John Forté
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| John Forté | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 30, 1975 Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York[1] |
| Genres | Hip Hop |
| Occupations | Rapper, record producer |
| Years active | 1989 – 2000, 2008-present |
| Labels | EMI Records Columbia Records[2] |
| Associated acts | Fugees, Refugee Camp All-Stars, Wyclef Jean |
| Website | http://www.johnforte.com/ |
John Forté (born January 30, 1975) is a rapper, producer, Forté was born in Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York. He won a full scholarship to Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, where he graduated in 1993.[1]
Forté began his professional music career when he was introduced to The Fugees by Lauryn Hill in the early 1990s. He co-wrote and produced two songs on their multi-platinum and Grammy-winning 1996 album, The Score. After the group broke up in 1997, Forté released his debut solo album, Poly Sci in 1998, which was produced by Wyclef Jean. The album sold 79,000 copies, a disappointment blamed in part on the fact that "the record's project manager quit Sony a week before the album was released, and Epic put little cash behind its promotional tour."[1]
[edit] Drug conviction
In 2000, Forté was arrested at Newark International Airport after accepting a briefcase containing $1.4 million worth of liquid cocaine; he was charged with possession with intent to distribute cocaine and conspiracy to distribute.[3] He was convicted and sentenced to the mandatory minimum 14 years after being found guilty, and incarcerated at FCI Loretto, a low-security federal prison in central Pennsylvania.[1]
Carly Simon and her son Ben Taylor were advocates on Forte's behalf, believing he did not receive a fair trial, fought for an appeal of the mandatory minimum drug laws that remove a judge’s discretion in a case; they met Forté through Taylor's cousin who was a classmate of Forté's at Phillips Exeter.[4]
With the help of Senator Orrin Hatch, Forté's prison sentence was commuted by President George W. Bush on November 24, 2008. He was released from prison four weeks later December 22.[5][6]
Forté recently recorded a cover of Kanye West's "Homecoming" with Talib Kweli. In the song, he discusses the issues surrounding his jail time. The music video was posted on Okayplayer.com on January 17, 2009. [1]
In 2009 he wrote various articles on TheDailyBeast.com [2] [3][4], and Okayplayer.com interviewed him as he began his teaching job at the City College of New York in late March 2009. [5]
[edit] Discography
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d "John Forte's Rap". Rolling Stone. 2002-08-27. http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5938799/john_fortes_rap. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
- ^ http://www.oocities.com//patmil007/aprill8100.JPG
- ^ "Producer in court for drug charges". thebatt.com. 2001-08-29. http://media.www.thebatt.com/media/storage/paper657/news/2001/08/29/Statelocal/Producer.In.Court.For.Drug.Charges-512713.shtml. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
- ^ "Mandatory Minimum Sentence Changes a Life". ABC News. 2004-12-23. http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=356651&page=1. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
- ^ "Bush pardons 14 individuals". Associated Press (msnbc.com). 2008-11-24. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27895909/. Retrieved 2008-11-24.
- ^ "Fugees Producer And rapper John Forte Granted Pardon by President Bush". MTV News (mtv.com). 2008-11-25. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1600193/20081125/fugees.jhtml. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
