Amil

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For other people named Amil, see Amil (disambiguation).

Amil
Background information
Birth nameAmil Kahala Whitehead
Born (1973-09-19) September 19, 1973 (age 50)
New York City U.S.
GenresHip hop, gangsta rap, hardcore hip hop
Occupation(s)Rapper, singer, songwriter
Years active1994–2014
LabelsRoc-A-Fella, Columbia (1997–2001)
D.O.E (2007–present)

Amil Kahala Whitehead (born September 19, 1973) is an American former rapper and singer.[1] She was prominent in the late 1990s as a Jay-Z protégé, and recorded the single "Can I Get A..." with him for the Rush Hour soundtrack.

Amil's debut studio album, All Money Is Legal (2000), peaked at number 45 on the US Billboard 200 chart and spawned two successful singles – "I Got That" (with vocals from Beyoncé) and "4 da Fam".

Career

In 1997, Amil was involved with an all-female group called "Major Coins". The group met Jay-Z, who was looking for a woman to provide vocals on his third album, Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life. The part for the female rapper was really for her friend, but when Jay-Z asked Amil to freestyle and liked it, he decided to put her on the song instead. Amil, wanting to remain loyal to her friend, did not prefer to be put on the song, but Jay-Z allowed them both to do a version of the song.[2]

Soon after Major Coins broke up, Amil decided to follow a solo career with Jay-Z's label, Roc-A-Fella Records, joining the 1999 Hard Knock Life Tour. After the tour, she appeared on songs with Mariah Carey, Beyoncé, Jermaine Dupri, AZ, DJ Kay Slay, LL Cool J and Funkmaster Flex.[3][4]

Throughout her career, she has appeared on many songs with Jay-Z, including "Nigga What, Nigga Who" which also featured Jaz-O, the hit-single, "Can I Get A..." featuring Ja Rule, and other collaborations such as "Hey Papi", "Do It Again (Put Ya Hands Up)", "S Carter", "Heard It All", "You, Me, Him and Her", "That's Right", "Playa" and lastly, "4 Da Fam" and "For My Thugs" which both featured Memphis Bleek and Beanie Siegel.[5] In 2000, Amil released her debut solo album, A.M.I.L – All Money Is Legal.

All Money Is Legal

Her solo debut, A.M.I.L – All Money Is Legal, was released on August 29, 2000. The album featured the single "I Got That", a duet with Beyoncé,[6] and All-Star Roc-A-Fella single "4 Da Fam". The album also features Memphis Bleek, Jay-Z, Carl Thomas, Eve, and Beanie Sigel. Amil is a practicing Black Hebrew Israelite and her affiliation is evident on songs such as "Quarrels".[7] Album sales were disappointing, and the singles did not sell well either. Following that album, her last Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam single, "Hey Papi", a song from the soundtrack to the feature film Nutty Professor II: The Klumps, was released. Due to the fact that she was featured in the video only briefly, it was expected that she had already been dropped by that time. In 2002, Amil had a small role in State Property along with other Roc-a-Fella members such as Damon Dash and Jay-Z.[8]

Later career

In 2005, Amil temporarily re-formed "Major Coinz" and released songs on the mixtape circuit including the single "Glamorous Life" which was featured on MTV's Mixtape Monday.[9]

In a 2006 interview, when asked whether female MCs are forced to meet standards that male MCs are not, she said: "Oh, yeah. Definitely. You have to be picture-perfect and you have to meet the standards of the perfect woman. That's unreal to me. Real women do not have plastic-looking bodies. The average woman is not a size 0. You can do what you have to do to keep yourself looking like that or you could just be you. Me, I choose to just be me." She went on to say that she holds no grudges against her former labelmates, though she has no communication with them.

In 2008, Amil released mixtapes titled Az Iz and Amil Returns: The Lost Classics Edition, delivering lyrically with songs such as the emotional "Tears of a Teenage Mother" and the Caribbean vibed "Don't Worry".[10][11]

In August 2011, Amil spoke out through Vibe Magazine and gave the following statement about Jay-Z: "I haven't spoken to Jay in years but I really wish I could talk to him because that would just really bring closure to me. But he knows I love him. People think there was bad blood between us, but there never was any bad blood. Things happen and I wasn't ready for where my career was going at that time. It was really overwhelming."[12]

Amil released a new song called "Stop" in July 2012. The song was intended to promote the rapper's unreleased mixtape, A Time to Kill.[13][14] Amil released the song "Remember" in 2014. It was also intended to promote a mixtape titled Another Moment in Life, which remains unreleased.[15]

Discography

Albums

Year Album Chart positions [1]
US US
R&B
2000 All Money Is Legal
  • Studio album
  • Released: August 29, 2000
  • Format: CD
 45 12
2008 Amil Az Iz — —

Singles

Year Single Chart positions Album
US US
Rap 		US
R&B 		UK
1998 "Can I Get A..." (Jay-Z featuring Ja Rule and Amil) 19 22 6 24 Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life
1999 "Jigga What, Jigga Who" (Jay-Z featuring Amil and Big Jaz) 83 24 6 19
"Do It Again (Put Ya Hands Up)" (Jay-Z featuring Amil and Beanie Sigel) 65 9 11 — Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter
2000 "Get None" (Tamar Braxton featuring Jermaine Dupri and Amil) — — 59 — Tamar
"Hey Papi" (Jay-Z featuring Amil and Memphis Bleek) 76 12 16 — Nutty Professor II Soundtrack
"I Got That" (featuring Beyoncé) — — 101 — A.M.I.L
"4 Da Fam" (featuring Jay-Z, Memphis Bleek and Beanie Sigel) 99 48 29 —
"That's Right/Get Down" (promo only) — — — —

Album appearances

Year Song Album
1998 "Can I Get A..." (Jay-Z featuring Ja Rule and Amil) Rush Hour O.S.T
"Can I Get A..." (Jay-Z featuring Ja Rule and Amil) Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life
"Jigga What, Jigga Who" (Jay-Z featuring Amil and Jaz-O)
1999 "Playa" (Beanie Sigel featuring Amil and Jay-Z) The Truth
"First One Hit" (Amil and Solé) Light It Up O.S.T
"I Still Believe" (Stevie J. Remix) (Mariah Carey featuring Amil and Mocha) I Still Believe CD single
"S. Carter" (Jay-Z featuring Amil) Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter
"Pop 4 Roc" (Jay-Z featuring Amil, Memphis Bleek and Beanie Sigel)
"Do It Again (Put Ya Hands Up)" (Jay-Z featuring Amil and Beanie Sigel)
"For My Thugs" (Funkmaster Flex featuring Amil and Jay-Z, Memphis Bleek and Beanie Sigel) The Tunnel
"Get None" (Tamar Braxton featuring Jermaine Dupri and Amil) Tamar
2000 "Hello" (LL Cool J featuring Amil) G.O.A.T.
"You, Me, Him and Her" (Beanie Sigel, Amil, Jay-Z and Memphis Bleek) The Dynasty: Roc La Familia
"Hey Papi" (Jay-Z featuring Memphis Bleek and Amil) Nutty Professor II Soundtrack
"PYT" (Memphis Bleek featuring Amil and Jay-Z) The Understanding
"Road Dawgs" (Da Brat, Eve, Jay-Z and Amil) Backstage: A Hard Knock Life
2001 "How Many Wanna" (AZ featuring Amil) 9 Lives
"What Yall Wanna Hear" (Queen Pen featuring Amil) Conversations With Queen
2003 "Seven Deadly Sins" (DJ Kayslay featuring Amil, Angie Martinez, Duchess, Lady May, Remy Ma, Sonja Blade and Vita) The Streetsweeper, Vol. 1
2008 "A Game" (AZ featuring Amil) Undeniable
2011 "Get Them Stax Daddy" (Ron Lyonz featuring Amil) The Rebirth of Hip Hop

References

  1. ^ Group, Vibe Media (December 2000). Vibe. Vibe Media. p. 139. Retrieved February 26, 2016. rapper Amil whitehead vibe.
  2. ^ Langhorne, Cyrus (August 19, 2011). "Amil Still Loves The Jigga Man, "I Wish I Could Talk To Jay-Z Because That Would Bring Closure"". Sohh.Com. Retrieved March 30, 2012.
  3. ^ Potts, Diana (September 27, 2000). "Amil". AllMusic. Retrieved March 30, 2012.
  4. ^ "Amil Discography at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved March 30, 2012.
  5. ^ "All Money Is Legal: Amil: Music". Amazon. Retrieved March 30, 2012.
  6. ^ "Amil – I Got That ft. Beyoncé Knowles – Video Dailymotion". Dailymotion.com. April 24, 2011. Retrieved March 30, 2012.
  7. ^ Group, Vibe Media (December 2000). Vibe. Vibe Media. p. 139. Retrieved February 26, 2016. amil vibe.
  8. ^ "State Property (2002) : Full Cast & Crew". IMDb.com. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
  9. ^ "Mixtape Monday: Beanie And 50 May 'Shock The World'; 'All Access' Reaches Rakim". Mtv.com. March 9, 2006. Retrieved March 30, 2012.
  10. ^ "Amil – Amil Az Iz (the New Album) Hosted by DJ Tre'i Starzz Mixtape – Stream & Download". Datpiff.com. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
  11. ^ "Amil Returns: The Lost Classics Edition – XXL". Xxlmag.com. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
  12. ^ "V Exclusive: Amil Debunks Twitter Debut + Talks Jay-Z and Nicki Minaj". Vibe. August 18, 2011. Retrieved March 30, 2012.
  13. ^ "New Music: Female Rapper Amil – 'Stop'". ThisIs50.com. July 31, 2012. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
  14. ^ "Rasha Entertainment Music Industry Blog". Archived from the original on May 24, 2013. Retrieved August 27, 2013.
  15. ^ "Amil Is Back Rapping Over Jay Z Instrumentals and Prepping Her New Mixtape "Another Moment in Life"". Complex.com. March 17, 2014. Retrieved February 26, 2016.

External links

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