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J.I. | Before They Were Famous | Justin Rivera "The Prince of New York" Biography - YouTube
Channel: BeforeTheyWereFamous
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Before J.I. inked a deal with Interscope Records,
which comes packaged as a partnership with
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G*STARR ENT.
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Before J.I. would appear on The Rap Game Season
2.
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Before J.I. would clock in nearly a million
followers on Instagram and go viral with tracks
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Uber Everywhere, Blame On Me, Company, Love
Won't Change & Need Me.
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J.I.
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Is the latest and greatest new kid on the
block who goes by the name Prince of New York.
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Just don't tell that to DJ Self or there might
be some kinda copyright battle.
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But batteling is just with young J.I.
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Is best at, first starting off with his brothers
in their Brooklyn home to the school yard
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and then dropping his freestyles on Instagram.
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It was through the power of social media this
kid landed himself on a reality rap television
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show where he didn't win but captured enough
new followers to push forward in this internet
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era of come ups.
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The facts for this one are a little far and
few between but being the Fact God I'll try
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and piece this one together.
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There is plenty of Before footage cause this
kid been at it online since he was at least
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14.
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What's going on guys?
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It's your boy Michael McCrudden documenting
the life and career of J.I.
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Prior to fame, here for you on Before They
Were Famous.
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Some other recent drops on this channel of
kids doing big things at such a young age
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include Mikey Williams and Bronny James and
Lil Tecca during his big blow up.
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But I need suggestions from you guys for who
to do next?
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How about a video on Lil Key?
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J.I.
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If you are watching this video show a little
love by sharing this video – I know you
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are, I can see you.
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Aright, now let's get into this video.
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J.I. was born Justin Rivera on September 23,
2001, in Brooklyn, New York City, New York
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in an area known as Crown Heights or Park
Place, or at least that's what he raps in
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his track Uber Everywhere.
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I tried looking up some information about
his parents and all I found was a picture
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of his moms.
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Her name is Yovanka Serrano who'se previous
work experience was that of a bus driver but
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more recently she got her education in Radio
Broadcast as a certified engineer and Writer.
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Today 14 years ago I brought this lil man
justin into the world.
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He is my middle son,who I love and adore so
much.
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Over the years I watched him grow up and change
from a lil baby to almost grown man now.
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I've been blessed to have him in my life he
has such a smart and go getter spirit.
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I seen how much of me he has in him is like
looking into a mirror .I wanna wish you a
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happy birthday and wishing you many more years
and asking god every day to not only to bless
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you but also protect you from all harmful
and evil things and also allow me to Live
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long enough to see you become the successful
man I know you will be god bless you baby
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and happy birthday xoxo.
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She also has an old YouTube channel that showcases
plenty of old family videos documenting the
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come up of her son.
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J.I. is extremely close with his family as
he often posts pictures with them.
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He has a sister named Nia, whom he used to
spend a lot of time with and in a post about
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his brothers the caption reads: The bond I
got with my brothers is crazy!
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I would kill for them.
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His family is of Puerto Rican decent and are
very proud of their heritage, in an interview
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J.I.
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Also alluded to the fact that he grew up poor
but he had a very supportive family around
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him and back in the day his mom was his acting
manager.
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But it looks like now-a-days his mom ain't
running the show no more.
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His name J.I. was a nickname given to him
by his uncle.
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The Prince of New York was a name that he
chose early on as his Instagram handle, the
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kid hails from the same place as Biggie Smalls,
Jay Z, Big Daddy Kane & more which are shoes
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to fill but this kid been doing his homework.
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As a youngin he was inspired by artists, including
Tupac and Nas amongst a number of others...
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J.I. had other interests growing up including
Basketballl but when he failed to make his
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middle school team he decided to shift his
energy into what he knew he was best at.
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By 11 he had already decided that he was gonna
become a legitimate rap star.
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His brothers were always free styling around
the house so he got started early working
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on his lyricism battling his brothers who
were older.
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By 14 he was ready to start sharing his talent
with the world becoming not only a street
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battle rapper but also showcasing his talent
on the gram.
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Looking for his big break J.I. discovered
a Lifetime reality television show known as
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The Rap Game which was filmed out in Atlanta
and hosted by Jeremain DuPri.
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All of a sudden J.I.
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Knew exactly whose attention he needed to
capture online and began tagging all the hosts
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of the show with his IG rap videos
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Before he knew it J.I.
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Had gotten a follow from Jurmaine Dupri and
an interview for the show.
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The kid booked it and before he knew it was
being flown out to Atlanta to appear on the
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show for Season 2.
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The show is actually pretty intense especially
for a young artist.
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They participate in a 10 to 13 week rap boot
camp to claim a music contract with SoSoDef
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doing all sorts of elaborate competitions
that push them to their core.
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While on the show, J.I, had internet bloggers
predicting that he would win despite his lack
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of experience.
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He was pinned against another young raper
named Lil Key but it was a dude named Mani
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who was crowned the victor.
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Although J.I. didn’t win, he came really
close, killing challenges and impressing the
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online fans which garnered him a significant
following on Social media.
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From there he began to take part in rap battles
throughout the United States.
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He began getting some press paying a visit
to Hot 97 and gracing the covers of Hip Hop
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Weekly and The Next Level Magazine and got
to work on producing content for his SoundCloud,
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YouTube and various other social media platforms.
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In 2016, he released a freestyle video titled
‘Quiet Storm,’ which became a massive
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hit on the internet.
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In the same year, he released a remix version
of singer Kehlani’s popular number ‘CRZY.’
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By the end of 2016, his YouTube channel had
gathered more than 500,000 views.
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As of now, his channel has accumulated over
50 million views and more than almost 1/2
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a million subscribers.
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He released Uber Everywhere (Freestyle) in
2016 and all of a sudden it started pulling
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in mad views and the kid has underground hit
on his hands.
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Today the video is parked at 1.6 Million views
on the Yowah Entertainments YouTube channel.
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Not bad for a 15 year old kid at the time.
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Next up was his single No Static and the kid
was actually starting to build a buzz all
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while staying independent and attending Fort
Hamilton High school.
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In 2017, J.I. released the popular singles
Loved U and Why U Mad ft. Nova & Lil Key.
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The collaborative effort was a big win for
all three artists quickly pulling in over
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3 million streams.
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The kid kept putting out fresh content with
popular singles like Run It Up and Lose Control
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but 2019 was his breakout year.
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He released his first project Hood Life Krisis
Vol 1 under G.STARR ENT with tracks Need Me,
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Blame on Me and Own S***.
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He has since dropped Hood Life Krisis Vol
2.
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The kids been on tour, he's stopped by XXL
and sat down with Genius for some one on ones
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discussing his lyrics.
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So DJ Self you bettet watch yourself cause
it looks like there is another Prince of New
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York
who is quickly on the rise.
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As for the rest of the story, well you know
the story because this is Before They Were
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Famous.
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My name is Michael McCrudden and I hope we
got everything spot on in this one.
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Artists are coming up so fast these days wikipedia
can't even keep up.
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