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Jayson Phillips,¹ also known by his stage name Jadakiss, is an American rapper. He is a member of the group D-Block. 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 twelve, 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 the Game Goodbye, was released in August 2001 under the Ruff Ryders/Interscope label. The album featured popular guests and producers such as 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 He reportedly will have an as-yet-untitled album on Roc-A-Fella Records in 2008, 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."

Controversy

Roc-a-Fella/Sigel

Jadakiss and the LOX were engaged in a long feud with several Roc-A-Fella Records artists, specifically Beanie Sigel and State Property, beginning in 2001. The two main diss tracks are "Fuck Beanie Sigel" by Jadakiss and "Fuck Jadakiss" by Beanie Sigel. The Lox and State Property would continue to diss each other on radio freestyles and mix-tape songs for the next few years.Jadakiss and Beans would then have an onstage battle. The problem was eventually resolved, and since then, the LOX and Beanie Sigel have collaborated on various tracks together, including being listed as collaborators on "Barrell Brothers" from Ghostface Killah's album "The Big Doe Rehab".

P. Diddy

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.

50 Cent

In 2004, Jadakiss and Fat Joe were featured in Ja Rule's "New York" anthem. In this song, Ja Rule took subliminal but 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", and "Ms. Jackson." 50 Cent responded with the song "I Run NY."Jadakiss then challenged 50 Cent to a onstage battle in Madison Square Garden for 1 million dollars...50 Cent declined..stating that Jadakiss is not wealthy enough to put up that type of money. Jadakiss and 50 Cent's differences seemed resolved in February 2007, when Styles P called into HOT 97 and talked with 50 Cent and squashed the beef. In January 2008, 50 Cent said he has no beef with Jadakiss. As of August 28th, 2008 Jadakiss and 50 cent have officially ended their beef and now have plans to record together.

Bill O'Reilly

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".

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.⁴⁵⁶⁷

Discography

Solo

• Kiss tha Game Goodbye (2001)
• Kiss of Death (2004)
• The Last Kiss (2008)

D-Block

• Money, Power & Respect (1998)
• We Are the Streets (2000)
• Prepare for Glory mixtape (2008)

References

Main article: Jadakiss discography

External links

• Official website
• Jadakiss at MySpace