Jevon Jones (born in Dallas, Texas) is an American rapper better known by his stage name Tha Realest, and formerly Tenkamenin The Vigilante (or simply Tenkamenin). Tha Realest is also a member of The Regime.

Early life

Jevon Jones was born in Dallas, Texas, and was raised there by his grandmother.^{[citation needed]} His father worked as a preacher.^[1] As an Oak Cliff native, Jones started rapping in the early 1980s at the age of 10 and competed in rap battles on the local circuit. In the early 1990s, Jones and former Dallas Cowboys player, Kevin Smith, formed their first record label.^[2]

Career

Death Row Records

Jones signed to Death Row Records in 1996. He made his musical debut on the Gang Related soundtrack, appearing in two songs with rapper J-Flexx under the pseudonym Tenkamenin, sharing his name with a 11th century African Emperor of the Ghana Empire. In 1999 he performed several tracks on the Death Row collaboration Suge Knight Represents: Chronic 2000 alongside fellow Death Row artists Swoop G and Lil' C-Style. He would again collaborate with them on yet another Death Row compilation titled Too Gangsta for Radio, appearing on the tracks "Fuck Dre" and "Fuck Hollywood". "Fuck Dre", seemingly a response to the Dr. Dre single "Forgot About Dre", insults many former Death Row artists and their affiliates, primarily Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg, N.W.A and Eminem, who is an artist on Aftermath Records.

On October 17, 1999,^[3] while working on Suge Knight Represents: Chronic 2000, Tha Realest sustained relatively serious injuries to the foot, having been shot in a drive-by shooting after leaving the studio in which he had just finished recording a song with Tha Dogg Pound (Kurupt and Daz Dillinger).^[1] Dwayne "Draws" Dupree, a security officer working in the area, was also shot, but died shorty after.^[4]

After Death Row Records

Tha Realest left Death Row Records in 2002 to form his own record label, 2 Real Entertainment (later Omerta Entertainment). In 2004, he recorded a mixtape at Can-Am Studios with Mob Life Records artist 730 entitled From East 2 West which featured musical performances by Swoop G and New Child of Outlawz. It was released in early 2007.^[5]

Tha Realest was signed to Tru 'Dat' Entertainment in 2006, a company founded by Hysear Randell to seek and recruit talented individuals in film, music, fashion and sports. The music video for his debut single, "Eurry Now and Then" was released shortly thereafter. It features cameo appearances by C-Bo, Yukmouth, Nutt-So, Young Hogg, Big C-Style and Ray J.^[6] In 2007, Hysear was accused of embezzling millions of dollars worth of tax payers money through fraudulent money transfers. Tru 'Dat' Entertainment was subsequently forced to discontinue the label.^[7]

Tha Realest is now trying to release his highly anticipated album Witness Tha Realest, which has been delayed substantially due to the demise of Tru 'Dat' Entertainment. It will feature guest appearances from other rappers, among them, Yukmouth, Fat Joe, Dru Down, C-Bo, WC, E.D.I., Napoleon, Devin The Dude, Swoop G and others. Tha Realest plans on compliing close to 18 tracks for the album, telling interviewers:

They say: 'good things come to those who wait,' the position I was in at Death Row wasn't right for me. I didn't always get the due credit I believe I deserved and I finally got out of that deal. I put so many songs on Witness Tha Realest because so many people have been waiting so long for my CD to drop. You won't have to fast forward through any of the songs on the CD. You're gonna' have to give me an hour and ten minutes of your time when you listen to this CD. I'm not about to give you only three songs worth listening to. $15 is lunch money for a lot of kids. With Witness Tha Realest, I'm a holla at you. I'm going to give you something that you can knock for a while man ... value for your dollar is long overdue in today's music market.^[4]

Witness Tha Realest Mix Tape, which was released in November 2006 was originally meant to be the Witness Tha Realest studio album scheduled for release on July 15, 2004. This, however, changed due to the absence of a distribution company.^[2] In late 2007, Tha Realest signed with Team Dime Entertainment, a newly created record label which will host his debut album. Following the label's developments, the album is expected to be released sometime in 2009.

Tupac Shakur likeness

Though Tha Realest's likeness to Tupac Shakur is highly controversial among hip hop fans,^{[citation needed]} Tha Realest had met him after signing to Death Row Records in 1996, shortly before Shakur's fatal drive-by shooting.^[1] It is suggested that Shakur approved of Tha Realest's style of rapping even though very similar to his.^[1]

Discography

Compilations

• Suge Knight Represents: Chronic 2000 (1999)
• Too Gangsta for Radio (2000)

Filmography

References

External links

• Tha Realest Official website
• Template:MySpace
• Template:Amg
• Tha Realest at IMDb
• Tha Realest discography at Discogs

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