Montell Jordan

Montell Jordan
Birth name	Montell Du'Sean Barnett
Born	December 3, 1968 (1968-12-03) Los Angeles, California, United States
Genres	R&B, New Jack Swing, Hip hop
Occupations	singer-songwriter, producer
Years active	1994–2010
Labels	PMP/RAL, Def Soul (1995–2002) Koch (2003–2004) Universal/Fontana (2008)
Associated acts	Shae Jones

Montell Jordan (born December 3, 1968) is an American R&B singer-songwriter and record producer. Jordan became the main solo male artist on its Def Soul imprint until leaving the label in 2003. During his live performances he generally gives more of a rock-oriented performance, with Jordan even going as far as to wear sunglasses while on stage. As of 2010, Jordan has left the music business to become a minister.

Biography

Jordan attended Pepperdine University in California, where he received a bachelor's degree in communications and became a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. Jordan graduated summa cum laude and was a state finalist for the Rhodes Scholarship.

Jordan's first single was the 1995 #1 hit "This Is How We Do It," which sampled Slick Rick's earlier Def Jam hit "Children's Story". This success would not happen for a male act again until Chris Brown's debut single "Run It!" topped the chart in 2005. Jordan followed up his success with "Somethin' 4 Da Honeyz", which peaked at #21. Later hits would include "Let's Ride" with Master P and "Talk Show" with Shae Jones in 1998 and "Get It on Tonite" in 1999.

Besides crafting his own material, Jordan has written and produced for other artists, including Christina Milian, 98 Degrees, Shae Jones, Deborah Cox ("Nobody's Supposed to Be Here," 1998), and Sisqó (the number-one hit "Incomplete," 2000). The singer appears in the film The Fighting Temptations as "Mr. Johnson", an angry convict who is very sensitive about his high-pitched voice. He also had a cameo appearance in The Nutty Professor, and he performed on the documentary Standing in the Shadows of Motown. In 2003 Jordan left Def Soul and released the album Life After Def on Koch Records and also appeared on the album of popular Croatian singer Nina Badrić in duet "Ne dam te nikom" ("I'm Not Giving You to Anyone").

Jordan released his seventh LP - Let It Rain - on October 21, 2008.

Jordan's song "This Is How We Do It" is used as the opening theme to Howie Mandel's hidden camera show, Howie Do It. In 2009, the song was used in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia during Season 5, Episode #8 (Paddy's Pub: Home of the Original Kitten Mittens"). In January 2012, "This Is How We Do It" was used in commercials for Jackson-Hewitt Tax Service. The song also states his unusually tall height of 6'8".

He is now a born-again Christian and can be seen at Victory World Church in Atlanta, GA, where he lives and performs with the church band. In late 2010, Jordan announced that he was officially leaving his music career behind to become a Worship Minister at Victory World Church.

In early 2011, Montell Jordan wrote a Christian album featuring the Christian song "Shake Heaven", with Beckah Shae and can be found on Itunes.

Personal Life

Jordan has been married to Kristin since June 1994. They have 3 kids and are expecting the fourth in May 2012.

Discography

Main article: Montell Jordan discography

• This Is How We Do It (1995)
• More… (1996)
• Let's Ride (1998)
• Get It On…Tonite (1999)
• Montell Jordan (2002)
• Life After Def (2003)
• Let It Rain (2008)

Awards and nominations

1995

• 1995 MTV Video Music Award nominations for Best Dance Video ("This Is How We Do It") and Best Rhythm & Blues Video ("This Is How We Do It")
• 1995 Grammy Award nomination for Best Rhythm & Blues Vocal Performance - Male ("This Is How We Do It")

External links

• Montell Jordan at the Internet Movie Database
• April 2006 Full online interview
• Montell Jordan on Myspace
• "This Is How We Do It" by Montell Jordan on YouTube
• Montell Jordan on Twitter