J-Kwon (born Jarrell Jones in March 28, 1986) is a rapper from St. Louis, currently signed to Jermaine Dupri's So So Def Recordings. He is currently wrapping up his second album, Louisville Slugger.

2004-2005: Musical Beginnings

J-Kwon first got signed in a very odd and amusing way. He would continually mock who would be his main producer, Jermaine Dupri, who produced a majority of his first album, Hood Hop. Regardless, according to Dupri, J-Kwon was also signed because of his rapping skills.

J-Kwon first rose to stardom with his single "Tipsy" and his 2004 album Hood hop. J-Kwon's debut peaked at #7 on the Billboard 200. It has reached gold status, selling approximentaly 650,000 copies to date. "Tipsy" peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at #4 in the UK, becoming a success and making it his biggest single to date. A music video was filmed for the single, which was an obvious remake of Gin & Juice by Snoop Dogg. Strangely on the set of this music video, a shot was fired from a passing vehicle. The shot hit a window of a van, but no one was hurt.

After "Tipsy" has done its fair share on the radio, Jive parted with "You & Me", featuring Sadiyyah, as the second single. J-Kwon wanted "Parking Lot" or "Hood Hop" to be a second single, but Jive decided "You & Me" with the fall and holiday theme in mind. While nowhere near as successful as the earlier smash, the song did chart to #58 on the Billboard Hot 100 and landed a spot on the 17th edition of Now That's What I Call Music! Afterwards, third single "Hood Hop" had little success, not charting on The Hot 100 and only getting to #52 on Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Tracks.

J-Kwon rose back to stardom in 2005 when he was given the opportunity to make the priority song on the XXX: State of the Union soundtrack. The song, "Get XXX'd", featuring Petey Pablo and Ebony Eyez, was completed soon enough and was featured on the normal soundtrack and in the credits. Also in 2005, he promoted another part of media, this time in television, when he collabrated with comedian Andy Milonakis in "Like Dis", to promote The Andy Milonakis Show.

His record company, Gracie Entertainment, announced in March 2010 that he had been missing for a month. Later, he had gotten in touch with his record label, saying he is alive and well and "just taking some time out." J-Kwon released his fourth studio album on March 23, 2010, entitled J-Kwon.

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