Before J.I. inked a deal with Interscope Records, which comes packaged as a partnership with
G*STARR ENT.
Before J.I. would appear on The Rap Game Season 2.
Before J.I. would clock in nearly a million followers on Instagram and go viral with tracks
Uber Everywhere, Blame On Me, Company, Love Won't Change & Need Me.
J.I.
Is the latest and greatest new kid on the block who goes by the name Prince of New York.
Just don't tell that to DJ Self or there might be some kinda copyright battle.
But batteling is just with young J.I.
Is best at, first starting off with his brothers in their Brooklyn home to the school yard
and then dropping his freestyles on Instagram.
It was through the power of social media this kid landed himself on a reality rap television
show where he didn't win but captured enough new followers to push forward in this internet
era of come ups.
The facts for this one are a little far and few between but being the Fact God I'll try
and piece this one together.
There is plenty of Before footage cause this kid been at it online since he was at least
14.
What's going on guys?
It's your boy Michael McCrudden documenting the life and career of J.I.
Prior to fame, here for you on Before They Were Famous.
Some other recent drops on this channel of kids doing big things at such a young age
include Mikey Williams and Bronny James and Lil Tecca during his big blow up.
But I need suggestions from you guys for who to do next?
How about a video on Lil Key?
J.I.
If you are watching this video show a little love by sharing this video – I know you
are, I can see you.
Aright, now let's get into this video.
J.I. was born Justin Rivera on September 23, 2001, in Brooklyn, New York City, New York
in an area known as Crown Heights or Park Place, or at least that's what he raps in
his track Uber Everywhere.
I tried looking up some information about his parents and all I found was a picture
of his moms.
Her name is Yovanka Serrano who'se previous work experience was that of a bus driver but
more recently she got her education in Radio Broadcast as a certified engineer and Writer.
Today 14 years ago I brought this lil man justin into the world.
He is my middle son,who I love and adore so much.
Over the years I watched him grow up and change from a lil baby to almost grown man now.
I've been blessed to have him in my life he has such a smart and go getter spirit.
I seen how much of me he has in him is like looking into a mirror .I wanna wish you a
happy birthday and wishing you many more years and asking god every day to not only to bless
you but also protect you from all harmful and evil things and also allow me to Live
long enough to see you become the successful man I know you will be god bless you baby
and happy birthday xoxo.
She also has an old YouTube channel that showcases plenty of old family videos documenting the
come up of her son.
J.I. is extremely close with his family as he often posts pictures with them.
He has a sister named Nia, whom he used to spend a lot of time with and in a post about
his brothers the caption reads: The bond I got with my brothers is crazy!
I would kill for them.
His family is of Puerto Rican decent and are very proud of their heritage, in an interview
J.I.
Also alluded to the fact that he grew up poor but he had a very supportive family around
him and back in the day his mom was his acting manager.
But it looks like now-a-days his mom ain't running the show no more.
His name J.I. was a nickname given to him by his uncle.
The Prince of New York was a name that he chose early on as his Instagram handle, the
kid hails from the same place as Biggie Smalls, Jay Z, Big Daddy Kane & more which are shoes
to fill but this kid been doing his homework.
As a youngin he was inspired by artists, including Tupac and Nas amongst a number of others...
J.I. had other interests growing up including Basketballl but when he failed to make his
middle school team he decided to shift his energy into what he knew he was best at.
By 11 he had already decided that he was gonna become a legitimate rap star.
His brothers were always free styling around the house so he got started early working
on his lyricism battling his brothers who were older.
By 14 he was ready to start sharing his talent with the world becoming not only a street
battle rapper but also showcasing his talent on the gram.
Looking for his big break J.I. discovered a Lifetime reality television show known as
The Rap Game which was filmed out in Atlanta and hosted by Jeremain DuPri.
All of a sudden J.I.
Knew exactly whose attention he needed to capture online and began tagging all the hosts
of the show with his IG rap videos
Before he knew it J.I.
Had gotten a follow from Jurmaine Dupri and an interview for the show.
The kid booked it and before he knew it was being flown out to Atlanta to appear on the
show for Season 2.
The show is actually pretty intense especially for a young artist.
They participate in a 10 to 13 week rap boot camp to claim a music contract with SoSoDef
doing all sorts of elaborate competitions that push them to their core.
While on the show, J.I, had internet bloggers predicting that he would win despite his lack
of experience.
He was pinned against another young raper named Lil Key but it was a dude named Mani
who was crowned the victor.
Although J.I. didn’t win, he came really close, killing challenges and impressing the
online fans which garnered him a significant following on Social media.
From there he began to take part in rap battles throughout the United States.
He began getting some press paying a visit to Hot 97 and gracing the covers of Hip Hop
Weekly and The Next Level Magazine and got to work on producing content for his SoundCloud,
YouTube and various other social media platforms.
In 2016, he released a freestyle video titled ‘Quiet Storm,’ which became a massive
hit on the internet.
In the same year, he released a remix version of singer Kehlani’s popular number ‘CRZY.’
By the end of 2016, his YouTube channel had gathered more than 500,000 views.
As of now, his channel has accumulated over 50 million views and more than almost 1/2
a million subscribers.
He released Uber Everywhere (Freestyle) in 2016 and all of a sudden it started pulling
in mad views and the kid has underground hit on his hands.
Today the video is parked at 1.6 Million views on the Yowah Entertainments YouTube channel.
Not bad for a 15 year old kid at the time.
Next up was his single No Static and the kid was actually starting to build a buzz all
while staying independent and attending Fort Hamilton High school.
In 2017, J.I. released the popular singles Loved U and Why U Mad ft. Nova & Lil Key.
The collaborative effort was a big win for all three artists quickly pulling in over
3 million streams.
The kid kept putting out fresh content with popular singles like Run It Up and Lose Control
but 2019 was his breakout year.
He released his first project Hood Life Krisis Vol 1 under G.STARR ENT with tracks Need Me,
Blame on Me and Own S***.
He has since dropped Hood Life Krisis Vol 2.
The kids been on tour, he's stopped by XXL and sat down with Genius for some one on ones
discussing his lyrics.
So DJ Self you bettet watch yourself cause it looks like there is another Prince of New
York who is quickly on the rise.
As for the rest of the story, well you know the story because this is Before They Were
Famous.
My name is Michael McCrudden and I hope we got everything spot on in this one.
Artists are coming up so fast these days wikipedia can't even keep up.