Jatavia Shakara Johnson (born December 3, 1992), better known by her stage name JT, is an American rapper. She formed the

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

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 ...

-based hip hop duo

City Girls City Girls is an American hip hop duo consisting of Yung Miami (Caresha Romeka Brownlee; born February 1994) and JT (Jatavia Shakara Johnson; born December 1992). The duo originate from Miami, Florida, and garnered attention after making an un ...

with Yung Miami in 2017, and began her solo career in 2023. Her co-performance on

Summer Walker Summer Marjani Walker (born April 11, 1996) is an American R&B singer. In 2017, she signed to Love Renaissance and Interscope Records. The following year, she released the mixtape '' Last Day of Summer,'' which spawned the single " Girls Need ...

's 2021 single " Ex for a Reason" peaked within the top 40 of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and marked her first entry on the chart as a solo act. Her 2024 single "

Okay ''OK'' (spelling variations include ''okay'', ''O.K.'', ''ok'' and ''Ok'') is an English word (originating in American English) denoting approval, acceptance, agreement, assent, acknowledgment, or a sign of indifference. ''OK'' is frequently ...

" peaked at number 72 on the chart.

Life and Career

JT was born and raised in

, growing up in

Carol City Carol City is a neighborhood in Miami Gardens, Florida, United States. The population was 61,233 at the 2010 census. It was formerly a census-designated place. History Julius Gaines, the developer, had originally planned to name it Coral City. Ho ...

and Liberty City. She grew up under difficult circumstances and said "my mother was an addict" and that "drugs ruined my childhood." JT had grown up rapping with her father and she had first proposed the idea of forming a rap group to Yung Miami. The duo recorded their debut studio track, "Fuck Dat Nigga", which was a

diss track A diss track, diss record or diss song (diss – abbr. from ''disrespect'') is a song whose primary purpose is to verbally attack someone else, usually another artist. Diss tracks are often the result of an existing, escalating feud between the ...

towards their ex-boyfriends for not giving them money when they asked. The song was posted on

SoundCloud SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming se ...

and went viral, leading them to sign with

Quality Control Music Quality Control Music (also known as Quality Control or QC) is an American hip hop record label founded by Kevin "Coach K" Lee (Chief operating officer, COO) and Pierre "P" Thomas (Chief executive officer, CEO) in March 2013. Its productions were ...

2017–2023: With City Girls

The City Girls released their debut mixtape, ''

Period Period may refer to: Common uses * Era, a length or span of time * Full stop (or period), a punctuation mark Arts, entertainment, and media * Period (music), a concept in musical composition * Periodic sentence (or rhetorical period), a concept ...

'', in May 2018. In July 2018, the duo were launched into mainstream recognition after an uncredited feature on

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

's "

In My Feelings "In My Feelings" is a song by Canadian rapper Drake from his fifth studio album ''Scorpion'' (2018). It was released to rhythmic and contemporary hit radio on July 10, 2018, as the album's fifth single. The song features additional vocals by th ...

." In November 2018, the City Girls released their debut album, which included features from

Cardi B Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar Cephus (, ; born October 11, 1992), known professionally as Cardi B, is an American rapper and songwriter. She first gained popularity as an influencer on Vine and Instagram. From 2015 to early 2017, she appeared as ...

Lil Baby Dominique Armani Jones (born December 3, 1994), known professionally as Lil Baby, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He rose to mainstream fame in 2017 following the release of his mixtape ''Perfect Timing''. *Alt URL* * His deb ...

and

Jacquees Rodriquez Jacquees Broadnax (born April 15, 1994), better known as Jacquees (pronounced jah-kwees), is an American singer, songwriter, and rapper from Decatur, Georgia. In 2015, he signed a recording and management contract with Cash Money Reco ...

. On June 19, 2020, City Girls' second studio album, ''

City on Lock ''City on Lock'' is the second studio album by American hip hop duo City Girls. The album leaked in its entirety on June 19, 2020, whereafter it was released on June 20 by Quality Control Music, Motown Records and Capitol Records. It serves as th ...

,'' leaked in its entirety online. JT announced hours later that the album would be released at midnight of the same day. The album's first single, "

Jobs Jobs may refer to: * Job, an activity that people do for regular income gain People * Steve Jobs (1955–2011), co-founder and former CEO of Apple Inc ** Steve Jobs (disambiguation) * Laurene Powell Jobs (born 1963), widow of Steve Jobs * Lisa ...

", was released hours before the album alongside a music video. The album includes guest appearances from

Yo Gotti Mario Sentell Giden Mims (born May 19, 1981), known professionally as Yo Gotti, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record executive. In 1996, Gotti released his debut album ''Youngsta's On a Come Up'' under the alias Lil Yo. He went on to re ...

Doja Cat Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini (born October 21, 1995), known professionally as Doja Cat ( ), is an American rapper and singer. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, she began making and releasing music on SoundCloud as a teenager. Her song ...

Lil Durk Durk Derrick Banks (born October 19, 1992), known professionally as Lil Durk, is an American rapper and singer. He is the lead member and founder of the collective and record label Only the Family (OTF). Durk garnered a cult following with the ...

and

. Their third studio album, ''

RAW Raw is an adjective usually describing: * Raw materials, basic materials from which products are manufactured or made * Raw food, uncooked food Raw or RAW may also refer to: Computing and electronics * .RAW, a proprietary mass spectrometry dat ...

'', was released in October 2023.

2023–present: Solo career

JT's debut single as a solo artist, " No Bars", was released on July 14, 2023. It is her second solo song altogether, her first being "JT First Day Out" in 2019. No Bars reached #1 on the

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

Hip Hop/Rap charts on the day of release. It placed at #25 on the ''Billboard'' Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart. No Bars also served as the fourth single for RAW. In February 2024, JT released her single "Sideways", which debuted at #7 on the ''Billboard'' Bubbling Under Hot 100. It peaked at #42 on the Top 50

Apple Music Apple Music is a music, audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on-demand, or they can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Apple M ...

USA chart, becoming JT's first solo song to enter the chart. JT also features as a solo artist on records including

's " Ex for a Reason" (2021), the "Queen Mix" of

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated flow in her rapping, alter egos and accent ...

's " Super Freaky Girl" (2022), and

Kali Uchis Karly-Marina Loaiza (born July 17, 1994), known professionally as Kali Uchis ( ), is an American singer. She released her debut mixtape, ''Drunken Babble'', in 2012, which was followed by her debut EP, ''Por Vida'', released in 2015. In 2018, Uc ...

' " Muñekita" (2023). On March 9, 2024, JT announced her 14-show solo tour, starting on March 23 in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, and ending April 27 in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

. On March 24, 2024, JT revealed that her debut solo mixtape, ''City Cinderella'', will be released soon, although no official date has been set. On March 29, 2024, JT and

Doechii Jaylah Ji'mya Hickmon (born August 14, 1998), known professionally as Doechii (previously known as Iamdoechii), is an American rapper. After releasing her debut EP, ''Oh the Places You'll Go'' (2020), she rose to prominence with the viral succes ...

released their collaboration single "Alter Ego". JT teased a snippet of her single "Okay" as a part of her tour, which later went viral on social media. "Okay" was released on April 26. On May 7, 2024, "Okay" charted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at #74, marking JT's first ever solo charting record. An extended version with an extra verse was released three days later to celebrate this and further generate anticipation for her ''City Cinderella'' mixtape. On June 28, 2024, JT released a remix of "Okay" featuring a verse from rapper

Jeezy Jay Wayne Jenkins (born September 28, 1977), known by his stage name Jeezy (or Young Jeezy), is an American rapper. Signing to Def Jam Recordings in 2004, his major label debut, '' Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101'', was released the followin ...

. A few days later, on July 2, JT revealed the July 19 release date for her mixtape ''City Cinderella''.

Personal life

JT has been dating rapper

Lil Uzi Vert Symere Bysil Woods ( ; born July 31, 1995), known professionally as Lil Uzi Vert, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. They are characterized by their face tattoo, facial tattoos, facial piercings, eccentric hairstyles and androgynous ...

since 2019. In summer 2023, JT launched the merchandising retailer and lifestyle brand, thegirljtworld.

Legal issues

Shortly after the release of the 2017 debut single, "Fuck Dat Nigga", JT was arrested and convicted of aggravated

identity theft Identity theft occurs when someone uses another person's personal identifying information, like their name, identifying number, or credit card number, without their permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. The term ''identity theft'' was co ...

on fraudulent credit card charges, and was sentenced to 2 years in federal prison. Following a pushback of her surrender date, JT turned herself in to the authorities on June 29, 2018, and began serving her sentence while being held at FCI Tallahassee in July 2018. She was slated to be released March 21, 2020. As she awaited her release, JT was transferred from FCI Tallahassee to a

halfway house A halfway house is an institute for people with criminal backgrounds or substance use disorder problems to learn (or relearn) the necessary skills to re-integrate into society and better support and care for themselves. As well as serving as a ...

Atlanta 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 ...

on October 8, 2019. During her stay in the halfway house, she was able to leave the house during the day to work and visit family and friends. To celebrate her release, JT released a track titled "JT First Day Out". JT was officially released from federal custody on March 7, 2020.

Discography

Mixtapes

Singles

Guest appearances

Notes

References

1992 births Living people 21st-century American women rappers Rappers from Miami {{improve categories, date=April 2024