphia artists at the time were biting his style. Being from Philadelphia, Beanie Sigel took offense and came with a diss freestyle over Jadakiss's single "Put Ya Hands Up". Jadakiss responded with a diss freestyle of his own. Soon after, members of both The Lox and State Property were involved in the feud. The Lox and State Property would continue to diss each other on radio freestyles and mixtape songs for the next few years. The problem was eventually resolved, and since then, the LOX and Beanie Sigel have collaborated on various tracks together, including Sheek Louch's Kiss Your Ass Goodbye Remix, Ghostface Killah's "Barrell Brothers" which features both Styles P and Beanie Sigel and DJ Khaled's track "Problems" which features Beanie Sigel and Jadakiss. Definite signs that the feud was over came in 2007 when Jay-Z signed Jadakiss to Roc-A-Fella.
When the LOX left Bad Boy Records, the group's and each of its members' publishing was still owned by label head P. Diddy. The LOX released several tracks like "We Are The Streets" and "Blood Pressure" which allegedly were aimed towards P. Diddy. The group fought with him over royalties, debt issues and other things until 2005 when they briefly put their differences aside to perform with Jay-Z at his "I Declare War" concert. Afterward, they went on New York radio station Hot 97 to ask for their publishing, which was given to them by Diddy. It is anticipated that The LOX will re-sign with Puff and release their next album on Bad Boy Records, but a deal has yet to be finalized.
In 2004, Jadakiss and Fat Joe were featured in Ja Rule's "New York" single. In this song, Ja Rule took obvious shots at 50 Cent. In turn, 50 Cent made a song titled "Piggy Bank" in which he disses Fat Joe and Jadakiss. This caused Jadakiss to release "Checkmate", "Problem Child", "Shots Fired" and "I'm Sorry Ms. Jackson". 50 Cent along with his G-Unit crew responded with songs such as "I Run New York", "Window Shopper", and "Death Wish" by Lloyd Banks. Jadakiss challenged 50 Cent to an onstage battle in Madison Square Garden for 1 million dollars, but 50 Cent declined. The feud was later resolved, with the respective parties performing together at 50 Cent's ThisIs50 Festival.[10]
Jadakiss attracted some controversy and condemnation from commentator Bill O'Reilly, who labeled him a "smear merchant" due to lyrics in the song "Why?", which state Jada's belief that George W. Bush coordinated the September 11, 2001 attacks. "Why do niggas push pounds of powder? Why did Bush knock down the towers?" In the music video for "Why?", a man holds up a picket sign reading "Buck Fush" (a spoonerism of "Fuck Bush"). O'Reilly took the position that the President should be allowed to sue Jadakiss for slander. The track was eventually banned on some radio stations or played with the lyrics in question censored.[11][12][13]
In 2011, with the release of Lil Wayne's "The Carter IV", Jadakiss was dragged into a feud between Jay-Z and Lil Wayne on the song "It's Good". Jadakiss has since distanced himself from the conflict by announcing publicly that he had no ill will towards Jay-Z and that he was sent the track prior to the addition of Lil Wayne's and Drake's vocals.[14]
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