Joi (singer)

Infobox musical artist

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Name = Joi
Img_size = 135px
Landscape =
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Joi Elaine Gilliam
Alias =
Born = Birth date and age|1972|1|25|mf=y
Died =
Origin = Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Instrument =
Genre = R&B, Rock, Funk
Occupation = Singer-songwriter, producer, model
Years_active = 1993 – present
Label = EMI , Rowdy , Universal , Pookie Records , Joilicious
Associated_acts =
URL = [http://www.joilicious-online.org/ Official website]
Notable_instruments =

Joi Gilliam (born January 25, 1972) is an American R&B/Rock singer, record producer and songwriter associated with the Dungeon Family collective based in Atlanta, Georgia, and as such often performs with OutKast, the Organized Noise production team, and Goodie Mob (her ex-husband, Big Gipp, is a member of the latter group).

Biography

Early life

Joi Elaine Gilliam was born in Nashville, Tennessee to Beverley & Joe Gilliam. At the time, her father played for the Pittsburgh Steelers. At a very young age when her parents divorced, Joi spent time with her grandmother, attending church with her, this was where Joi made her official musical debut at the age of 4, singing "You Light Up My Life" for her grandmother's church groups. While growing up, Joi took ballet, tap, and modern dance, along with singing in her church's choir. after high school, she moved to Philadelphia and began performing at local clubs and talent shows, but after less than a year, she decided to move back to Nashville which is where she met Dallas Austin, at the time he was working with artists such as Another Bad Creation and TLC. While working with Austin, helping write various songs for various artists, Austin saw that Joi was more than a songwriter, she was also a vocalist and performer, a year later, at age 19, she was signed to EMI. After getting her record deal, she moved to Atlanta, Georgia and began work on her debut album.

Debut album: "Pendulum Vibe"

In 1994, Joi released her debut solo LP, "Pendulum Vibe", on EMI with Dallas Austin as the Executive Producer. While the lead single "Sunshine In The Rain" received heavy airplay on video outlets such as VH1 & MTV, the single failed to become a hit and album sales were disappointing, selling only 76,000 copies in the U.S. Even though album sales were low, Joi received widespread praise from critics, some calling her the new "Madonna", Madonna herself, was so in love with the album, she changed the direction of her "Bedtime Stories" album. Madonna is also responsible for making the call that landed Joi's becoming the first black model in a major Calvin Klein print ad campaign. While Joi was receiving heavy media attention, she released 2 more singles "I Found My Niche" & "Freedom". during this time, Joi's style, not easily classified, was the first to be tagged "neo-soul". But, as an artist and performer, Joi was beyond classification. What sherepresented as a new voice of black womanhood was further celebrated on the
Mario Van Peebles film, "Panther" soundtrack where her single “Freedom,” was rerecorded with an all-star cast of female singers including: Aaliyah, Mary J. Blige, En Vogue, Me'shell Ndegeocello, TLC, Queen Latifah, Vanessa Williams, SWV, Brownstone and many more.

"Amoeba Cleansing Syndrome"

In 1996, Joi prepared for the release of her second album, "Amoeba Cleansing Syndrome", on Dallas Austin's "Freeworld" label, Joi and creative partner Austin, brought in the assistance of legendary pioneers Fishbone to be her backing band. the song "I Believe" was originally picked to be the first single, a video, which featured a then 7 month Pregnant Joi was shot, but weeks before its release EMI Executives wanted more "Radio Friendly" tracks for the album, and the video's release was canceled and the album's release was put on hold. Before returning to the studio, Joi gave birth to a healthy baby girl "Keypsiia "Blue-Daydreamer" Gipp and took a short hiatus. After almost a year delay, Joi returned with a new single "Ghetto Superstar" which featured her then husband rapper Big Gipp, the song, written for her father, coined the term "Ghetto Superstar". A video was shot and released, it featured both Big Gipp & their 1 year old daughter Keypsiia. Yet, despite its MTV buzz status, when her then label EMI folded, so did the release of the album. Even though the album never saw the light of day commercially, months after its cancellation, the album began circulating amongst fans due to heavy bootlegging, several media outlets were able to obtain copys of the album, giving the project 4 to 5 Star Reviews, calling it "Ahead of its time". But in spite of the positive feedback received for the album, Joi was disappointed about its cancellation and decided to take a hiatus to take care of her family.

"Lucy Pearl"

In 2000, Joi joined Raphael Saadiq's group, Lucy Pearl, replacing Dawn Robinson (formerly of En Vogue). the group made their first public appearance with Joi on January 25, 2001 on Jay Leno's late night show performing "You" which was also featured on the "Save the Last Dance" soundtrack. Even though Joi performed and shot two videos with the group, they never released a studio album together and the group later disbanded.

"Star Kitty's Revenge"

In 2002. Joi released her 3rd album (2nd Commercially) ( "Star Kitty's Revenge", on Universal Records the lead single "Missing You" was produced by Dallas Austin whom she had not worked with since doing background vocals on TLC'S song "Silly Ho". while the first single failed to become a hit, the 2nd single "Lick" which featured fellow Dungeon Family member Sleepy Brown was included in the film xXx received a large amount of attention from Andrew Soeder courtesy of the film's soundtrack, with no video and little airplay from radio stations across the country, sales for the single soared becoming Joi's most successful single to date. The following year she was released from Universal after the sales of "Star Kitty's Revenge" failed to impress label executives, in spite of the widespread attention received from "Lick" the album sold just over 100,000 copies in the U.S.

"Tennessee Slim Is The Bomb"

After leaving Universal, She signed with Raphael Saadiq's Pookie Entertainment label preparing for the release of her 4th album, but due to distribution issues with the boutique label, the album's release was canceled. to avoid having another project shelved, Joi decided to release the project herself.

In late 2004, Joi developed her own independent label and distribution company Joilicious Records and put finishing touches to her album. The album was set to be released on February 28th 2006, but weeks before its release, there were issues in the printing department of the CDs which caused the album to be pushed back.

On March 28, 2006, Joi released her long awaited 4th album (1st independent) "Tennessee Slim Is The Bomb". The album was originally supposed to be for sale via live shows and her website, but after first day sales surpassed close to the amount of CDs printed it was decided to make the album available at a few major retailers which included Amazon, CD Baby, Rhapsody/Real Media Music Store, Napster, & iTunes. The first single, "I'm So Famous", was released commercially in late 2006. In spite of moderate airplay from commercial radio, the single received widespread popularity courtesy of online and college radio stations across the globe; by late 2006 sales increased dramatically, making physical copies of the album hard to find and raising digital sales. "Another Rocket" the final single was recently added to several music outlets including Music Choice & XM Radio.

"Collaborations"

Throughout the years, as a member of Atlanta's famous Dungeon Family, her voice graced the tracks of several Outkast, Goodie Mob, TLC songs and non-ATLien artists such as Robbie Williams, George Clinton, Curtis Mayfield, Queen Latifah, Too Short, Fishbone, Jim Crow, Shaquille O'Neal, Joss Stone, and D.O.C., to name a few.

Trivia

*Her father was Joe Gilliam, a former NFL Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback.
*Appears on several Outkast songs and albums.
*When she's not singing, she's a producer, songwriter and mother.
*Debut album "Pendulum Vibe" inspired Madonna to change direction of "Bedtime Stories" album
*Became the first black model in a major Calvin Klein print ad campaign.
*Gave birth to her first child Keypsiia Blue Daydreamer on July 1, 1996.
*Appears In D'angelo's video "Lady" while 8 Months Pregnant.
*Was married to Goodie Mob rapper, Big Gipp from 1999 to 2003.
*The Majority of Joi's 4th Release "Tennessee Slim Is The Bomb" was recorded in 2004 and was originally scheduled to be released on Raphael Saadiq's Pookie Entertainment Label.
*2002 single "Lick" was sampled by Gucci Mane in 2006 for the track Freaky Gurl.

Discography

Filmography

(2009) Smiles & Cries ("in production")

External links

* [http://www.joilicious-online.org Joi's Official Site]