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
Hughes was born September 24 1972 At age 7, Hughes' mother, Jo Ellen, moved him to Palm Desert, California. In high school, Hughes became friends with Josh Homme (later of Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age). They became good friends after Josh Homme stopped a bully from picking on Hughes. Hughes graduated from the Greenville Technical College with a degree in journalism and worked as manager of a Video Depot in the Palm Desert for several years.
Politics
Hughes worked as a speechwriter and activist for the Republican Party. He worked for former CongressmanSonny Bono. He remains a devoted Republican, and has called PresidentBarack Obama a "communist". In an interview with Altitude TV, Hughes said, regarding the 2008 presidential election, "I would never vote for Obama. Not in a million years." He called Obama a "talking head" who has behind him a machine that "understands the sophistication of media." He added: "I want my money and my guns. And I don't want anyone to tell me what to do. I don't like people who offer me free lunch, or all-you-can-drink lemonade, because nine times out of 10 you vote for them and they give you a glass and pour a little bit in the bottom and go, 'That's all you can drink.' "
Hughes is a registered member of the National Rifle Association, but claims not to hunt for he believes it isn't fair - "I don't like hunting animals because they can't shoot back.".
Eagles of Death Metal
Jesse Hughes and Josh Homme formed Eagles of Death Metal in 1998. Hughes credits Homme with saving his life, claiming that during the recording of the second Eagles of Death Metal album Death By Sexy, he fell into serious drug addiction and that Homme not only drove him to rehab, but paid for it as well.
Pseudonyms
Hughes is known to go by many different nicknames, including "J. Devil" (or simply "The Devil") as well as "Boots Electric" ("Boots" for short) and "Fabulous Weapon" (both of which were band names used by Hughes' father). In an interview Hughes revealed that his band mate Josh Homme gave him "The Devil" nickname when he was thirteen. "I used to get picked on a lot by Karl Doyle" says Hughes, "And when I would get picked on severely, or if it really made a point to me, I would get vengeance, but I would get vengeance in the way that I could, which was mostly clever and all consuming. Joshua once witnessed me in the moment I was about to enact vengeance upon someone, and he just said, 'You're the fucking devil dude,' and it stuck."
King was born June 3, 1964 in Los Angeles, California. His father was an aircraft parts inspector, and his mother was an employee of a telephone company. When he was a teenager, Kerry moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where he learned how to play guitar from a local man Dana Dawley. He divorced once; his current wife is Ayesha King, he also has a daughter named Shyanne Kymberlee King from his first marriage. In 1981 King was trying out for the position as a guitarist in a band. After the session was over Jeff Hanneman approached him and the two began playing Iron Maiden and Judas Priest songs with the session drummer. Hanneman mentioned "Why don’t we start our OWN band?” [Laughs] I was like, “…Fuck yeah!" King once had long hair, but then shaved his head when he started balding. His bald head, spiked wristband, long beard and extensive tattoo work (which covers his hands, arms and head) are his trademarks, to such a degree that Blender included a tour of his body ink.
King's acronym, KFK, was revealed to mean "Kerry Fuckin' King" in the January 2007 Issue of Guitar World.
Feuds
King has had well-publicized disagreements with several of his contemporaries, including a long-standing feud with Dave Mustaine of Megadeth, who attempted to persuade King to leave the "posers," "lame spikes," and "eyeliner" of Slayer behind and focus on Megadeth. Recently in GuitarWorld.com'sDear Guitar Hero, King "admires him to this day" as a guitarist, even though he considers Mustaine a "hypocrite".
In 2009 Slayer co-headlined a small, four show Canadian tour alongside Megadeth In January 2010 Dave Mustaine and Kerry King hung out in a TGI Friday together for 45 minutes in Temecula, California, getting to know each other again. Many suggest that the long feud between King and Mustaine has dropped off for good.
Another feud is with Machine Head frontman Robb Flynn, who claims that King started "talking shit about us out of nowhere." King labeled Machine Head as “sell-outs” after the release of their 2001 album Supercharger. King continued to criticize the band stating "They're responsible for rap-metal", "they fooled me into thinking they're metal", "'they have no integrity left.". Flynn has since noted that King has "finally squashed the beef". Another indication the feud is over are some comments King made referencing a proposed tour between the "Big Four" Thrash Metal bands; King suggested that Machine Head be included instead of Anthrax
In 2006, Slayer's producer Rick Rubin lent production to Metallica's then-untitled Death Magnetic album, instead of Slayer for their album Christ Illusion. King deemed this action a "slap in the fucking face," labeling Metallica as a "sinking ship."
During an interview on drummers, King stated that Soulfly drummer Joe Nunez could not join Slayer because "his mother wouldn't let him", that Adrian Erlandsson "hits his drums like a fag", and that Raymond Herrera of Fear Factory "has no hands" in regard to his drumming abilities.
Guest appearances
In addition to appearing on Slayer's albums, he has also made several guest appearances as lead guitarist. While lending production to 1986’s Reign in Blood, Rick Rubin was also helming production of the Beastie Boys debut album Licensed to Ill. Rubin felt the track "No Sleep till Brooklyn" needed a guitar solo, so he offered King several hundred dollars to lay down the part. King has since commented that his playing ability "certainly wasn’t that of a virtuoso". "No Sleep till Brooklyn", whose title was a spoof on Motörhead’s 1981 live album No Sleep 'til Hammersmith, was originally intended to feature King being knocked offstage by a gorilla in its music video though King refused. King replied, "If there’s gonna be anyone knocking anyone offstage, it’ll be me knocking the gorilla", which is what subsequently happened. King has reminisced that he thought the Beastie Boys were cool, although never having heard any of their music at the time. On Licensed to Ill, King also played the guitar solo on the song "Fight For Your Right (To Party)".
King contributed a lead guitar outro part to Pantera’s song "Goddamn Electric", which appeared on the 2000 album Reinventing the Steel. King’s rig was set up in Pantera’s bathroom backstage just after Ozzfest in Dallas, as the group still didn't have their own dressing room on top of not appearing on the festival bill. After King had finished the first take, Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell ran in and yelled "DON’T LET HIM DO IT AGAIN!" King tried again with the hope he would find a superior rendition, though the first take was used.
King also contributed lead guitar solos to the following songs: "Disorder" with rapper Ice-T (from the 1992 album Judgment Night), Rob Zombie’s "Dead Girl Superstar" (from the 2001 album The Sinister Urge), Hatebreed’s "Final Prayer" (from the March 2002 album Perseverance) and Sum 41’s "What We're All About (The Original Version)", (from the June 2002 released Spider-Man moviesoundtrack), "Witchkrieg" by Swedish thrash metal band Witchery.
Kerry King, who is a big wrestling fan, was the guest announcer for the match between Supreme and Kronus, the finals match of the death match tournament at the XPW event "Baptized in blood" on June 20, 2000. He was however announced by regular announcer Kris Kloss as the "lead singer of Slayer", which King immediately corrected by yelling "It's guitar" as soon as he was given the microphone. He entered the ring to the sounds of the Slayer song "Angel of Death" from the album Reign in Blood.
King has also made several guest appearances in Marilyn Manson's "Rape Of The World" tour, joining the band to play classic tracks such as "Little Horn", "1996" and "Irresponsible Hate Anthem". Many fans noticed elements of King's own style used on these occasions.
Equipment
Guitars
Kerry King has been a major endorsee of B.C. Rich guitars for many years. He is best known for playing his signature model guitars (many are all maple with ebony fingerboards), with EMGpickups, Fernandes Sustainer Systems, and Dunlop strings.
When performing live and in studio recordings, King favors neck-thru guitars.
King's guitars:
Throughout Slayer's career, King has used mainly the same equipment. He has been an endorser of Marshall amplifiers since the 1980s. Today, King uses his signature amplifier, through 4x12 cabinets with Celestion G12K-100 and Vintage 30 speakers.
To avoid problems with pedals being damaged during live performances, King keeps his effect pedals in a rack along with his amplifiers and rack effects. He controls them through a pedalboard onstage. The pedal controller allows him to change between different effect pedals and amplifiers.
After Dimebag Darrell was killed, King, a good friend of Darrell's, received a guitar designed by Dimebag and built by Dean Guitars. The guitar is silver gun metal and shaped like a Razorback V with black tribal designs in a finish reminiscent of King's tattoos. Despite a long-standing endorsement deal, BC Rich has offered to allow Kerry to play this guitar onstage in light of the sentimental value the guitar possesses.
On early recordings, King used a DiMarzio Mega Drive humbucker in the bridge position of his guitars.
King's first custom 7 string Wartribe (finished in red and black) featured a Floyd Rose tremolo and custom DiMarzio pickups due to 7 string Kahler bridges not yet being made and EMG not yet having a seven string version of the 81.
Snakes
Like Slash, Kerry is a long time and noted snake breeder, and is known to pop up at Southern California reptile events and pet shops with little or no notice. He currently specializes in carpet pythons. Kerry's snakes were recently shown in an interview with Blender.com.Kerry King's Obsessions: Snakes! Kerry King also participated in online chat discussions at the popular reptile web site kingsnake.com in 2005 and again in 2008 and then a podcast interview in 2009.
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.
