Mila Jam is an American transgender singer, songwriter, dancer, actress and LGBTQ activist.

Early life and education

Jahmila Adderley, known as Mila Jam, was born in

Aurora, Illinois Aurora is a city in the Chicago metropolitan area located partially in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage, Kane County, Illinois, Kane, Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall, and Will County, Illinois, Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Locat ...

, on February22, 1989. She was raised in

Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee County, with which it ...

, by her mother, Stephanie Adderley, an IT technician, and Phillip Adderley, a CEBAF lab technician. She attended Columbus High School. Before continuing her career in New York City at the

American Musical and Dramatic Academy The American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) is a private conservatory for the performing arts located in New York City and Los Angeles, California. The conservatory offers both Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees and two-year certificates in prof ...

, she performed in several national stage productions and televisions commercials.

Career

Mila Jam performed as the popular YouTube impersonator

Britney Houston Mila Jam is an American transgender singer, songwriter, dancer, actress and LGBTQ activist. Early life and education Jahmila Adderley, known as Mila Jam, was born in Aurora, Illinois, on February22, 1989. She was raised in Columbus, Georgia, ...

. She was known for creating parodies of popular videos and posting them on YouTube within days of the original videos' releases. She began creating her parodies while in the national touring company of ''

Rent Rent may refer to: Economics *Renting, an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property *Economic rent, any payment in excess of the cost of production *Rent-seeking, attempting to increase one's share of e ...

''. Several of her parodies have over a million hits, with her parody of

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the ...

's song ''

Umbrella An umbrella or parasol is a folding canopy supported by wooden or metal ribs that is usually mounted on a wooden, metal, or plastic pole. It is designed to protect a person against rain or sunlight. The term ''umbrella'' is traditionally used ...

'' having over two million. For her parody of the

Pussycat Dolls Pussycat or Pussy Cat may refer to: * Cat, a domestic feline Music Bands * Pussycat (band), a Dutch country and pop group * The Pussycats, a 1960s Norwegian rock band * The Pussycats, a group signed to Kama Sutra Records Albums * ''Pussy Cats'', ...

' song ''When I Grow Up'', Jam recruited four drag queens to serve as the "Britney Cat Dolls". She choreographed and starred in the 2008

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

original television pilot ''Newsical'', which was not picked up. She recorded the song "And The Crowd Goes", which was written and produced by

Jonny McGovern Jonny McGovern (born July 12, 1976), also known by his character name The Gay Pimp, is an American stand-up comedian, actor, musician and podcaster. He has recorded three albums as comedic singer The Gay Pimp, appeared as a cast member of Logo' ...

and released on his compilation, ''The East Village Mixtape 2: The Legends Ball'', and is working on an album of original material. The song also features NYC-based

LGBTQ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

rapper

Jipsta John Patrick Masterson (born October 13, 1974), known professionally as Jipsta, is an American rapper, songwriter, and music producer. Jipsta has released six studio albums: ''Bandoozle'' (2011), '' Turnt Up'' (2013), '' Ban2oozle'' (2017), "Swa ...

. Mila has toured internationally with the Broadway musical RENT, has performed alongside

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. He is best known for his collaborations with artists such as Duran Duran, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, Robbi ...

Laverne Cox Laverne Cox (born May 29, 1972) is an American actress and LGBT advocate. She rose to prominence with her role as Sophia Burset on the Netflix series ''Orange Is the New Black'', becoming the first transgender person to be nominated for a Pri ...

Travis Wall Travis Michael Wall (born September 16, 1987) is an American dancer, instructor, and choreographer specializing in contemporary and jazz dance styles. He rose to international attention in 2006 as a competitor on the second season of the Fox te ...

Jody Watley Jody Vanessa Watley (born January 30, 1959) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and artist,USA Today (February 16, 1996), Best Bets: Albums Jody Watley Greatest Hits, "Few singers fired up the disco like Jody Watley who set trends ...

, Lady Kier(Deee-Lite) &

Natasha Bedingfield Natasha Anne Bedingfield (born 26 November 1981) is a British singer and songwriter. Bedingfield released her debut album, '' Unwritten'', in 2004, which contained primarily up-tempo pop songs and was influenced by R&B music. It enjoyed intern ...

. She has appeared on the BBC's ''The Lilly Allen Show'', ''

'' and ''MTV NEWS'', and featured in special articles in ''The Hugffington Post'', ''

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 ...

'', ''BOSSIP'', ''

MTV.com MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

'', ''OUT.com'' and ''

Perezhilton.com Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr. (born March 23, 1978), known professionally as Perez Hilton, is an American blogger, columnist, and media personality. His blog is known for posts covering gossip items about celebrities, and for posting tabloid p ...

''. Mila has also been a frequent host of the original YouTube talk show series titled ''I’m From Driftwood''. Mila Jam's new video ''Faces'' was released to coincide with International Trans Day of Visibility and she was joined in the video by

Tituss Burgess Tituss Burgess (born February 21, 1979) is an American actor and singer. He has appeared in numerous Broadway theatre, Broadway musical theatre, musicals and is known for his high tenor voice. He is best known for starring as Titus Andromedon on ...

Candis Cayne Candis Cayne (born August 29, 1971) is an American actress and performance artist. Cayne performed in New York City nightclubs in drag since the 1990s, and came out as transgender in 1996; Cayne came to national attention in 2007 for portraying ...

, model

Geena Rocero Geena Rocero (born 1983) is a Filipino-born American model, TED speaker, and transgender advocate based in New York City. Rocero is the founder of Gender Proud, a media production company that tells stories of the transgender community worldwid ...

, RuPaul's Drag Race's

Peppermint Peppermint (''Mentha'' × ''piperita'') is a hybrid species of mint, a cross between watermint and spearmint. Indigenous to Europe and the Middle East, the plant is now widely spread and cultivated in many regions of the world.Euro+Med Plantbas ...

, Transparent's

Zackary Drucker Zackary Drucker (born 1983) is an American trans woman multimedia artist, cultural producer, LGBT activist, actress, and television producer. She is an Emmy-nominated producer for the docu-series ''This Is Me'', a consultant on the TV series ''T ...

Trace Lysette Trace Lysette is an American actress whose most notable roles include Shea in the television series ''Transparent'' (2014–2019) and Tracey in the feature film '' Hustlers'' (2019). She also featured in the Netflix documentary ''Disclosure'' as ...

and Zoolander's

Nathan Lee Graham Nathan Lee Graham (born September 9, 1968) is an American actor and singer. He has been the originator of over 17 roles on stage and screen. Currently he is "Hermes" in the North American tour of the hit musical Hadestown. He is most known for ...

. The song has been called an anthem for the LGBTQ movement and focuses on one's self acceptance, inner beauty, and sense of belonging.

Awards

Mila was awarded Best Video and Dance Artist at the 2013 GLAM Nightlife Awards and she was named Odyssey Nightlife Awards Breakthrough Artist in 2015 .

Discography

* "Walk" (2010) * "This is Love" (2011) * "Warrior" (2011) * "Masters of the Universe" (2013) * "Faces" (2017)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jam, Mila Living people 1989 births 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century African-American women singers 21st-century LGBT people American choreographers American Internet celebrities American LGBT singers American Musical and Dramatic Academy alumni LGBT African Americans LGBT people from Georgia (U.S. state) LGBT people from Illinois LGBT YouTubers Musicians from Columbus, Georgia People from Aurora, Illinois Transgender women musicians