Juelz Santana
Juelz Santana (born 'LaRon Louis James' on February 18, 1982) is an American rapper from Harlem, who first became known for his "featured" status on Cam'ron's 2002 hits, "Oh Boy" and "Hey Ma".
Music Career
Juelz Santana began his music career at the age of 12, in the group Draft Pick. Draft Pick was featured in The Source Magazine's Unsigned Hype column in 1998. The group went on to sign with Priority Records, but before an album could be made, Priority dropped the group from its roster. Eventually the members of Draft Pick parted ways.
Juelz continued rapping and in 1999, his cousin introduced him to Cam'Rom, a fellow Harlem rapper. Cam'Rom was so impressed after hearing Juelz rap that he gave him a chance to rap a verse on the song "Double Up" which was featured on Cam'Ron's 2000 release "Sex, Drugs, Entertainment" on UnEntertainment Records. Unfortunately, before Juelz could get into talks with UnEntertainment and Arista, Cam'Ron was dropped by UnEntertainment.
Juelz and Cam'Ron continued working together along with another Harlem rapper, Jim Jones as a group called The Diplomats. In 2001 Cam'Ron signed with Roc-A-Fella Records though an old friend, Dame Dash. In 2002 Juelz received more publicity with his featured spot on the songs "Oh Boy" and "Hey Ma" off of Cam'Ron's 2002 release Come Home With Me.
After the success of his guest appearances, Juelz went on to release From Me 2 U on Def Jam/Diplomat Records in 2003. The album was greeted with lukewarm reviews and medicore album sales. The album featured the singles "Santana's Town".
In late 2005 Juelz released What's The Game Been Missing. Unlike his From Me 2 U, this album was greeted with rave reviews and an impressive sale figure in the first week. The album success was propelled by the single "There It Go(The Whistle Song)" "& Mic Check". To date the album has been certified gold by the RIAA.
Personal Life
Juelz has a two year old son, LaRon Jr. He has three brothers Jermaine, Mark, and Demar. Jemaine's son is promiently featured in many Diplomats related videos most noticeably are "There It Go(The Whistle Song" and "S.A.N.T.A.N.A." videos. Juelz owns a Harlem clothing store called Santana's Town which is operated by his mother, Deborah.
9/11 Lyrics controversy
He is well known for the controversy over his words about the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks, "I worship the late prophet/The great Mohammed Omar Atta/For his courage behind the wheel of the plane/Reminds me of when I was slingin 'caine".
Singles
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Hot 100 | US R&B/Hip-Hop | US Rap | |||
| 2002 | "Oh Boy" (Cam'ron feat. Juelz Santana) | #4 | #1 | #1 | Come Home With Me |
| 2002 | "Hey Ma" (Cam'ron feat.Juelz Santana) | #3 | #7 | #4 | Come Home With Me |
| 2005 | "Mic Check" | - | - | - | What the Game's Been Missing & Back Like Cooked Crack, Pts. 1 & 2 |
| 2005 | "Run It!" (Chris Brown feat. Juelz Santana) | #1 (5 weeks) [Gold] | #1 (4 weeks) | - | Chris Brown |
| 2005 | "There It Go (The Whistle Song)" | #6 [Platinum] | #8 | #3 | What the Game's Been Missing! |
| 2005 | "Oh Yes" | #56 | #15 | #8 | What the Game's Been Missing! |
| 2006 | "Clockwork" | - | - | - | What the Game's Been Missing! |