Canton Dorrelle Jones (born January 9, 1977) is an American

Christian music Christian music is music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence, and lament, and its forms vary widely around ...

ian and

Christian hip-hop Christian hip hop (originally gospel rap, also known as Christian rap, gospel hip hop or holy hip hop) is a subgenre of contemporary Christian music and hip hop music. It emerged from urban contemporary music and Christian media in the United St ...

artist.

Biography

Early years

Canton Dorrelle Jones, was born on January 9, 1977, in

Deerfield Beach Deerfield Beach is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States, just south of the Palm Beach County line. The city is named for the numerous deer that once roamed the area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 86,859. It is a principal ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, and began singing at the age of five in a vocal group founded by his father. By the age of 16, he was writing and producing songs for friends in his hometown. He relocated to

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

where he attended

Morehouse College , mottoeng = And there was light (literal translation of Latin itself translated from Hebrew: "And light was made") , type = Private historically black men's liberal arts college , academic_affiliations ...

joining the school's renowned

Glee Club A glee club in the United States is a musical group or choir group, historically of male voices but also of female or mixed voices, which traditionally specializes in the singing of short songs by trios or quartets. In the late 19th century it w ...

. The club performed for celebrities such as

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', br ...

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

Dr. Bobby Jones Dr. Bobby Jones (born September 18, 1939 in Henry, Tennessee, United States) is an American Gospel music singer television host, and radio broadcaster from Nashville, Tennessee and the host and executive producer of several cable television gos ...

and

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

, as well as performing at high-profile events such as the opening ceremony of the 1996

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

and at the first gospel concert ever held at the US

Pentagon In geometry, a pentagon (from the Greek πέντε ''pente'' meaning ''five'' and γωνία ''gonia'' meaning ''angle'') is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simpl ...

. Between 1998 and 1999, he joined World Changers Church International, under the pastorship of Creflo & Taffi Dollar and in his own words, grew as a Christian under their stewardship: "My wife, who was my girlfriend at the time, took me to World Changers and I started getting the word. I was going to that church for like three years before I really rededicated my life to Christ. I was there from probably like 1998 or 1999 until 2001 before I really started getting on track."

Musical career

In 2001, Jones launched his own gospel record label, CAJO International. and independently released his first album, 2002's ''20 Years, 3 Months & 12 Days'', which chronicled his journey to salvation. He released his second independent album in 2004: ''The Password'' and that same year, collaborated with

Lil iROCC Williams Justin Williams (born March 3, 1990) is an American rapper and actor. Williams began his career using the stage name Lil iROCC Williams, but eventually dropped the "Lil". His name is often stylized multiple ways, including Irocc, iROCC, irocc, a ...

on Williams's 2004 debut album, and wrote and performed a song, "You and Me", for the compilation ''Holy Hip-Hop:Taking the Gospel to the Streets''. At this time he was now a member of the choir of World Changers International Church and a solo performance at the church attracted the attention of the church's youth pastor, who asked Jones to help him in the youth department. Not long after that, he was signed to the church's Arrow Records label, an affiliate of

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

. He released his major label debut, ''Love Jones'', in mid-2005, which debuted at number 11 on ''Billboards Top Gospel Albums chart. Following the album's success, Jones toured the US with over 200 appearances that year. In November 2005, ''The Password'' was re-released nationally at the end of 2005 as ''The Password: Access Granted'' and earned him two

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

nominations. His success in 2005 saw him listed in ''The Atlanta Business Journal'' at number 19 in their ''40 Under 40'' chart of Atlanta's rising stars. On April 5, 2008, he released ''Kingdom Business''. In 2009, he released Kingdom Business, Pt. 2, and Kingdom Business, Pt. 3 followed in 2010. Jones's fifth and most highly anticipated album for him and for CAJO Records, ''Dominionaire'', was released on February 1, 2011. Three singles were released prior to the album's release, "In da Club", "Window", and "G.O.D.", only the first two listed were released on iTunes. Later in 2011 ''Dominionaire Remixed'' was released, featuring artists like D-MAUB, Messenja and Erica Cumbo. In early 2012 he released a live album and DVD. In October 2012 Kingdom Business Pt. 4 was released, along with a mixtape, ''All Day Jesus'', and a five-song EP, ''Short Fuse''. On February 18, 2014, Jones released an 18-track mixtape, ''Lust, Drugs, and Gospel'' in an effort to assist those who have issues related to lust and drugs.Canton Jones to release free mixtape, ‘Lust, Drugs & Gospel.’
The Underground. Retrieved February 28, 2014.

Discography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Canton 1977 births American gospel singers American male rappers Living people Morehouse College alumni Singers from Georgia (U.S. state) Performers of Christian hip hop music Performers of Christian contemporary R&B music People from Deerfield Beach, Florida Rappers from Florida 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians