Title: The Remarkable Journey of Who Is
Kenneth is], the visionary mind behind the prominent blog "Who Is," has become a familiar figure in the blogosphere. With an unwavering commitment to their craft and a strong passion for sharing knowledge, they have created a platform that educates, entertains, and inspires readers from all corners of the globe. This blog post will take you through the incredible journey of Who is, shedding light on their background and their rise
He was born October 31, 1981 in Belleville, New Jersey and attended Queen of Peace High School in North Arlington. He went to Rutgers University on a scholarship, but dropped out. Iero's parents split when he was young and he grew up living with his mother, who lent out her basement to her son's many band practices; his father was a musician and a big influence on young Iero wanting to learn an instrument. He first tried drums, later picked up the guitar instead, and began playing in bands at age 11. When Iero was younger he suffered from Epstein-Barr virus, ear infections & bronchitis. He suffered numerous lacerations to his head, hands, and knees.
Before joining My Chemical Romance he participated in several bands, including I Am A Graveyard, Pencey Prep, Hybrid, Sector 12, and Give Up the Ghost. Iero is the frontman of hardcore punk quintet Leathermouth, who released their debut album XO in January 2009, on Epitaph Records. He is involved in a tribute band to The Cure named The Love Cats, after the song of the same name, and recently played bass with Reggie And The Full Effect on their farewell tour. Iero is the co-founder of record company and clothing label Skeleton Crew.
Iero was a judge for the 7th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists.
On March 17, 2010, Iero announced in the My Chemical Romance official website that he and his wife, Jamia will be having twins. The children are expected to be born in late summer, 2010. On July 27, 2010, Frank replied to band mate Ray Toro's twitter saying, "...this is what i imagine my daughters will look like right b4 i wake up in a cold sweat," confirming that he and his wife are expecting twin girls
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Atkins was born February 29, 1976 in the Queens borough of New York City. He was raised as a Jehovah's Witness by his mother, health care worker Debra Atkins, and grandparents. At the age of five his sister died from breathing complications, leaving him as an only child. He attended PS 132, a mixed school, but was later transferred to MS 172, another mixed school, due to daily fights in which he would be involved.
Atkins began his rap career in 1994 with his Hip-Hop group Cash Money Click. They had 2 music videos entitled "4 my click " and "Get Tha Fortune" they had only released 1 single before member Chris Black was jailed. Due to this an 11 track untitled Cash Money Click album was shelved. He told Curtis Waller of MTV News that his stage name "Ja Rule" came from a friend who addressed him by that name; other friends called him "Ja". In 1995, he made his first appearance on Mic Geronimo's "Time to Build" which featured Jay-Z and DMX, who were also in their early stages of their careers. In 1998, he was a featured guest on Jay-Z's hit single "Can I Get A..." along with Amil.
Career
Venni Vetti Vecci (1999)
His debut album Venni Vetti Vecci was released in 1999. Singles included "Holla Holla" and "It's Murda" with Jay-Z and DMX. The final single was "Daddy's Little Baby", a duet with Ronald Isley. Venni Vetti Vecci was certified platinum by the RIAA on July 12, 1999 and has since sold 1.8 million copies in the U.S. and over 3 million copies worldwide as of December 2009.
Rule 3:36 (2000)
Ja Rule returned quickly during the summer of 2000, with his new single "Between Me and You", which featured Def Soul act Christina Milian. "Between Me and You" reached #1 on the Billboard Top 100 and stayed in the Top 10 for 9 weeks during June and August of 2000. The single was quickly followed by Ja's second but very successful effort, Rule 3:36, which was released on October 10, 2000. 3:36 also featured singles "Put It On Me" (#3), "I Cry" (#40) and, "Fuck You"(#14) from the Fast and the Furious Soundtrack. The album featured guest appearances from Lil' Mo, Vita, Christina Milian, label mates Jayo Felony, and Black Child. Rule 3:36 debuted at #1 on the Billboard Charts selling over 270,000 copies in its first week of release. It has sold over 3.4 million copies in the U.S. and 5 million copies worldwide.
Pain Is Love (2001)
Soon after the release of Rule 3:36, Irv Gotti signed R&B singer Ashanti to the label, which led to Lil Mo ending her collaborations with the label. During the late summer of 2001, Ja Rule released "Livin' It Up", the lead single from his third studio album, Pain Is Love, which proved to be a very successful album. It spawned 2 #1 Billboard Top 100 singles and 3 Top 10 singles and 4 Top 20 singles. "Living It Up" reached #11 on the Billboard Top 100 Chart. The second single was the #1 hit single "I'm Real (Murder Remix)", and the third was the second #1 single "Always On Time", and the last was "Down Ass Bitch", which reached #18 on the Billboard Top 100. Pain Is Love featured guest appearances from Case, The Murder Inc. Family, Missy Elliott, Jodie Mack, Tweet, Jennifer Lopez and a recording from the late Tupac Shakur. Along with its critical success it was also a commercial success selling over 360,000 copies in its first week of release reaching #1 on the Billboard 200. It has reached 3x Platinum Certification in the U.S. and has sold over 6.1 million albums worldwide.
The Last Temptation (2002)
The Last Temptation, Ja Rule's fourth album, was released on November 19, 2002. It featured the 2 Billboard Top 10 singles "Thug Lovin'" (#8) and "Mesmerize". 240,000 copies were sold in the first week of release and debuted at #4 on the Billboard Top 100 Albums making it Ja Rule's 4th Top 5 album from 1999-2002. Although it did not sell as well as his previous album, The Last Temptation was certified Double Platinum by April 25, 2003. It has since sold 2 million albums in the U.S. and over 4.3 million albums as of December 2009. It was after this album that the '50 Cent & G-Unit' era began, which would negatively affect Ja's future projects and career in general.
Blood In My Eye (2003)
Blood In My Eye although intended to be a mixtape, was his fifth album and the last released under the "Murder Inc." label, which renamed itself "The Inc." several days after the album release. It spawned the one and only hit "Clap Back" which reached #5 on the Top 100 and won him the Source Awards'"Fat Tape" song of the year. It peaked at #6 on the Billboard 100 and #1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart selling 139,000 copies in its first week of release. It has since sold 800,000 copies in the U.S. and over 1.4 million worldwide. In October 2003, Ja Rule met with Minster Louis Farrakhan, who wanted to intervene and prevent escalating violence in the feud between Ja Rule and 50 Cent.
R.U.L.E. (2004)
Ja Rule's sixth studio album R.U.L.E. was released in November 2004 debuting at number 7 selling 166,000 copies in its first week of release. Its lead single was "Wonderful" featuring R. Kelly and Ashanti which peaked on the Billboard Top 100 Singles at #5. The single was followed by the street anthem "New York" featuring Fat Joe and Jadakiss which charted at #27. The third single was the love song "Caught Up" featuring Lloyd and Ashanti which charted at #15. The track "The Manual" was also a single in the UK where it peaked at #9. The RIAA certified R.U.L.E. Gold on January 14, 2005 and the album has since sold 658,000 copies in the U.S. and over 2 million worldwide.
On December 6, 2005, The Inc. released Exodus, a greatest hits album whose only new tracks were the song "Me" and intro and outro tracks. Exodus was the last album on Ja Rule's contract with The Inc. After the release of this compilation, Ja Rule took a hiatus from recording music.
In 2005, The Inc. Records came under investigation because of drug trades by Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff, who was associated with Irv Gotti. This led to Def Jam Recordings refusing to renew The Inc.'s contract. From 2005 to 2006, Gotti searched for other labels until finally reaching a deal with Universal Records (ironically part of the same company as Def Jam).
In 2009, Ja Rule recorded a new song with Brazilian singer Wanessa, "Fly", sung entirely in English despite the singer's nationality. The song also received a version named "Meu Momento", also featuring Ja Rule, in which Wanessa sings in Portuguese. "Fly" was released as a single in Brazil in April. The song was ranked number #1 on Crowley/Brazil, and it was nominated in the "Hit do Ano" ("Hit Song of the Year") category at the 2009 MTV Video Music Brasil awards show, where Ja Rule and Wanessa performed together for the first time.
Ja Rule also recently ended his long running feud with his former Def Jam labelmate DMX at VH1's 2009 Hip Hop Honors. Ja Rule has announced that he is no longer signed to The Inc. Records, the label he has been with since its beginnings in 1997.
The Renaissance Project (2010-present)
It had originally been announced that Ja Rule will release a new studio album in the summer of 2010. The album was originally going to be entitled Venni Vetti Vecci 2010, named after his 1999 platinum selling debut album, but the album is now titled The Renaissance Project. Ja Rule had also mentioned that the new studio album might be a three-disc set. However, the album may now instead be a double disc or single disc having 14-15 songs. Ja Rule is currently dealing with pending legal issues and expects to release The Renaissance Project towards the end of 2010.
Personal life
Family
In April 2001, Ja Rule married Aisha Atkins; whom he met in high school. They have two sons, Jeffrey Jr. (born 2000) and Jordan (born 2004), and 2 daughter Brittney (born 1995)and Quiana(born 1999).
Criminal charges
In 2003, he punched a man in Toronto, who later sued Ja Rule, but they settled out of court. In 2004, police investigated whether a feud involving The Inc. led to fatal shooting outside a nightclub party hosted by Ja Rule. Ja Rule was also arrested that year for driving with a suspended license and possessing marijuana on July 1. In July 2007, Ja Rule was arrested for gun and drug possession charges along with Lil Wayne. New York Supreme Court judge Richard Carruthers rejected Ja Rule's argument that the gun was illegally obtained evidence.
Ja could face four years in prison for his 2007 gun charges.
Controversial comments regarding homosexuals
When interviewed for an article in the September 2007 issue of Complex magazine, Ja Rule spoke against media depiction of homosexuality:
“
And if it is, then we need to go step to Paramount, and fuck MGM, and all of these other that's making all of these movies and we need to go step to MTV and Viacom, and lets talk about all these fucking shows that they have on MTV that is promoting homosexuality, that my kids can't watch this shit," he continued. "Dating shows that's showing two guys or two girls in mid-afternoon. Let's talk about shit like that! If that's not fucking up America, I don't know what is.
”
For the above comment he was publicly impugned by the GLAAD:
“
No fair-minded person can look at Ja Rule’s interview with Complex Magazine and believe for one second that his children could be more harmed by what they might see on television than by the vulgarity and prejudice that comes out of their father’s mouth. Now that media have seen Ja Rule's intolerance unmasked by his own words, they have a responsibility not to provide in the future a platform for his ugly, vulgar displays of prejudice.
”
During an interview with online MySpace interview channel The Hook Up on October 24, 2007, Ja Rule claimed that Complex magazine had misquoted him, and that he is "not at all" homophobic. He went on in a January 2008 issue of XXL magazine to state his words were taken out of context. He is quoted as stating:
“
What I was saying in that article is everyone has that same responsibility. They're absolutely right: Rappers have a responsibility to the kids. But don't just pin it on the hip-hop. If I gotta curb my lyrics or censor what I say, no problem. But if you gonna show sexual images during the daytime for children, that should be censored as well... And I'm not just talking about homosexuality. I'm talking about any sexuality. If it's too sexy for kids, it's too sexy for kids.
”
Philanthrophy
Ja Rule founded the L.I.F.E Foundation, which opens its doors to underprivileged children through various programs such as art, music, poetry and sports.
Who is Stephen Gilchrist Glover? The entertainment world knows him as Steve-O. He is a daredevil and television personality. He is best known as one of the performers on the TV series Jackass and Wildboyz.
Early life
Steve-O was born on June 13, 1974 in London to an American father and a Canadian mother. His family was based in England for many years due to his father's presidency of the South American division of Pepsi-Cola. During his childhood Steve-O lived in a number of countries, including Brazil - speaking his first words in Portuguese - Venezuela, and Uganda, where he spent 2 years before returning to the United States. His first hometown in the United States was Darien, Connecticut at the age of four. He moved to Miami two years later. When he was nine his family returned to London. He then spent three years in Canada before returning to London once more. Steve-O graduated from Leggett Valley High School in 1992 before moving to the U.S.
While performing in the flea market circus, Steve-O began sending videos of himself to Big Brother Magazine editor and future Jackass director Jeff Tremaine. Tremaine recruited Steve-O for MTV's television series Jackass, which became an instant hit. From this popularity, MTV decided to release three movies based on the series: Jackass: The Movie (2002), Jackass Number Two (2006) and direct-home release Jackass 2.5 (2007). Both Jackass: The Movie and Jackass Number Two became box office hits. In 2001, he released Don't Try This at Home on DVD, which contained material MTV censored. It went on to sell 140,000 copies. He toured promoting the DVD doing stunts, which was filmed and released as Don't Try This at Home Volume 2: The Tour The tour gained national attention after Steve-O was arrested on July 31, 2002 in Los Angeles on obscenity and assault charges for stapling his scrotum to his leg, and for beating a principal to a second-degree battery, during a performance at a nightclub in Houma, Louisiana on July 11, 2002. After several delays, in March 2003 Steve-O made a deal with Louisiana prosecutors placing him on supervised probation for one year, requiring him to make a charitable donation of $5,000 to a shelter for battered women and children and forbidding him from ever performing in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana again.
In 2003, Steve-O toured Europe with Bam Margera. On May 22, 2003 Steve-O was arrested and jailed while in Sweden due to a comment he made during an interview about smuggling drugs into the country, remarking that he swallowed a condom containing cannabis to get it past the authorities. Steve-O reached a plea bargain with the Swedish prosecutors and was released on May 27, 2003 after paying a 45,000 Kronor (about 6,700 dollars) fine. As part of the plea bargain Steve-O admitted to possessing one ecstasy tablet and five grams of marijuana, although he claimed he had no knowledge of where the ecstasy came from. The Swedish arrest was included in the third installment of the DVD series titled Steve-O: Out on Bail.
Two months later on July 19, 2003, Steve-O was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct for urinating on potato chips in public during a Lollapalooza tour concert in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania. Steve-O claimed he was kicked off the tour by Lollapalooza producers because of the incident. Steve-O was again seen urinating in public at the March 5, 2006 Key Club Party for the Oscars, urinating on the red carpet outside the club and then stripping off to his "birthday suit."
After Jackass (2004-2007)
After the Jackass show ended, he co-starred with Chris Pontius on MTV's Wildboyz, which lasted a few seasons until 2006. The two performed stunts and acts with animals, often putting themselves in situations for which they are not trained.
In mid 2005, Steve-O launched his own shoe company called Sneaux Shoes. Television commercials promoting the shoe company include such acts as Steve-O jumping into garbage, getting his foot bitten by an alligator and drinking rotten milk. His slogan is "They're darn good shoes."
On March 27, 2006, Jackass co-stars Steve-O and Chris Pontius visited The Dean Blundell Show, a morning show on Toronto radio station CFNY (102.1 The Edge), to promote their "Don't Try This At Home" tour. Steve-O urinated on the floor and performed a stunt called "Unwrapping the Mummy" all in front of a live studio audience. Hosts Dean Blundell, Jason Barr, and Todd Shapiro were suspended for the week following the appearance, after many complaints. In April 2006, Steve-O later sued manager Nick Dunlap and attorney Jason Berk accusing them of lying to him to fund their lifestyles.
On July 18, 2006, Steve-O became a late contestant on the British reality show Love Island broadcast on ITV from Fiji in an effort to boost ratings. Despite stating he has stopped drinking, he asked for beer while on the show. On July 19, 2006 he abruptly left Love Island because he was not allowed the beer and chocolate which he had requested.
In November 2006, he went on a drug binge after being misdiagnosed with cardiomyopathy, a serious heart condition. He was later examined by heart specialists who concluded he was in good health.
In 2007, Steve-O starred in his own television show called Dr. Steve-O on the USA Network. In the show, he helped make his guests cool and "de-wussify" them. That same year he appeared in Jackass 2.5, which mainly consisted of material that didn't appear in the second Jackass movie. Additionally, he appeared with some Jackass alumni in National Lampoon's TV: The Movie.
On February 5, 2008, Steve-O appeared on The Howard Stern Show with Howard Stern, Robin Quivers and Artie Lange on Sirius Satellite radio to promote his upcoming rap album Hard As a Rock. Another mix-CD released by Steve-O is called The Dumbest Asshole In Hip Hop.
Psychiatric problems and rehab (2008)
On February 23, 2008 Steve-O joined the rest of the Jackass crew for the Jackass MTV 24 Hour Takeover, which promoted JackassWorld.com. During the live broadcast Steve-O was kicked out of MTV studios on the request of executives for his behavior and intoxication. Eventually, he was allowed back in the MTV Studios.
On March 9, 2008, Steve-O's friends, including co-star Johnny Knoxville, physically removed him from his house and forced him to check into Thalians Mental Health Center due to ongoing drug abuse problems. Steve-O was placed on a 72 hour psychiatric hold which was later lengthened to 14 days due to an alleged suicide attempt. In a mass e-mail addressed to his friends, Steve-O expressed that he previously had thought of his drug abuse and bipolarity as a "good thing," but that he now realizes that his drug abuse was hurting those he loved most.
On June 4, 2008, Steve-O pleaded guilty to felony possession of cocaine. He avoided jail by the successful completion of his treatment program. In July, after 115 days of sobriety, Steve-O announced he was "back in the loony bin". He returned to the mental institution, he said, because "I've had horrible mood swings and severe depression. My brain is fucked up from using so much cocaine, ketamine, PCP, nitrous oxide, and all sorts of other drugs."
Post-rehab (2009-2010)
In March 2009, Steve-O was on the 8th season of Dancing with the Stars, paired with Lacey Schwimmer. After the first week, he complained of pinched nerves and back spasms and did not compete in the second week after injuring his back further by falling on his microphone pack during dress rehearsal. The judges based their scores on his performance at the dress rehearsal. He was eventually eliminated in the sixth week of the competition.
On May 3, 2009, MTV premiered a documentary titled Steve-O: Demise and Rise about how his life was affected by the use of drugs and alcohol. The show featured home-made video footage of Steve using drugs and vandalizing his apartment. In an August 2009 interview with Johnny Knoxville for The Times-Picayune, Knoxville on the topic of Steve-O's recovery and rehabilitation said "He's taking to sobriety like he took to drugs and alcohol, I'm very proud of him. I think we'll see him doing some stuff here really soon. As a matter of fact, I know we are." And later stated "Something's coming. We're pretty excited". Later, he added: "I think it'll be a big year next year, but I don't want to talk about it yet."
Then in January 2009, Steve-O announced on his website the release of a new DVD titled Steve-O: Pounding Out Randoms, of which only 1000 copies have been made.
Steve-O will be part of Jackass 3D, the third installment of the Jackass series. The movie is in 3D and started production on January 25, 2010. In December 2009, Paramount issued a press release that it will be released October 15, 2010.
In late May 2010, Knoxville has stated that Steve-O's sobriety is at its best and “There is no beer on set this time around even if some of us wish there was”. He also said “And to be honest it's going great. Everyone has had different injuries throughout which is a good sign and Steve-O is probably getting the best footage out of everybody. He is really going for it. He wants to prove to everyone he can do these stunts sober. It's been two years since he had a drink now. Everyone has been real supportive of him.”
Leathermouth.
