Juelz Santana

Juelz Santana
Santana in July 2005
Background information
Birth name	LaRon Louis James
Born	February 18, 1983 (1983-02-18) (age 27) New York City, New York, United States
Genres	Hip hop
Occupations	Rapper, record producer, actor
Years active	2000–present
Labels	Skull Gang, Def Jam
Associated acts	Marty Da Beast Skull Gang, The Diplomats, Jim Jones, Lil Wayne, Freekey Zekey, Cam'ron
Website	juelzsantana.defjam.com

LaRon Louis James (born February 18, 1983),^[1] better known by his stage name Juelz Santana, is an American rapper, producer and actor. He came to fame following his appearances on Cam'ron's 2002 singles, "Oh Boy" and "Hey Ma". In 2003, his debut album From Me to U was released by Def Jam Recordings; his next album What the Game's Been Missing! contained the top-ten single "There It Go (The Whistle Song)".

Biography

Santana was born in Harlem to a Black American mother and a Puerto Rican & Dominican father.^[2] He began rapping at the age of five and at age twelve started duo Draft Pick, which was signed to Priority Records.^[3] In 2000, Santana made a guest performance on a track on Cam'ron's album S.D.E. and eventually joined The Diplomats.^[4]

In 2003, Santana released an album, From Me to U under Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam; its single "Dipset (Santana's Town)" reached #70 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop chart. What the Game's Been Missing! followed in 2005 with the singles "There It Go (The Whistle Song)", "Oh Yes", and "Clockwork". "There It Go" reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #3 on the Hot Rap Tracks charts; "Oh Yes" reached #56 on the Hot 100 and #8 on the Rap charts.^[5] Both this album and single "There It Go" were certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.^[6] Santana began working with Lil Wayne on a collaboration album I Can't Feel My Face in 2006.^{[7][8][9][10]} Mick Boogie, a DJ from Ohio, released a mixtape in late August 2006 titled Blow that contained 12 leaked tracks from the album recording sessions.^[11] Recording and production reportedly concluded by summer 2007.^[12] Santana told Angie Martinez in an interview on New York City hip-hop station Hot 97 that he blames the delay on the album on fellow Dipset rapper Cam'ron.^[13] In April 2008, Santana stated that issues existed over his and Wayne's signing to different labels and thus announced plans for various mixtapes to promote "unity and creativity".^[14] Santana claimed that Cam'ron blocked collaborations by other artists.^[15] XXL magazine brought up the delay of the album release in a February 2009 interview with Santana, who replied that "contractual issues" were to blame and that he was talking to L.A. Reid about releasing this album before his own solo album.^[16] In Wayne's album Tha Carter III, Santana appeared on the fifteenth track.

Santana was arrested outside of his Teaneck, New Jersey home in March 2008. After being pulled over for driving with a suspended license, a search of Santana's Bentley found marijuana, 29 hollow-point bullets, and $19,500 in cash inside a plastic bag filled with Jolly Ranchers .^[17]

In August 2008, Dipset founder Cam'ron revealed that he had sold Santana's contract to Def Jam Records for $2 million.^[18] Despite selling him to the Def Jam label, Santana says he is not mad at Cam. He revealed that he had inked a joint 50/50 joint venture with Def Jam, where he will release his next album, Born to Lose, Built to Win.^[19] Santana performed on Jim Jones' single "Pop Champagne", which was produced by Ron Browz. "Pop Champagne" peaked at #22 on the Hot 100 and #3 on the Hot Rap Tracks chart; it was also certified Gold by RIAA on February 26, 2009.^[20] In May 2009 Skull Gang's debut album was released on Santana's new label, Skull Gang Entertainment, and Koch Records.

Since 2007, Santana has been recording material for his third album, Born to Lose, Built to Win. Shortly after recording began, Santana released a promo single, "The Second Coming", produced by Just Blaze. After a two year hiatus, he released a new song, "Days of Our Lives", with two accompanying music videos featuring cameos from Skull Gang [1]. In late 2009 he released the first single off Born to Lose, Built to Win, "Mixin' Up the Medicine" featuring Yelawolf. The single failed to chart and had mild popularity. In 2010, he released the second single titled, "Back to the Crib" featuring Chris Brown, to some success.

In April 2010, Cam'ron and Jim Jones reconciled their differences and publicly announced that there is a Dipset project being worked out. Presumably, Santana will also be involved after his solo obligations are fulfilled.^[21]

On August 24, 2010, Santana became involved in a beef with Pornstar-turned-Rapper Brian Pumper. Santana commented on Pumper's Jay-Z diss record, on twitter, stating "A! LMAO NO HOMO how u tell another nigga "he ant packing no meet"super HOMO This B.pumper nigga is outta control #killyaself fucking weirdo." ^[22] The following day, Pumper dropped a diss record going at Santana.^[23] Santana has not directly responded to the record publicly.

Discography

• From Me to U (2003)
• What the Game's Been Missing! (2005)
• Born to Lose, Built to Win (2010)^[24][25]

Filmography

• State Property 2 (2005)
• Killa Season (2006)

References

External links

• Official website
• Official blog