Kendrick Jeru Davis (born February 14, 1972), known as Jeru the Damaja, is an American rapper and record producer. He is known for his 1993 single " Come Clean" from his debut album, ''

The Sun Rises in the East ''The Sun Rises in the East'' is the debut album by American hip hop rapper Jeru the Damaja, released May 24, 1994 on Payday Records. Production on the album was handled by DJ Premier. The album features fellow Gang Starr Foundation member Afu- ...

'', ranked as one of the 100 greatest hip-hop albums of all time by the editors of

About.com Dotdash Meredith (formerly About.com) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, home, food, finance, tech, beauty, ...

. He has worked extensively with

Guru Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverential ...

and

DJ Premier Christopher Edward Martin (born March 21, 1966), known professionally as DJ Premier (also known as Preemo), is an American record producer and DJ. He is considered one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time. He was half of the hip hop du ...

Gang Starr Gang Starr was an American hip hop duo, consisting of Texas record producer DJ Premier and Massachusetts rapper Guru. For the entirety of their association, they were based out of Brooklyn, New York. Gang Starr was at its height from 1989 to 2 ...

, whom he has known since he was in high school.

Early life

Jeru the Damaja was born February 14, 1972, in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York, and spent his early years in the borough's

East New York East New York is a residential neighborhood in the eastern section of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, United States. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are roughly the Cemetery Belt and the Queens borough li ...

neighborhood, where he began rhyming at

block parties A block party or street party is a party in which many members of a single community congregate, either to observe an event of some importance or simply for mutual solidarity and enjoyment. The name comes from the form of the party, which of ...

as a youth.

Career

Davis first showcased his unique style to audiences on "I'm the Man", a track from

's 1992 album ''

Daily Operation ''Daily Operation'' is the third studio album by American hip hop duo Gang Starr. It was released by Chrysalis Records on May 5, 1992. It peaked at number 65 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart. Critical reception Stanton Swihart of AllMusic wrote: " ...

''. The following year he released his first single " Come Clean" which was produced by

and became an underground hit. Davis's first album, ''

'', was released in 1994 and produced entirely by DJ Premier. The album was well-received but was criticized by the

Fugees Fugees (; sometimes The Fugees) is an American hip hop group formed in the early 1990s. Deriving its name from a shortening of the word "refugees", the group consists of Wyclef Jean, Pras Michel, and Lauryn Hill. The group rose to fame with i ...

for its lyrics, particularly for the song "Da Bichez". Fugees member

Pras Prakazrel Samuel Michel (; born October 19, 1972) is a Haitian-American rapper, producer, songwriter and actor. He is best known as a member of the hip hop group Fugees, alongside Wyclef Jean and Lauryn Hill. After the Fugees, he earned two ...

lightly mentioned Jeru on the track "Zealots", from the group's landmark 1996 album '' The Score'', with the line "No matter who you damage, you're still a false prophet", referencing Jeru's single "You Can't Stop the Prophet". Jeru responded lightly in the intro of the track "Me or the Papes" and also on the track "Black Cowboys". Davis followed up in 1996 with his second album, ''

Wrath of the Math ''Wrath of the Math'' is the second album by the hip hop artist Jeru the Damaja. The album spawned the 2 singles "Ya Playin' Yaself" and "Me or the Papes". The album peaked at number 3 on the US Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums, and number 35 on the US Bil ...

'', again produced solely by DJ Premier. The album was also widely acclaimed, although not on the same level as his debut. As on his first album, Jeru was critical of commercial hip-hop artists and the record labels that produced them such as Death Row Records and

Bad Boy Entertainment Bad Boy Records (or Bad Boy Entertainment) is an American record label founded in 1993 by rapper Sean "Puffy" Combs. It operates as an imprint of Epic Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment. It has been home to many artists, includin ...

; the latter he criticized on the concept track "One Day". After the release of ''Math'', Jeru reportedly had a falling-out with DJ Premier and

. Jeru, however, has dismissed this and claimed that they wanted to go in different directions. Davis appeared semi-retired until 1999, when he released his third album, '' Heroz4Hire'', released together with Mizmarvel, which was his first album under his then-newly created Know Savage Records. It featured the single "99.9%". His next album, ''Divine Design'', released in 2003, was the first album under his new record label, Ashenafi Records. The album received little attention and mixed reviews. On April 2, 2007, during a

La Coka Nostra La Coka Nostra (short LCN) is an American hip hop music, hip hop group composed of DJ Lethal, Danny Boy (rapper), Danny Boy, Ill Bill and Slaine (rapper), Slaine. Biography Founded in late 2004 with no intention to record an album, La Coka N ...

concert at the

Gramercy Theatre The Gramercy Theatre is a music venue in New York City. It is located in the Gramercy neighborhood of Manhattan, on 127 East 23rd Street. Built in 1937 as the Gramercy Park Theatre, it is owned and operated by Live Nation as one of their two co ...

in New York, Jeru the Damaja came out for a surprise appearance to perform his song " D. Original". His album '' Still Rising'' was released on October 16, 2007. In 2009, Jeru started to collaborate with drum and bass producers. In 2009, he is featured on

Kabuki is a classical form of Japanese dance- drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is though ...

's track "Watch Your Step", produced by Mainframe and also on "Open Up Their Eyes" by Italian producer Fabio Musta. He also collaborated with Group Home in 2010 for a song, "Guru" dedicated to the late rapper Guru. The next year, Jeru announced that he would be releasing a new record with production from '90s legends JuJu from the

Beatnuts The Beatnuts are an American hip hop group and production duo from New York City. Its current members are JuJu and Psycho Les. JuJu (born Jerry Tineo on December 14, 1968) is a Dominican American from Corona and Psycho Les (born Lester Fernande ...

, Pete Rock, Large Professor and old collaborator

but the album was not released. The same year he featured in the song "Oddałbym" on the album ''Reedukacja'' of Polish hip-hop group

Slums Attack Slums Attack is a Polish gangsta rap, street rap, Rap music, rap and hip-hop music, hip-hop group, founded in 1993 in Poznań by Peja (rapper), Peja and Marcin "Iceman" Maćkowiak. Since 1998, the group consists of Peja and Dariusz "DJ Decks" Dzi ...

( Peja, Dj Decks). Polish rap star OSTR also featured on it, and the album was a great success in Poland, selling out in the first couple of days. In 2012 Jeru featured in the song "The Mourning Son" on the album ''Remix with the Sun'' of French

trip hop Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with " downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic fusion of hip hop and electronica with slow tem ...

group

Chinese Man Chinese Man is a French trip hop band formed in 2004 and originally from Aix-en-Provence. History They are influenced by hip-hop, funk, dub, reggae and jazz. Chinese Man is composed of DJ Marseille Zé Mateo and High Ku and beatmaker SLY. Beatm ...

. In July 2013, Jeru promised to soon release a new EP with production from Large Professor, PF Cuttin, Junkyard Ju, and Sabor. On June 17, 2014, Jeru released an EP through Hedspinn Records entitled ''The Hammer'' for digital download. He has a home in Berlin.

Legacy

In 2013 ''

'' was ranked as one of the 100 greatest hip-hop albums of all time by the editors of

, who called it "one of the quintessential '90s hip-hop albums."

Discography

;Studio albums * ''

'' (1994) * ''

'' (1996) * '' Heroz4Hire'' (1999) * ''

Divine Design ''Divine Design'' is a Canadian interior design show which airs on W Network in Canada and HGTV in the United States. It is hosted by Candice Olson, one of Canada's top designers. In the show, Olson heads a team of artisans and skilled labourers ...

'' (2003) * '' Still Rising'' (2007) * The Hammer (2022)

References

External links

* *
Interview on ''Divine Design''
from thesituation.co.uk
"Interview with Neil Acharya"
at '' Exclaim!'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Damaja, Jeru the 1971 births African-American male rappers Five percenters Living people Rappers from Brooklyn Underground rappers Hardcore hip hop artists 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians FFRR Records artists 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American people Crooklyn Dodgers members Gang Starr Foundation members