Jaime La'Treecia Williams (born November 5, 1981; ''née'', Vaughn), who goes by the stage name Jai (pronounced, ''Jay''), is an American

Christian R&B Christian R&B (also known as gospel R&B, rhythm & praise music, and R&P) is a subgenre of rhythm and blues music consisting of tracks with Christian-based lyrics or by musicians typically known for writing such songs. Music in this genre intends t ...

, and

urban contemporary gospel Urban/contemporary gospel is a modern subgenre of gospel music. Although the style developed gradually, early forms are generally dated to the 1970s, and the genre was well established by the end of the 1980s. The radio format is pitched prima ...

artist and musician. She started her music career, in 2009, with the release of ''Focus EP''. She saw her first studio album, ''Culture Shock'', chart on two ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' charts

Christian Albums Top Christian Albums is a weekly chart published in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the best-performing Christian albums in the United States. Like the ''Billboard'' 200, the data is compiled by Nielsen Soundscan based on each album's weekly ...

and the

Top Gospel Albums The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, pr ...

. The album was released in 2011 with Outlet Records Music Group and Central South Infinity Distribution.

Early life

Jai was born in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

, on November 5, 1981, as Jaime La'Treecia Vaughn. Her father is Jimmy L. Vaughn, Sr. of Perpetual Praise and Worship Ministries and her mother, Melinda Vaughn. She has one brother Jimmy L. Vaughn, Jr. and one sister, Nikki.

Music career

Her music career started in 2009, with the independently released

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

, ''Focus''. The first studio album from Jai, ''Culture Shock'', released on August 2, 2011 by Outlet Records Music Group, and this was her debut album on the ''

'' charts, and those were the

chart at No. 45 and the

chart at Mo. 25. This album received a three and a half out of five review from

Rapzilla Rapzilla is a Christian hip hop online magazine. The website contains many sections such as latest news, album reviews, articles, interviews, music downloads, videos, release dates, and columns. Rapzilla is known for its up-to-date news. The we ...

, and it was called a "groundbreaking album" by Jonathan Kemp at The Christian Music Review Blog review.

AllHipHop AllHipHop is a hip hop news website founded by Greg Watkins and Chuck Creekmur in 1998. History The website was founded in 1998 by Greg Watkins and Chuck Creekmur. In 1997, Watkins registered the allhiphop.com domain to promote the artists on ...

called her one of ''Five Christian Hip-Hop Acts You Should Know'' alongside

Tedashii Tedashii Lavoy Anderson (born March 8, 1977), known simply as Tedashii, is an American Christian hip hop artist and member of the hip-hop troupe, 116 Clique. He also hosted the NGEN Radio show "Serium". Tedashii has released five solo albums, ...

Lecrae Lecrae Devaughn Moore (born October 9, 1979), mononymously known as Lecrae, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record and film producer, record executive, actor, and entrepreneur. He is the president, co-owner and co-founder of the ind ...

Da' T.R.U.T.H. Emanuel Lee Lambert, Jr. (born December 15, 1977) is a Christian rapper who goes by the stage name Da' T.R.U.T.H. Biography Lambert is a graduate of Cairn University, formerly Philadelphia Biblical University. '' The Faith'' won a 200 ...

and

Flame A flame (from Latin ''flamma'') is the visible, gaseous part of a fire. It is caused by a highly exothermic chemical reaction taking place in a thin zone. When flames are hot enough to have ionized gaseous components of sufficient density they ...

. She is a featured on artist on the song "Identity" that's on ''No Filter'' by

Json JSON (JavaScript Object Notation, pronounced ; also ) is an open standard file format and data interchange format that uses human-readable text to store and transmit data objects consisting of attribute–value pairs and arrays (or other ser ...

Personal life

She resides in St. Louis, Missouri, and mother of, Taylor Alyssa Williams. Jai is currently on staff as Worship Pastor at Faith Church and is a host for Joyce Meyer Ministries conferences. She is an ordained minister, and a 2003 graduate of

Webster University Webster University is a private university with its main campus in Webster Groves, Missouri. It has multiple branch locations across the United States and countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs ...

receiving her Bachelor's degree in Communications.

Discography

Studio albums

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jai 1981 births Living people 21st-century African-American musicians African-American Christians Musicians from St. Louis American performers of Christian hip hop music 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people