Jarvis Edward Cooper is an American hip hop rap

Hip hop music

Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...

 artist professionally known as BB Jay from Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

, NY famously noted for his vocal similarity to late hip-hop legend The Notorious B.I.G.

The Notorious B.I.G.

Christopher George Latore Wallace , best known as The Notorious B.I.G., was an American rapper. He was also known as Biggie Smalls , Big Poppa, and The Black Frank White .Wallace was raised in the Brooklyn borough...

. He is noted for his music to reflect the Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 views and values of his faith

Faith

Faith is confidence or trust in a person or thing, or a belief that is not based on proof. In religion, faith is a belief in a transcendent reality, a religious teacher, a set of teachings or a Supreme Being. Generally speaking, it is offered as a means by which the truth of the proposition,...

 and belief in the divinity

Divinity

Divinity and divine are broadly applied but loosely defined terms, used variously within different faiths and belief systems — and even by different individuals within a given faith — to refer to some transcendent or transcendental power or deity, or its attributes or manifestations in...

 of Jesus

Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...

 Christ

Christ

Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...

.http://www.videosurf.com/bb-jay-54919

Early life

Born Jarvis Edward Cooper in Brooklyn, NY, BB Jay was raised in New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

.http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/b-b-jay/id23873551 He was first introduced to Christian rap at the age of 11. He went to a Christian youth camp

Summer camp

Summer camp is a supervised program for children or teenagers conducted during the summer months in some countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer camp are known as campers....

 in Lebanon, New Jersey

Lebanon, New Jersey

Lebanon is a Borough in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2010 Census, the borough population was 1,358.Lebanon was incorporated as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 26, 1926, from portions of Clinton Township, based on the results of a...

 where he met gospel

Gospel music

Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....

 rapper

Rapping

Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...

 Charles E. Mitchell Sr. (aka Rap'n Rev).http://www.ovguide.com/bb-jay-9202a8c04000641f8000000005727d75

Hip hop career

In 1997, BB Jay released his first single independently, called "The Pentecostal Poppa". The single was a hit on airwaves

Airplay

* Airplay is the amount of time a song is played on the radio.It may also refer to:* AirPlay, an audio & video streaming technology from Apple Inc.* Airplay , Foster & Graydon music project from 1980* Citroën C1, Citroën C1 Airplay...

 and received rotation on BET

Bet

Bet or BET may refer to:* A wager in gambling* Basic Economics Test * Bet , the second letter in many Semitic alphabets, including Aramaic, Hebrew, Phoenician and Syriac* Brunauer-Emmett-Teller isotherm. See BET_theory...

. A year after signing with Jive Records

Jive Records

Jive Records was a record label based in New York City, operating under RCA Music Group. Jive was primarily known for a string of successes with hip hop artists in the 1980s, and in teen pop and boy bands in the late 1990s. The word "jive" was inspired by Township Jive, a form of South African...

, he released his international debut album Universal Concussion in 2000.http://www.rhapsody.com/bb-jay/universal-concussionhttp://new.music.yahoo.com/b-b-jay/tracks/universal-concussion--174462445 The album was heavily promoted with music video

Music video

A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

s, singles, and national touring. After a 5-year hiatus, BB Jay recorded a collaboration album with rappers Pettidee & Demetrus titled 3 The God Way, released in 2005.http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/3-the-god-way/id304510550 BB Jay's latest album Unlimited

Unlimited

Unlimited may refer to:* An unlimited or infinite quantity* The suffix of an unlimited company-Music:* Unlimited , a 2005 album by Taiwanese Band F.I.R.* Unlimited , a 2006 album by Cantopop singer Miriam Yeung...

is set to release June 26, 2007. The 17-track album will have a companion DVD also titled Unlimited.

BB Jay is often cited as one of the very few who is openly a Christian in the mainstream hip hop industry

Hip hop music

Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...

.

Awards & Achievements

In the year 2002, BB Jay has received a Holy Hip-Hop Award and a Stellar Award

Stellar Awards

The Stellar Awards is the first Gospel Music Awards show in the country, honoring Gospel Music Artists, writers, and industry professionals for their contributions to the Gospel Music Industry. The Stellar Awards ranks high in status as the only Gospel Music television awards program syndicated in...

for New Artist Of The Year.http://www.ccptv.com/main_stellar.html In 2007, he won a Carolina Holy Hip Hop Achievement Award for National Hip Hop Apostle of the Year.http://www.hhhdb.com/index.php?id=713

External links