4th Avenue Jones
Encyclopedia
4th Avenue Jones is a Christian American hip hop
band based in Los Angeles, California. Their name comes from the last name of founding members Ahmad
and Tena Jones (divorced), and the street where they lived in South Central Los Angeles when they began their rehearsals.
. After the success of his 1994 platinum single "Back In The Day" as an 18-year old, Ahmad became frustrated by the corporate politics choking the industry and the "plastic junk" being forced on the masses, and decided to abandon his solo career and form his own label, Lookalive Records. Lookalive was formed to bring together a dream team of gifted musicians who were committed to the art of music.
The vision for the band was conceived in 1997 when Ahmad Jones commenced rehearsals at a house located on 4th Avenue and Jefferson in South Central Los Angeles. In 2000 the band was formed, and the group independently pressed and distributed their first full album No Plan B. Their persistence paid off as their fan base in the Los Angeles area began to grow. Local weekly gigs soon followed, spreading word of the Jones' classic level of showmanship like wildfire throughout the West Coast music scene.
Interscope Records caught wind of the 4th Avenue Jones' buzz, and quickly offered the band a deal. After enthusiastically completing the 2002 Interscope project, No Plan B, Pt. II, the band continued to electrify audiences, sharing the stage with such notables as Sheryl Crow
, Macy Gray
, The Roots
, James Brown
, The Black Eyed Peas
, Musiq
, and others. Sadly, they were kept in touring limbo by the label and the album was never released.
Frustrated, the Jones' eventually earned their release from the label altogether. Fortunately, by the time they returned to independent status, releasing another underground album titled Respect the group had already stamped an influential mark, and their fans stuck with them.
Their eclectic use of rock-influenced sounds atypical for hip-hop music, especially guitars, was most evident on their first album after leaving Interscope, 2003's compilation Gumbo which introduced the public to their new members, with several band members performing solo tracks on the album.
In 2004, 4th Avenue Jones released their fourth independent album HipRockSoul, and the next year, they released their first Gotee Records
-distributed album, titled Stereo: The Evolution of HipRockSoul containing re-mastered and re-mixed tracks from the HipRockSoul album as well as several new songs. After a lot of underground success, this album was the group's mainstream breakout album earning them a Dove Award nomination as well as awards from several Christian and mainstream hip-hop websites.
, The Roots
, Sheryl Crow
, The Black Eyed Peas
, and KRS-ONE
. 4th Avenue Jones' music (including the song entitled "Stereo") is featured in Dance Praise
the Christian video game
. The group also covered dc Talk
's song "Jesus Freak
" for the compilation tribute album
, Freaked!
.
Ahmad is currently pursuing a doctorate in philosophy
, writing a non-fiction book and is working on his solo CD "The Death Of Me
". He and Tena Jones have divorced. Ahmad recently stated that "4th Ave. Jones' lives on only in the minds of those who loved her" He has recently been featured in various magazine articles and radio shows.
4th Avenue Jones has also recorded a cover of "Jesus Freak," by legendary Christian rock/pop group dc Talk
, which appears on the compilation album Freaked!
A Gotee Tribute to dc Talk
's "Jesus Freak."
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
band based in Los Angeles, California. Their name comes from the last name of founding members Ahmad
Ahmad (rapper)
Ahmad Ali Lewis, who was born October 12, 1975 , in Los Angeles, California, is an American emcee. Credited simply as Ahmad, he is best known for the 1994 single "Back in the Day," a nostalgic song that became a signifier for nostalgia in hip-hop culture.Ahmad is also a member of the Christian hip...
and Tena Jones (divorced), and the street where they lived in South Central Los Angeles when they began their rehearsals.
The Interscope Years
4th Avenue Jones was conceived by Ahmad Jones, known to long time Hip Hop fans as AhmadAhmad (rapper)
Ahmad Ali Lewis, who was born October 12, 1975 , in Los Angeles, California, is an American emcee. Credited simply as Ahmad, he is best known for the 1994 single "Back in the Day," a nostalgic song that became a signifier for nostalgia in hip-hop culture.Ahmad is also a member of the Christian hip...
. After the success of his 1994 platinum single "Back In The Day" as an 18-year old, Ahmad became frustrated by the corporate politics choking the industry and the "plastic junk" being forced on the masses, and decided to abandon his solo career and form his own label, Lookalive Records. Lookalive was formed to bring together a dream team of gifted musicians who were committed to the art of music.
The vision for the band was conceived in 1997 when Ahmad Jones commenced rehearsals at a house located on 4th Avenue and Jefferson in South Central Los Angeles. In 2000 the band was formed, and the group independently pressed and distributed their first full album No Plan B. Their persistence paid off as their fan base in the Los Angeles area began to grow. Local weekly gigs soon followed, spreading word of the Jones' classic level of showmanship like wildfire throughout the West Coast music scene.
Interscope Records caught wind of the 4th Avenue Jones' buzz, and quickly offered the band a deal. After enthusiastically completing the 2002 Interscope project, No Plan B, Pt. II, the band continued to electrify audiences, sharing the stage with such notables as Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Suzanne Crow is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, folk, hip hop, country and pop...
, Macy Gray
Macy Gray
Macy Gray is a Grammy Award-winning American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress, famed for her distinctive raspy voice, and a singing style heavily influenced by Billie Holiday and Betty Davis.Gray has released five studio albums, with her fifth studio album, The Sellout,...
, The Roots
The Roots
The Roots is an American hip hop/neo soul band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are famed for beginning with a jazzy, eclectic approach to hip hop which still includes live instrumentals...
, James Brown
James Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
, The Black Eyed Peas
The Black Eyed Peas
The Black Eyed Peas are an American pop group , formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1995. The group includes rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, and Taboo, and singer Fergie. Since the release of their third album Elephunk in 2003, the group has sold an estimated 56 million records worldwide...
, Musiq
Musiq
Musiq Soulchild or Musiq is a US R&B/soul singer-songwriter whose style blends contemporary R&B, soul, funk, alternative, blues, jazz, some gospel influences and hip hop.-Biography:...
, and others. Sadly, they were kept in touring limbo by the label and the album was never released.
Frustrated, the Jones' eventually earned their release from the label altogether. Fortunately, by the time they returned to independent status, releasing another underground album titled Respect the group had already stamped an influential mark, and their fans stuck with them.
After Interscope
Inspired with a new vision of things to come, some changes in the band were made. Ahmad enlisted a roster of talent that would position the group for refinement and growth: his wife, Tena Jones on vocals, Tim Stewart aka "Timmy Shakes" on lead guitar, Gailybird on violin, "Phat" Albert Parker on bass, and Derrick “Dee” Calloway on drums.Their eclectic use of rock-influenced sounds atypical for hip-hop music, especially guitars, was most evident on their first album after leaving Interscope, 2003's compilation Gumbo which introduced the public to their new members, with several band members performing solo tracks on the album.
In 2004, 4th Avenue Jones released their fourth independent album HipRockSoul, and the next year, they released their first Gotee Records
Gotee Records
Gotee Records is a record label founded by dc Talk member Toby McKeehan , Todd Collins, and Joey Elwood...
-distributed album, titled Stereo: The Evolution of HipRockSoul containing re-mastered and re-mixed tracks from the HipRockSoul album as well as several new songs. After a lot of underground success, this album was the group's mainstream breakout album earning them a Dove Award nomination as well as awards from several Christian and mainstream hip-hop websites.
Current activities
4th Avenue Jones has toured extensively, performing for fans in Sweden, Denmark, Canada, the United Kingdom, Holland, and most of the United States. The band has shared the stage with such notables as James BrownJames Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
, The Roots
The Roots
The Roots is an American hip hop/neo soul band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are famed for beginning with a jazzy, eclectic approach to hip hop which still includes live instrumentals...
, Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Suzanne Crow is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, folk, hip hop, country and pop...
, The Black Eyed Peas
The Black Eyed Peas
The Black Eyed Peas are an American pop group , formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1995. The group includes rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, and Taboo, and singer Fergie. Since the release of their third album Elephunk in 2003, the group has sold an estimated 56 million records worldwide...
, and KRS-ONE
KRS-One
Lawrence Krisna Parker , better known by his stage names KRS-One , and Teacha, is an American rapper...
. 4th Avenue Jones' music (including the song entitled "Stereo") is featured in Dance Praise
Dance Praise
Dance Praise is a series of dance video games developed by Christian video game developer Digital Praise, with a particular emphasis on Contemporary Christian music. Peter Fokos, CTO of Digital Praise, started the Dance Praise series after his daughter asked him to create a dance game with...
the Christian video game
Christian video games
Christian video games were first marketed successfully by BibleBytes in the early 1980s on several different microcomputer platforms and in the late 1980s for the Nintendo Entertainment System by Wisdom Tree. Now they are made by many different developers...
. The group also covered dc Talk
Dc Talk
DC Talk , is a Grammy-winning Christian rock music trio. The group was formed in Lynchburg, Virginia in 1987 by Toby McKeehan, Michael Tait, and Kevin Max Smith. They have released five major studio albums together: DC Talk , Nu Thang , Free at Last , Jesus Freak , and Supernatural...
's song "Jesus Freak
Jesus Freak (song)
"Jesus Freak" is a song by the American contemporary Christian music group DC Talk. Released on August 1, 1995, it was the lead radio single from the group's self-titled fourth album. The song was written and produced by Toby McKeehan and Mark Heimermann...
" for the compilation tribute album
Tribute album
A tribute album is a recorded collection of cover versions of songs or instrumental compositions. Its concept may be either various artists making a tribute to a single artist, a single artist making a tribute to various artists, or a single artist making a tribute to another single artist.There...
, Freaked!
Freaked!
Freaked! is a tribute album to the album Jesus Freak. It features artists from Gotee singing most of the songs on the original album. The last track from Jesus Freak is omitted, as it was a poem by Kevin Max.-Track listing:...
.
Ahmad is currently pursuing a doctorate in philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, writing a non-fiction book and is working on his solo CD "The Death Of Me
The Death of Me
-Personnel:*Dallas Green - guitar, vocals, piano, keyboards*Julius Butty - production, engineering, mixing, mastering, tambourine and vibes on "Sometimes "...
". He and Tena Jones have divorced. Ahmad recently stated that "4th Ave. Jones' lives on only in the minds of those who loved her" He has recently been featured in various magazine articles and radio shows.
Albums
| Year | Title | Label | Chart Positions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top 200 Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
|||
| 1999 | Lookalive | Self-Released | — |
| 2000 | No Plan B | Self-Released | — |
| 2002 | Respect | Self-Released | — |
| 2003 | No Plan B, Pt. II | Interscope Records Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that currently operates as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-History:... |
— |
| 2003 | Gumbo | Self-Released | — |
| 2004 | HipRockSoul | Self-Released | — |
| 2005 | Stereo: The Evolution of HipRockSoul | Gotee Records Gotee Records Gotee Records is a record label founded by dc Talk member Toby McKeehan , Todd Collins, and Joey Elwood... |
— |
| 2005 | Connect Sets | Gotee Records Gotee Records Gotee Records is a record label founded by dc Talk member Toby McKeehan , Todd Collins, and Joey Elwood... |
— |
Singles
| Year | Title | Chart Positions |
|---|---|---|
| R&B/Hip-Hop Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
||
| 2000 | R.E.S.P.E.C.T. | 88 |
| 2002 | Move On | — |
| 2002 | Do Re Mi | — |
| 2005 | Stereo | — |
4th Avenue Jones has also recorded a cover of "Jesus Freak," by legendary Christian rock/pop group dc Talk
Dc Talk
DC Talk , is a Grammy-winning Christian rock music trio. The group was formed in Lynchburg, Virginia in 1987 by Toby McKeehan, Michael Tait, and Kevin Max Smith. They have released five major studio albums together: DC Talk , Nu Thang , Free at Last , Jesus Freak , and Supernatural...
, which appears on the compilation album Freaked!
Freaked!
Freaked! is a tribute album to the album Jesus Freak. It features artists from Gotee singing most of the songs on the original album. The last track from Jesus Freak is omitted, as it was a poem by Kevin Max.-Track listing:...
A Gotee Tribute to dc Talk
Dc Talk
DC Talk , is a Grammy-winning Christian rock music trio. The group was formed in Lynchburg, Virginia in 1987 by Toby McKeehan, Michael Tait, and Kevin Max Smith. They have released five major studio albums together: DC Talk , Nu Thang , Free at Last , Jesus Freak , and Supernatural...
's "Jesus Freak."