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Jason Phillips,¹ also known by his stage name Jadakiss, 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.

Career

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.

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, while 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.

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

External links

• Official website
• Jadakiss Official Universal Music Group Site
• Jadakiss at MySpace
• Photos from Jadakiss' set at SXSW 2009 from Phrequency.com
• Jadakiss interview with HHC Digital magazine