Canton Dorrelle Jones (born January 9, 1977) is an American
Christian rapper.
Biography
Early years
Canton Dorrelle Jones,
was born on January 9,
1977, in
Deerfield Beach, Florida
Deerfield Beach is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States, just south of the Palm Beach County, Florida, Palm Beach County line. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 86,859, making it the Broward County# ...
, and began singing at the age of five in a vocal group founded by his father. By the age of 16, he was writing and producing songs for friends in his hometown.
He relocated to
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
, where he attended
Morehouse College
Morehouse College is a Private college, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black, Men's colleges in the United States, men's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia, ...
joining the school's renowned
Glee Club
A glee club is a musical group or choir group, historically of male voices but also of female or mixed voices, which traditionally specializes in the singing of short songs by trios or quartets. In the late 19th century it was very popular in ...
. The club performed for celebrities such as
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954) is an American television presenter, talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and media proprietor. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show' ...
,
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...
,
Dr. Bobby Jones and
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Gen ...
, as well as performing at high-profile events such as the opening ceremony of the 1996
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...
and at the first gospel concert ever held at
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense, in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. The building was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As ...
.
Between 1998 and 1999, he joined
World Changers Church International, under the pastorship of
Creflo & Taffi Dollar and in his own words, grew as a Christian under their stewardship: "My wife, who was my girlfriend at the time, took me to World Changers and I started getting the word. I was going to that church for like three years before I really rededicated my life to Christ. I was there from probably like 1998 or 1999 until 2001 before I really started getting on track."
Musical career
In 2001, Jones launched his own gospel record label, CAJO International.
and independently released his first album, 2002's ''20 Years, 3 Months & 12 Days'', which chronicled his journey to salvation.
He released his second independent album in 2004: ''The Password'' and that same year, collaborated with
Lil iROCC Williams
Justin Williams (born March 3, 1990) is an American rapper and actor. Williams began his career using the stage name Lil iROCC Williams, but eventually dropped the "Lil". His name is often stylized multiple ways, including Irocc, iROCC, irocc, an ...
on Williams's 2004 debut album, and wrote and performed a song, "You and Me", for the compilation ''Holy Hip-Hop:Taking the Gospel to the Streets''.
At this time he was now a member of the choir of World Changers International Church and a solo performance at the church attracted the attention of the church's youth pastor, who asked Jones to help him in the youth department. Not long after that, he was signed to the church's Arrow Records label, an affiliate of
EMI
EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...
.
He released his major label debut, ''Love Jones'', in mid-2005, which debuted at number 11 on ''Billboards Top Gospel Albums chart.
Following the album's success, Jones toured the US with over 200 appearances that year.
In November 2005, ''The Password'' was re-released nationally at the end of 2005 as ''The Password: Access Granted'' and earned him two
Grammy
The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...
nominations.
[ His success in 2005 saw him listed in ''The Atlanta Business Journal'' at number 19 in their ''40 Under 40'' chart of Atlanta's rising stars.]
Personal Life
On October 29, 2021, Jones married Ramona Estell.
Discography
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Canton
1977 births
American gospel singers
American male rappers
Living people
Morehouse College alumni
Singers from Georgia (U.S. state)
American performers of Christian hip-hop
Performers of Christian contemporary R&B music
People from Deerfield Beach, Florida
Rappers from Florida
21st-century American rappers
21st-century American male musicians