Ahmad (rapper)

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Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Singles
Back in the day
  US 26th 
gold
gold
05/28/1994 (20 weeks)
  UK 64 07/09/1994 (3 weeks)

Ahmad Ali Lewis (born October 12, 1975 in Los Angeles , California , USA ) is an American rapper who specializes in West Coast hip-hop . He is best known for his single "Back in the Day", which he released under his first name.

biography

Ahmad Ali Lewis grew up as the son of a Muslim musician and Christian pastor in South Central Los Angeles , an area known as a socially disadvantaged area where gangs and drugs play an important role. However, he rarely saw his father after his parents divorced. In high school he was a good student and a great football player as a running back . Nevertheless, he decided not to go to college but to pursue a career as a musician after he signed a record deal withGiant Records .

He used only his first name as a rapper and released his first song in 1993 on the soundtrack to the movie Meteor Man . The track "Who Can" was also selected as a single . However, he was not yet able to achieve chart successes. This changed in 1994 with the first release from his self-titled debut album . Back in the Day, a nostalgic song about childhood memories, was particularly successful in the United States, where it topped 26 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was awarded the gold record for 500,000 units sold. In the United Kingdom , too, the title stayed in the charts for a few weeks. His second single, "You Gotta Be", was unsuccessful, however, and the corresponding long player only reached the Billboard divisional charts "Heatseekers" and "R&B Albums".

Ahmad's second work was never published. He accused the music industry of only promoting gangsta rap , which he thought fueled violence within the African American community, and not his songs, which the Los Angeles Times described as overwhelmingly optimistic, always insightful and sometimes very funny. Another obstacle was, according to Ahmad, his Christian faith, which he also incorporated into his music.

Ahmad therefore ended his solo career and founded the group 4th Avenue Jones with the singer Tena Jones, his wife at the time , which produced jazz rap with influences from soul and rock music . With this formation he recorded several albums in the early 2000s before they broke up in 2005 and his marriage to Tena Jones also ended.

Disappointed and meanwhile with little reserves from his musical career, Ahmad temporarily gave up rapping and enrolled at Long Beach City College in 2006 , where he graduated two years later as the best of his year. This led him to receive a grant from the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation to study sociology at Stanford University .

During his studies he turned back to music and recorded a second album, "The Death of Me", which was released in 2010. He also worked as a songwriter , including for LMFAO and Flo Rida . After earning his degree, he also worked as a speaker and writer on personal development.

Discography

Albums

  • 1994: Ahmad
  • 2010: The Death of Me

Singles

  • 1993: Who Can
  • 1994: Back in the Day
  • 1994: You Gotta Be

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Billboard : Ahmad - Chart history
  2. ↑ Official Charts Company : Ahmad | full Official Chart history
  3. ^ RIAA : database
  4. ↑ Deborah Graham: Rapper encourages SCC Umoja to fulfill dreams. The Tempest, December 16, 2011, accessed April 9, 2016 .
  5. ↑ a b c d e Larry Gordon: He's no gangsta; he's a scholar. Los Angeles Times , August 19, 2008, accessed April 9, 2016 .
  6. ↑ a b 'This Is the Rebirth'. Stanford Magazine, 2009, accessed April 9, 2016 .
personal data
SURNAME Ahmad
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lewis, Ahmad Ali (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-American rapper
DATE OF BIRTH October 12, 1975
PLACE OF BIRTH Los Angeles , California , USA