Joe Little III
Encyclopedia
Joe N Little III a.k.a. Joey Beanz or Casino Joe (born July 14, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter
, record producer
, actor
and American
entrepreneur most known as lead singer of the internationally known group The Rude Boys
most known for 1991 Billboard
R&B Song of the year "Written All Over Your Face
", along with being C.E.O, co-founder and spokesman of Urbean Joe Gourmet Coffee, a self acclaimed first African American
independently owned coffee brand and franchise.
July 14, 1968, his father Joe Little Jr at the time was a shoe salesman born in Birmingham, Alabama
and raised in Cleveland, his mother Patricia Ann Little born in Memphis, Tennessee
also raised in Cleveland, was a church clerk and worked for the water department. At an early age of 12 Little embraced boxing a sport he grew to love admiring Muhammad Ali
,he went on to be an accomplished amateur boxer fighting up under the East Cleveland Pal boxing club under the tuteledge of Johnny Duncan Jr,during this time Little also gained a love for singing while participating in his church choir at Temple Baptist church, he also was heavily influence by his mother Patricia and aunt Carolyn Kirkwood, whose father Sammy Kirkwood of San Francisco, California
was a popular gospel singer on the west coast, after hearing such artist as Stevie Wonder
, Frank Sinatra
and Donny Hathaway
, Little knew he had discovered his calling and proceeded to participate in local talent shows while attending Shaw and Collinwood High schools racking up win after win.
then Senior VP of Atlantic Records and in turn got them signed to the label.
; the single rode the charts for 31 weeks, and finally made it to #1 on the Billboard R&B charts and #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, It also won 1991 Billboard Music Award
for R&B Single of the Year ("Written All Over Your Face").
The group would score a second #1 hit on Billboard R&B hit from this album in 1990, "Are You Lonely for Me" written by Little and Tony Nicholas, With the well-rounded, riffing baritone of Little and the vibrating, towering tenor of Banks, the single rose straight to the top, This would be Little's first #1 Billboard
charted record, "Are You Lonely was one of the few songs since the emergence of videos to gain the #1 ranking without a video.Another song released from the album was the " Heaven " a natural soulful vocally with a peppy rhythm and peaked at the # 15 spot on the Billboard R&B chart. The album Rude Awakening would peak at #10 Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and # 68 Billboard 200. The Rude Boys also toured that year with Levert and The O'Jays. The album itself was just one spot below the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums top 10 spot, where it sat comfortably at #11 in the spring of 1990.
hit) which was energetically complemented by the superb vocals of Little and Banks, who admirably improvise their way through the vamp. The song also was remixed by then director of A&R at Atlantic Records
DJ Clark Kent a hip hop DJ and record producer from New York
at the time Clark was pushing an unknown rapper from the Marcy housing project in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY who would come to be known to the world as Jay-Z
, This move propelled "My Kinda Girl" in the Hip Hop underground scene in New York and abroad,also to support the single Jay-Z
would go on to perform with the Rude Boys live at one of the Big Apple's premiere underground Hip Hop Clubs. Falling short of the number one ranking, the single peaked at number # 2 after 18 weeks on the Billboard R&B chart. and the next single to be released, "Go Ahead and Cry" peaked at # 43 on the Billboard R&B charts.The excellent singing by Banks, Little and company could not disguise the fact that the R&B world was moving closer to the parlance of hip hop. That change rendered Rude House hopelessly old-fashioned despite the fact that it was one of Atlantic Records
better R&B releases of 1992. Label mates and peers R&B group LeVert
ran into a similar problem in this period, and never truly recovered. Still, Rude House was a solid production, peppered with great songs,loaded with one great song after another, most of them soulful ballads when the album Rude House came out in 1992, its lack of commercial success highlighted the public's shift away from the new jack era. and marked the beginning of the sound scan era. This would mark the end of the Rude Boys stint with Atlantic Records
and run with mentor Gerald LeVert
. This would be the last album to date Little would record with The Rude Boys.
which peaked at # 5 spot on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip Hop Chart and # 31 Billboard's Hot 100. Under LeVert's watchful eye Little launched his solo career with the 1994 Atlantic Records
release Puttin It Down which spawned two singles "The Hump Is On" and "Me and You" and with minimal promotion sold a little over 250,000. Also in 1994 Joe gained a endorsement deal with Mauri USA and was featured in a full page ad in GQ magazine April 1994 issue modeling their exotic skinned foot wear and vest, In the fall of 1994 Little along with mentor Gerald LeVert
appeared with the group Black Men United
for the hit single "U Will Know" for the film Jason's Lyric
, the movie's soundtrack. Little has written and produced on movie soundtracks such as Rush Hour 2
and on The Fast and The Furious 2 movie. He has collaborated with musical legends, Platinum and Gold Artists such as Aretha Franklin
(who he has to date a unreleased duet "Only You"), Temptations (which won him Grammy acclaim for writing and producing two songs on their 2000 album Ear-Resistible
which won the group its third Grammy for 2001 Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance album), The O'Jays
, Gerald LeVert
, Keith Sweat
, Charlie Wilson, Roger Troutman
, Men at Large
, Troop
, Intro
, LSG
, Rome, Drama, 1 of the Girls
, Special Generation
, Gene Rice, Wyclef Jean
, J Holiday, B2K
, Marques Houston
, Ginuwine
, Lyfe Jennings
, Romey Rome, Snoop Dogg
, Lil Flip, Layzie Bone
, Strings, Jazze Pha
, Dru Hill
, Cheri Dennis
, Latif, Dark Blue, Say Yes and Young Ray (Ray Jr). Joe is touring and working on new Rude Boys
projects and has thrown his hat into the film industry,appearing in the movie Up Against the Ropes starring Omar Epps
, Meg Ryan
and Charles Dutton
,and is set to appear in the biopic Blondie, the story of Florence Ballard
as a young Richard Morris
a Motown staff writer who was responsible for discovering and presenting the Supremes to Berry Gordy
, also including multiple appearances on Real Housewives of Atlanta and also begin filming his own reality TV show The Rebirth of a R&B Singer.
, being that he was a local icon it was believed that it would be successful, Little was sold on the idea, at the time he was in need of a jump start in his life, for some years he had attained odd jobs to help keep his household a float, he immediately went to work imagining him and his family member having their own coffee brand and chain of coffee houses in inner city neighborhoods across the United States
, Urbean Joe Gourmet Coffee inc. was born. Little and his cousin hit the streets of Cleveland selling their coffee brand hand to hand, times were hard and it brought no profit along with people discouraging and laughing saying it would never work it did not damper their spirits, Little delighted in the idea that he was thinking outside the box, doing something that he knew possibly in the future could create opportunities for jobs and uplift inner city neighborhoods flooded with bars and liquor stores. After much foot work Little came across someone willing to invest along with him and his cousin, and within months they opened up a café, within five months after the first café was opened a second one was launched, it was clear they were on their way. Urbean Joe Gourmet Coffee is quickly becoming one of the most sought after independent coffee brands and franchise in the United States
,carrying a slogan "Coffee With a Touch of Soul" and a tag line ”Sip Soulful”, Urbean Joe Gourmet Coffee is a self acclaimed first independent coffee brand and franchise owned by a African American
in the United States
, sourcing, roasting, blending, custom naming, packaging and importing its own product. Little explains “Urbean Joe gourmet coffee is setting the tone and being a trendsetter, by placing its cafés in the inner city of Cleveland, Ohio
, we are revolutionizing our coffee and cafés by helping bridge the gap in African American
communities. Urbean Joe since starting in 2008 has opened two locations with one under construction and is now set to licence and open cafes in inner city locations in Atlanta, GA, Charlotte, NC and Houston, TX.
, Showtime at the Apollo
, The Arsenio Hall Show
, Party Machine
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
, record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
entrepreneur most known as lead singer of the internationally known group The Rude Boys
The Rude Boys
-Group:Band members: Joe N Little III , Edward Lee Banks , Larry Marcus and Melvin Sephus-History:Beginnings...
most known for 1991 Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
R&B Song of the year "Written All Over Your Face
Written All Over Your Face
"Written All Over Your Face" is a song by American R&B group The Rude Boys, released as the second single from their debut album Rude Awakening. Featuring extra vocals from their mentor, the late Gerald Levert , it became the group's signature song and spent one week at number one on the U.S....
", along with being C.E.O, co-founder and spokesman of Urbean Joe Gourmet Coffee, a self acclaimed first African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
independently owned coffee brand and franchise.
Early life
Joe N Little III was born in Cleveland, OhioCleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
July 14, 1968, his father Joe Little Jr at the time was a shoe salesman born in Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
and raised in Cleveland, his mother Patricia Ann Little born in Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
also raised in Cleveland, was a church clerk and worked for the water department. At an early age of 12 Little embraced boxing a sport he grew to love admiring Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...
,he went on to be an accomplished amateur boxer fighting up under the East Cleveland Pal boxing club under the tuteledge of Johnny Duncan Jr,during this time Little also gained a love for singing while participating in his church choir at Temple Baptist church, he also was heavily influence by his mother Patricia and aunt Carolyn Kirkwood, whose father Sammy Kirkwood of San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
was a popular gospel singer on the west coast, after hearing such artist as Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
, Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
and Donny Hathaway
Donny Hathaway
Donny Edward Hathaway was an American soul singer-songwriter and musician. Hathaway contracted with Atlantic Records in 1969 and with his first single for the Atco label, "The Ghetto, Part I" in early 1970, Rolling Stone magazine "marked him as a major new force in soul music."His collaborations...
, Little knew he had discovered his calling and proceeded to participate in local talent shows while attending Shaw and Collinwood High schools racking up win after win.
The discovery
Joe N Little III along with Edward (Buddy) Lee Banks was discovered by Gerald LeVert singing in a local night club in Cleveland,Ohio, LeVert expressed that he wanted to further hear them sing again and possibly sign the two, at that time both were the lead singers of a local R&B group along with members Larry (Bingo) Marcus (a cousin of B.B. King) and Melvin Sephus, after meeting the other group members and working in studio with them, in 1988 LeVert presented the group to Sylvia RhoneSylvia Rhone
Sylvia Rhone is an American music industry executive who served as president of Universal Motown Records until 2011.She has overseen a roster of artists in the Universal Motown lineup including Lil Wayne and the Cash Money artists Nicki Minaj, Drake, Kid Cudi, Nelly, Melanie Fiona, Akon, Erykah...
then Senior VP of Atlantic Records and in turn got them signed to the label.
Rude Awakening
The band's 1990 debut album Rude Awakening, started slow with its first release "Come On Lets Do This" which peaked at #38 on the Billboard R&B charts. However, it was the group's second single, "Written All Over Your Face" that made the group a sensation, as the single topped the R&B charts and, The song showcased the vocals of Little and Edward Buddy Banks, with a cameo appearance by Gerald LeVertGerald Levert
Gerald Levert was an American R&B singer. Gerald Levert sang with his brother, Sean Levert, and friend Marc Gordon in the R&B trio LeVert. He was also a part of LSG, an R&B supergroup comprising Keith Sweat, Johnny Gill, and Levert...
; the single rode the charts for 31 weeks, and finally made it to #1 on the Billboard R&B charts and #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, It also won 1991 Billboard Music Award
Billboard Music Award
The Billboard Music Award is an honor given by Billboard magazine, the preeminent publication covering the music business. The Billboard Music Awards show had been held annually in December until it went dormant in 2007, but it returned in May 2011...
for R&B Single of the Year ("Written All Over Your Face").
The group would score a second #1 hit on Billboard R&B hit from this album in 1990, "Are You Lonely for Me" written by Little and Tony Nicholas, With the well-rounded, riffing baritone of Little and the vibrating, towering tenor of Banks, the single rose straight to the top, This would be Little's first #1 Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
charted record, "Are You Lonely was one of the few songs since the emergence of videos to gain the #1 ranking without a video.Another song released from the album was the " Heaven " a natural soulful vocally with a peppy rhythm and peaked at the # 15 spot on the Billboard R&B chart. The album Rude Awakening would peak at #10 Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and # 68 Billboard 200. The Rude Boys also toured that year with Levert and The O'Jays. The album itself was just one spot below the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums top 10 spot, where it sat comfortably at #11 in the spring of 1990.
Rude House
Riding on the success of their two laid-back number one singles from their debut release, the boys followed up their debut album with Rude House in 1992, they came flying back with the up-tempo "My Kinda Girl" (a underground new jackNew jack swing
New jack swing or swingbeat is a fusion genre spearheaded by Teddy Riley and Bernard Belle which became extremely popular from the late-1980s into the mid-1990s. Its influence, along with hip-hop, seeped into pop culture and was the definitive sound of the inventive Black New York club scene...
hit) which was energetically complemented by the superb vocals of Little and Banks, who admirably improvise their way through the vamp. The song also was remixed by then director of A&R at Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
DJ Clark Kent a hip hop DJ and record producer from New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
at the time Clark was pushing an unknown rapper from the Marcy housing project in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY who would come to be known to the world as Jay-Z
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
, This move propelled "My Kinda Girl" in the Hip Hop underground scene in New York and abroad,also to support the single Jay-Z
Jay-Z
Shawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
would go on to perform with the Rude Boys live at one of the Big Apple's premiere underground Hip Hop Clubs. Falling short of the number one ranking, the single peaked at number # 2 after 18 weeks on the Billboard R&B chart. and the next single to be released, "Go Ahead and Cry" peaked at # 43 on the Billboard R&B charts.The excellent singing by Banks, Little and company could not disguise the fact that the R&B world was moving closer to the parlance of hip hop. That change rendered Rude House hopelessly old-fashioned despite the fact that it was one of Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
better R&B releases of 1992. Label mates and peers R&B group LeVert
LeVert
LeVert is a R&B/pop music singing group, formed in Ohio in 1984, comprising Sean and Gerald Levert, the sons of O'Jays founder Eddie Levert, as well as Marc Gordon.-Biography:The group released their first single, "I'm Still", for Harry Coombes' Tempre label...
ran into a similar problem in this period, and never truly recovered. Still, Rude House was a solid production, peppered with great songs,loaded with one great song after another, most of them soulful ballads when the album Rude House came out in 1992, its lack of commercial success highlighted the public's shift away from the new jack era. and marked the beginning of the sound scan era. This would mark the end of the Rude Boys stint with Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
and run with mentor Gerald LeVert
Gerald Levert
Gerald Levert was an American R&B singer. Gerald Levert sang with his brother, Sean Levert, and friend Marc Gordon in the R&B trio LeVert. He was also a part of LSG, an R&B supergroup comprising Keith Sweat, Johnny Gill, and Levert...
. This would be the last album to date Little would record with The Rude Boys.
After The Rude Boys
Staying under Gerald LeVert's tutelage, also in 1992, the writing team of LeVert, Little, Nicholas and Banks teamed up to write and produce "So Alone", for group Men at LargeMen at Large
Men at Large was an American R&B group from Cleveland, Ohio, whose members, David Tolliver and Jason Champion, frequently self-referenced their obesity. They scored several US hits in the mid-1990s and were discovered by the late soul singer Gerald Levert....
which peaked at # 5 spot on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip Hop Chart and # 31 Billboard's Hot 100. Under LeVert's watchful eye Little launched his solo career with the 1994 Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
release Puttin It Down which spawned two singles "The Hump Is On" and "Me and You" and with minimal promotion sold a little over 250,000. Also in 1994 Joe gained a endorsement deal with Mauri USA and was featured in a full page ad in GQ magazine April 1994 issue modeling their exotic skinned foot wear and vest, In the fall of 1994 Little along with mentor Gerald LeVert
Gerald Levert
Gerald Levert was an American R&B singer. Gerald Levert sang with his brother, Sean Levert, and friend Marc Gordon in the R&B trio LeVert. He was also a part of LSG, an R&B supergroup comprising Keith Sweat, Johnny Gill, and Levert...
appeared with the group Black Men United
Black Men United
Black Men United was a collaboration of many African American male R&B, hip hop and soul music artists. The sole song "U Will Know", written by a young D'Angelo, was released in 1994. It was featured in the movie Jason's Lyric and on the movie's soundtrack.-Artists involved:Many artists...
for the hit single "U Will Know" for the film Jason's Lyric
Jason's Lyric
Jason's Lyric is a 1994 romantic drama film, written by Bobby Smith, Jr., and directed by Doug McHenry. The film marks the directorial debut of McHenry, who co-produced the film with George Jackson...
, the movie's soundtrack. Little has written and produced on movie soundtracks such as Rush Hour 2
Rush Hour 2
Rush Hour 2 is a 2001 martial arts action comedy film. This is the second installment in the Rush Hour film series. A sequel to the 1998 film Rush Hour, the film stars Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker who respectively reprise their roles as Inspector Lee and Los Angeles police detective James Carter...
and on The Fast and The Furious 2 movie. He has collaborated with musical legends, Platinum and Gold Artists such as Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
(who he has to date a unreleased duet "Only You"), Temptations (which won him Grammy acclaim for writing and producing two songs on their 2000 album Ear-Resistible
Ear-Resistible
Ear-Resistible is a 2000 album by The Temptations for the Motown label. Featuring the single "Selfish Reasons", the album won the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance.-Track listing:#"I'll Just Go Crazy - Intro" – 0:33...
which won the group its third Grammy for 2001 Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance album), The O'Jays
The O'Jays
The O'Jays are an American R&B group from Canton, Ohio, formed in 1963 and originally consisting of Eddie Levert , Walter Williams , William Powell , Bobby Massey and Bill Isles. The O'Jays were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004, and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005...
, Gerald LeVert
Gerald Levert
Gerald Levert was an American R&B singer. Gerald Levert sang with his brother, Sean Levert, and friend Marc Gordon in the R&B trio LeVert. He was also a part of LSG, an R&B supergroup comprising Keith Sweat, Johnny Gill, and Levert...
, Keith Sweat
Keith Sweat
Keith Sweat is an American R&B/soul, singer-songwriter, record producer, radio personality and a major contributor to the new jack swing era.-Music career:...
, Charlie Wilson, Roger Troutman
Roger Troutman
Roger Troutman was the lead singer of the band Zapp who helped spearhead the Funk movement and heavily influenced West Coast hip hop due to the scene's heavy sampling of his music over the years...
, Men at Large
Men at Large
Men at Large was an American R&B group from Cleveland, Ohio, whose members, David Tolliver and Jason Champion, frequently self-referenced their obesity. They scored several US hits in the mid-1990s and were discovered by the late soul singer Gerald Levert....
, Troop
Troop
A troop is a military unit, originally a small force of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron and headed by the troop leader. In many armies a troop is the equivalent unit to the infantry section or platoon...
, Intro
Intro (band)
Intro is an American R&B trio from Brooklyn, New York. Intro released two albums and had a string of US hits in the 1990s. Their biggest, "Come Inside", featured Sabrina Morrison on vocals. Intro's, Kenny Greene, died from complications of AIDS in 2001...
, LSG
LSG
LSG was an urban R&B musical supergroup, composed of R&B artists Gerald Levert from Cleveland, Ohio, Keith Sweat from Harlem, NY and Johnny Gill from Washington DC. The group's name "LSG" is derived from the first letter in the last name of each artist .In 1997, LSG released their début album...
, Rome, Drama, 1 of the Girls
1 of the Girls
1 of the Girls was a Cleveland-based R&B group discovered by Gerald Levert. The group's self-titled album was released in 1993, and featured the single "Do Da What", which only achieved moderate success.-Singles:-Albums:1 of The Girls ...
, Special Generation
Special Generation
Special Generation were an American new jack swing/urban R&B quintet that was the brainchild of M.C. Hammer. They sang backup on several of his recordings before becoming major recording artists in their own right in early 1990...
, Gene Rice, Wyclef Jean
Wyclef Jean
Wyclef Jean is a Haitian musician, record producer, and politician. At age nine, Jean moved to the United States with his family and has spent much of his life in the country...
, J Holiday, B2K
B2K
B2K was an American R&B music group. The group met in 1998, established in 2001, and managed by music producer Chris Stokes with Lil' Fizz, J-Boog, Raz-B, and Omarion as members. The group disbanded in 2004 due to internal disagreements.-2001-2002: B2K:...
, Marques Houston
Marques Houston
Marques Barrett Houston is an American R&B singer, songwriter, rapper, and actor. A member of the R&B singing group Immature/IMx until 2002, he went solo in 2003. He is also the cousin of J-Boog, former member of the R&B/Hip-Hop group B2K....
, Ginuwine
Ginuwine
Elgin Baylor Lumpkin , better known by his stage name Ginuwine is an American singer-songwriter and actor. Signed to Epic Records since the mid-1990s, Ginuwine had released a number of multi-platinum and platinum-selling albums and singles, becoming one of R&B's top artists during the late 1990's...
, Lyfe Jennings
Lyfe Jennings
Lyfe Jennings is a platinum-selling American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, record producer, and instrumentalist. He plays the guitar, bass, and piano which he integrates into his music...
, Romey Rome, Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg
Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. , better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Snoop is best known as a rapper in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school...
, Lil Flip, Layzie Bone
Layzie Bone
Layzie Bone is rapper and hip-hop artist known primarily for being a member of the group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. He has also has gone by the names L-Burna and The #1 Assassin. He is the younger brother of fellow group member Flesh-N-Bone...
, Strings, Jazze Pha
Jazze Pha
Phalon Anton Alexander , also known as Jazze Pha , is an American singer, and songwriter.raised in Memphis, TN; son of James Alexander ....
, Dru Hill
Dru Hill
Dru Hill is an American singing group, most popular during the late 1990s, whose repertoire included R&B, soul, and gospel music. Founded in Baltimore, Maryland, and active since 1992, Dru Hill recorded seven Top 40 hits, and is best known for the R&B #1 hits "In My Bed", "Never Make a Promise", ...
, Cheri Dennis
Cheri Dennis
Cheri Dennis is an American singer, signed to Bad Boy Records.Cheri Dennis was born in 1979 and raised in a housing projects of Cleveland, Ohio. She later moved to Shaker Heights, Ohio and was initially a member of a group named Spoiled...
, Latif, Dark Blue, Say Yes and Young Ray (Ray Jr). Joe is touring and working on new Rude Boys
Rude Boys
Rude Boys was a prominent Ultimate Frisbee team in Boston from the 1970s to the 1980s. They were 1982 UPA National Champion, and won the first ever Ultimate World Championship in 1983...
projects and has thrown his hat into the film industry,appearing in the movie Up Against the Ropes starring Omar Epps
Omar Epps
Omar Hashim Epps is an American actor, singer, songwriter, and record producer. His film roles include Major League II, Juice, Higher Learning, Scream 2, The Wood, In Too Deep, and Love and Basketball. Epps' television work includes the role of Dr. Dennis Gant on the US medical drama series ER,...
, Meg Ryan
Meg Ryan
Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra , professionally known as Meg Ryan, is an American actress and producer. Raised in Bethel, Connecticut, Ryan began her acting career in 1981 in minor roles, before joining the cast of the CBS soap opera As the World Turns in 1982...
and Charles Dutton
Charles S. Dutton
Charles Stanley Dutton is an American stage, film, and television actor and director. He is perhaps best known for his roles as "Fortune" in the film Rudy and "Dillon" in Alien 3...
,and is set to appear in the biopic Blondie, the story of Florence Ballard
Florence Ballard
Florence Glenda Ballard Chapman was an American singer and a founding member of the Motown group The Supremes. From 1963 until 1967, Ballard sang on 16 Top 40 hit Supremes' singles, ten of which hit number-one on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1967, Motown CEO Berry Gordy decided to remove Ballard from...
as a young Richard Morris
Richard Morris
Richard Morris may refer to:* Richard Morris * Richard Morris * Richard Morris Welsh international footballer who played for Plymouth Argyle...
a Motown staff writer who was responsible for discovering and presenting the Supremes to Berry Gordy
Berry Gordy
Berry Gordy, Jr. is an American record producer, and the founder of the Motown record label, as well as its many subsidiaries.-Early years:...
, also including multiple appearances on Real Housewives of Atlanta and also begin filming his own reality TV show The Rebirth of a R&B Singer.
Urbean Joe Gourmet Coffee
In early 2008 Little embarked on a new venture an idea pitched to him by a family member,which was to open up a café or coffee house in his local hometown Cleveland, OhioCleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
, being that he was a local icon it was believed that it would be successful, Little was sold on the idea, at the time he was in need of a jump start in his life, for some years he had attained odd jobs to help keep his household a float, he immediately went to work imagining him and his family member having their own coffee brand and chain of coffee houses in inner city neighborhoods across the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Urbean Joe Gourmet Coffee inc. was born. Little and his cousin hit the streets of Cleveland selling their coffee brand hand to hand, times were hard and it brought no profit along with people discouraging and laughing saying it would never work it did not damper their spirits, Little delighted in the idea that he was thinking outside the box, doing something that he knew possibly in the future could create opportunities for jobs and uplift inner city neighborhoods flooded with bars and liquor stores. After much foot work Little came across someone willing to invest along with him and his cousin, and within months they opened up a café, within five months after the first café was opened a second one was launched, it was clear they were on their way. Urbean Joe Gourmet Coffee is quickly becoming one of the most sought after independent coffee brands and franchise in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
,carrying a slogan "Coffee With a Touch of Soul" and a tag line ”Sip Soulful”, Urbean Joe Gourmet Coffee is a self acclaimed first independent coffee brand and franchise owned by a African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, sourcing, roasting, blending, custom naming, packaging and importing its own product. Little explains “Urbean Joe gourmet coffee is setting the tone and being a trendsetter, by placing its cafés in the inner city of Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
, we are revolutionizing our coffee and cafés by helping bridge the gap in African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
communities. Urbean Joe since starting in 2008 has opened two locations with one under construction and is now set to licence and open cafes in inner city locations in Atlanta, GA, Charlotte, NC and Houston, TX.
Awards and nominations
- 1991 Billboard Music AwardBillboard Music AwardThe Billboard Music Award is an honor given by Billboard magazine, the preeminent publication covering the music business. The Billboard Music Awards show had been held annually in December until it went dormant in 2007, but it returned in May 2011...
won for #1 R&B Single of the Year ("Written All Over Your Face").
TV appearances
Soul TrainSoul Train
Soul Train is an American musical variety show that aired in syndication from October 1971 to March 2006. In its 35-year history, the show primarily featured performances by R&B, soul, and hip hop artists, although funk, jazz, disco, and gospel artists have also appeared.As a nod to Soul Trains...
, Showtime at the Apollo
Showtime at the Apollo
Showtime at the Apollo is a syndicated music television show, first broadcast on September 12, 1987 to May 24, 2008 with 1093 episodes, and is produced by the Apollo Theater...
, The Arsenio Hall Show
The Arsenio Hall Show
The Arsenio Hall Show is an American variety/talk show that aired late weeknights in syndication from January 3, 1989 to May 27, 1994. The show was created and hosted by comedian/actor Arsenio Hall.- Background :...
, Party Machine