Korean martial art resembling karate. It is characterized by the use of high standing and jump kicks as well as punches and is practiced for sport, self-defense, and spiritual development. In sparring, blows are stopped just short of contact. Based on earlier forms of Korean self-defense, tae kwon do was formalized and named in 1955. It became an Olympic sport in the year 2000.

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Jerrell Jones better known by his stage name J-Kwon, is a rapper from St. Louis, Missouri.

Biography

2004-2005: Music beginnings

J-Kwon began rapping in local Popeye's and Church's Chicken parking lots. Word of mouth then started to spread throughout the St. Louis area . J-Kwon was first signed in a very odd way, in that he would mock what would be his main producer, Jermaine Dupri, who produced a majority of his first album, Hood Hop. Regardless, according to Dupri, J-Kwon was also signed because of his rapping skills.

J-Kwon first rose to stardom with his single "Tipsy" and his 2004 album, Hood Hop. The aforementioned album peaked at #7 on the Billboard 200. It has reached gold status, selling approximately 650,000 copies to date. The first single from the album, "Tipsy", peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at #4 in the UK, becoming a success and making it his biggest single to date, and one of the biggest hip-hop records of 2004. A music video was filmed for the single, which was an obvious remake of Gin & Juice by Snoop Dogg. Strangely on the set of this music video, a shot was fired from a passing vehicle. The shot hit a window of a van, but no one was reported hurt.

After "Tipsy" had done its fair share on the radio, Jive parted with "You & Me", featuring Sadiyyah, as the second single. Disagreement with the record label followed, as J-Kwon wanted "Parking Lot" or "Hood Hop" to be a second single, but Jive decided "You & Me" with the fall and holiday theme in mind, considering it was a breezier, softer song. While the released single was no where near as successful as the earlier smash, the song did chart to #58 on the Billboard Hot 100 and landed a spot on the seventeenth edition of Now That's What I Call Music!. Afterwards, Jive had released third single "Hood Hop", which had little success, and failed to chart on the Hot 100 and only peaking at #52 on Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Tracks.

J-Kwon rose back to stardom in 2005 when he was given the opportunity to make the priority song on the XXX: State of the Union soundtrack. The song, "Get XXX'd", featuring Petey Pablo and Ebony Eyez, was completed soon enough and was featured on the movie's soundtrack and in the credits of the movie. Also in 2005, he promoted another part of media, this time in television, when he collaborated with comedian Andy Milonakis in "Like Dis", to promote The Andy Milonakis Show, which was played in skits on MTV during the show's first season broadcast.

Discography

• Hood Hop (2004)
• Hood Hop 2 (2008)

Solo singles

Year	Song	US Hot 100	US R&B/Hip-Hop	US Rap	UK Singles	Album
2004	"Tipsy"	2	2	1	4	Hood Hop
2004	"You & Me" (featuring Sadiyyah)	58	70	21	-	Hood Hop
2004	"Hood Hop"	-	52	-	-	Hood Hop
2005	"Get XXX'd" (featuring Ebony Eyez & Petey Pablo)	-	-	-	-	XXX: State of the Union (soundtrack)
2008	"Boo-Boo"	-	-	-	-	Hood Hop 2

Featured singles

Year	Song	U.S. Hot 100	U.S. R&B	U.S. Rap	UK Singles	Album
2005	"Fresh Azimiz" (Bow Wow featuring J-Kwon & Jermaine Dupri)	23	13	6	-	Wanted

References