Lil' J

by Jason BirchmeierAt a very young age, Lil J never failed to impress with not only his ability to drop rhymes but also his ambition. By age seven he was rhyming outside of the local K-Mart with a tip jar, collecting money for his first demo tape. Years later in his early teens, J was still rhyming and still hustling his way into the rap game. In 1999, when he was just 14, J came to the attention of Trans Continental Records, best known for an affiliation with the hottest teen pop groups of the time, including the Backstreet Boys, O-Town, and LFO. They recognized J's talent and it wasn't long before the teen MC inked a record deal with Hollywood Records. In late 2001, he made his major-label debut with All About J, a surprisingly slick LP featuring some of the industry's best producers from all coasts: Jermaine Dupri, L.E.S., and L.T. Hutton being just three of the more prominent. Futhermore, not content resting on his laurels, J toured and set his sights on Hollywood.