David Carty, known by his stage name Jelleestone, is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

rapper."Rex's Jelleestone eyes U.S". '' Billboard'', August 4, 2001.

Early life

Originally from the

Rexdale Rexdale is a neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located north-west of the central core, in the district of Etobicoke. Rexdale defines an area of several official neighbourhoods north of Highway 401 and east of Highway 427. Rexdale was orig ...

neighbourhood in the former city of

Etobicoke Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district of, and one of six municipalities amalgamated into, the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west-end, Etobicoke was first settled by Europeans in the 1790s, and the municipalit ...

(now

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

),"Jellee has the right stuff". ''

Regina Leader-Post The ''Regina Leader-Post'' is the daily newspaper of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, and a member of the Postmedia Network. Founding The newspaper was first published as ''The Leader'' in 1883 by Nicholas Flood Davin, soon after Edgar Dewdney, ...

'', February 7, 2002. Carty spent his childhood living in both Toronto and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Career

He began performing as a rapper with the local Toronto rap groups PNP and ORB, before contributing the solo track "When You're Hot, You're Hot" to the ''Rudimental'' compilation in 1997."Moguls in the making: Toronto's Jelleestone, Swollen Members from Vancouver vie for Canada's hip-hop crown". '' Edmonton Journal'', February 8, 2002. He subsequently recorded his debut album ''Jelleestone Thirteen'', which was produced by

Jon Levine The Philosopher Kings are a Canadian band. The band was most commercially successful in the late 1990s and have been nominated for five Juno Awards, winning one in 1996 for "Best New Group". Most of the band members, current and former, have also ...

The Philosopher Kings The Philosopher Kings are a Canadian band. The band was most commercially successful in the late 1990s and have been nominated for five Juno Awards, winning one in 1996 for "Best New Group". Most of the band members, current and former, have also ...

. He was preparing to release the album on his own independent label Rex Entertainment, but began attracting label interest in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

after

Nelly Furtado Nelly Kim Furtado (; ; born December 2, 1978) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Furtado has sold over 40 million records worldwide making her one of the most successful Canadian artists. She first gained fame with her trip hop-inspired deb ...

, who had the same manager, began talking about his work in media interviews. Signed to

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

in 2000, he released ''Jelleestone Thirteen'' on the label on August 28, 2001. The album's single, "Money (Part 1)", was a top 40 hit in Canada and reached #75 on '' Billboard''s Hot Singles Sales chart. In 2001 Jelleestone performed in Charlottetown with

Kardinal Offishall Jason Drew Harrow (born May 11, 1976), better known by his stage name Kardinal Offishall (), is a Canadian rapper, record producer, DJ, and record executive. Often credited as Canada's " hip hop ambassador", he is regarded as one of the countr ...

IRS The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory tax ...

and

Rascalz Rascalz are a Canadian hip-hop group from Vancouver, British Columbia. The group played a crucial role in the artistic and commercial development of Canadian hip hop as well as specifically for the Westcoast scene in Vancouver popularizing the ...

. He garnered two nominations at the

Juno Awards of 2002 The Juno Awards of 2002 were presented in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada during the weekend of 13–14 April 2002. Nominations were announced 11 February 2002 at a news conference hosted by Mike Bullard. Awards for the secondary ...

, for Best New Solo Artist and Best Rap Recording. In June 2003, Carty and his cousin David Gayle were arrested outside The Money nightclub in downtown Toronto, after an altercation in which he was alleged to have threatened another man, during which Gayle was discovered to have a gun hidden in his shoe."Jelleestone beats gun rap". ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris, it was renamed the ''Citizen'' in 1851. The new ...

'', March 15, 2005. Testimony during the trial revealed that the plaintiff, not Carty, had initiated the incident after he felt "brushed off" by Carty, and that Carty had no knowledge of Gayle's gun. Gayle was sentenced to 15 months in jail, while the charges against Carty were dropped. He won a

MuchMusic Video Award The iHeartRadio MMVAs were an annual awards show broadcast on Much to honour the year's best music videos that was last held in 2018. Originally debuting in 1990 as the Canadian Music Video Awards, the awards were renamed in 1995 to the MuchMu ...

for Best Rap Video in 2004 for "Who Dat", a collaboration with

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

n musician

Elephant Man Joseph Carey Merrick (5 August 1862 – 11 April 1890), often erroneously called John Merrick, was an English man known for having severe deformities. He was first exhibited at a freak show under the stage name "the Elephant Man" and then wen ...

. The track was featured on his second album, ''The Hood Is Here'', released in 2005. The album also featured "Friendamine", a collaboration with Furtado. In the same year, he also collaborated with

Esthero Esthero ( ; born Jenny-Bea Englishman on December 23, 1978 in Stratford, Ontario) is a Canadian singer-songwriter who lives in Los Angeles, California. The name ''Esthero'' refers both to the singer and formerly to the two-person team of hersel ...

on the song "Fastlane", from her album ''

Wikked Lil' Grrrls ''Wikked Lil' Grrrls'' is Canadian singer Esthero's second album, her first full-length in seven years. It was released on June 28, 2005 in North America by Reprise Records. The album elicited mixed reviews upon its release, with contemporary mus ...

''."Sly, seductive singer returns with new CD free from formula". ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...

'', July 13, 2005.

Discography

Studio albums * ''Jelleestone Thirteen'' (2001) * ''The Hood Is Here'' (2005) * ''3rd studio album'' (TBA) Singles * ''Money (Part 1)'' * ''Makes The World Go 'Round'' * ''Who Dat'' (ft.

) * ''The Hood Is Here'' * ''Friendamine'' (ft.

) * ''I'm With You'' * ''Dim Ur Light''

References

{{reflist, 2 Canadian male rappers Black Canadian musicians People from Etobicoke Rappers from Toronto Living people 21st-century Canadian male musicians 21st-century Canadian rappers Year of birth missing (living people)