In 2001 and 2002, two of his partially called ‘ghetto’ records were only on the brink of becoming #1 in the U.S. Billboard 200 list, but on February 24, 2006, Jaheim’s third Ghetto Classics album effectively rammed the top spot. With his theme album Curious George, Ghetto Classics sold more than 152,000 copies in the first week of sales, taking down the champion of the previous week, Jack Johnson. Blessed to work on the R&B album under three fantastic producers from Scott Storch, KayGee, and Bink, he also launched the first single featuring rapper Jadakiss, Everytime I Think About Her. The launching of The Chosen One single and the filming of the clip were next on his list as well. He picked the song to be the second single because the ballad song in his life was a dedication to a significant lady, as he mysteriously said.
The African-American singer was raised in the public housing of New Brunswick, New Jersey, when Jaheim Hoagland was born in 197Little Jah was grateful to have been born into such a caring family, but when his father died in 1981, circumstances changed suddenly, leaving Jah, his mum, Julia Hoagland, and his younger brother, Taquane, to drown in profound sorrow. Fortunately,
possessing a number of friends, by meeting and singing, they depended on each other. Singing was the way out for me. I could still make myself and my mom feel better with an album, no matter how bad life has been. It was our redemption, he remembered these periods of heart-breaking. In fact, the Hoaglands were quite musical. Victor Hoagland, the grandfather of Jah, also performed with groups throughout the 1960s, including the popular doo-wop outfit, The Drifters. That was how Jah received the musical gift that led him to becoming the singing sensation of the local talent competitions and family reunions. Sponsored by his dad, before eventually heading through one of the hardest talent shows in the United States, the Apollo Theatre, he managed to sing his heart out in those contests. Yah was already claimed as the next Luther Vandross, competing three times when he was just 15 years of age.
The good days came to an end when his mother died when he was just 1He declined, however, to fall into deep sorrow, claiming that when I lost my mother, I felt I was losing something. But for my little brother, I had to be solid… now I am the power. Picking himself up, he preserved his image as the phenomenon of New Jersey. He started producing demo tapes when he was sure enough, which he submitted to different recording houses. Finally, Naughty was fascinated with his voice by Nature’s hip-hop DJ, KayGee, who signed him instantly under Divine Mill Records. Jah’s debut album Ghetto Love was released in 2001 by the diligent work of the two persons after achieving a breakthrough with his first single Might It Be the year before. The song reached the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 instantly and so did the next one, which was released in 2001, named Just in Case.
