Jentina Rose Rees ( née Chapman, born 6 March 1984) is an English

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

and

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

descent.

Biography

Jentina Chapman was born on 6 March 1984 in Woking,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

to a Romani family that consisted of fourteen children. When she was one year old, her family moved to West Molesey, Surrey. She got her first recording contract at the age of nineteen whilst working in a computer shop. After an advertising campaign on

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

and features in various UK music magazines, (notably ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

''), her debut single " Bad Ass Strippa" was released in the summer of 2004. The song was later parodied by the

grime Grime may refer to: * Dirt, in the form of black, ingrained dust * Grime (music genre), a genre of music * ''Grime'' (album), a 2001 album by Iniquity * ''Grime'' (video game), a 2021 Metroidvania video game * "Grime", a 2022 song by Dallas Woo ...

Lady Sovereign Louise Amanda Harman (born 19 December 1985), better known by the stage name Lady Sovereign, is a British rapper, best known for the songs "9 to 5" and "Love Me or Hate Me". Early life and family Lady Sovereign grew up in Chalkhill Estate in ...

. Sampling

the O'Jays The O'Jays are an American R&B group from Canton, Ohio, formed in 1958 and originally consisting of Eddie Levert, Walter Lee Williams, William Powell, Bobby Massey, and Bill Isles. The O'Jays made their first chart appearance with the minor ...

song "

For the Love of Money "For the Love of Money" is a soul/funk song that was written and composed by Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff, and Anthony Jackson; it was recorded by Philadelphia soul group The O'Jays for the album ''Ship Ahoy.'' Produced by Gamble and Huff for Phi ...

", it reached number 22 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. Jentina's second single, " French Kisses" was co-written by Jentina along with

Cathy Dennis Catherine Roseanne Dennis (born 25 March 1969)Gregory, Andy (2002) ''International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002'', Europa; , p. 133 is a British singer, songwriter, record producer and actress. She was the vocalist for D Mob, which had the s ...

and

Greg Wells Greg Wells is a Canadian musician, record producer, songwriter and audio engineer. Wells has songs on over 130 million albums sold. He has worked with John Legend, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ariana Grande, Jazmine Sullivan, Kid Cudi, Adele, Rufus Wai ...

and was a more electro-hop/R&B-oriented song. The single was released in the autumn of 2004, entering the UK chart at number 20. Jentina released another single after this in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

only, "

Mysterious Mysterious may refer to: * ''Mysterious'' (album), a 1988 album by Shizuka Kudō * "Mysterious" (song), a 2005 song by Jentina * "Mysterious", a song by Scorpions from the 1999 album '' Eye II Eye'' * Mysterious Walker Frederick Mitchell Walk ...

". It reached the

Top 30 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

in Italy. Her debut album '' Jentina'' was then released, again only in Italy. In 2005, " Bad Ass Strippa", " French Kisses" and "

" gained worldwide exposure after featuring in episodes of ''

CSI: NY ''CSI: NY'' (''Crime Scene Investigation: New York'', stylized as ''CSI: NY/Crime Scene Investigation'') is an American police procedural television series that ran on CBS from September 22, 2004, to February 22, 2013, for a total of nine seaso ...

''. In 2006, "Mysterious" underscored some of the audition stages of MTV's ''

DanceLife ''DanceLife'' (also known as ''J.Lo's DanceLife'' in the UK) is a 2007 dance-oriented reality show, featuring and produced by Jennifer Lopez. The series follows the lives of seven dancers trying to break into the world of professional dance and ...

''. During 2005, Jentina dated the Prodigy member

Keith Flint Keith Charles Flint (17 September 1969 – 4 March 2019) was an English singer and member as well as one of the vocalists of the electronic dance act The Prodigy. Starting out as a dancer, he became the vocalist of the group and performed on th ...

. She also has a son called Ralph and a daughter called Annie. Jentina was also a professional model. In November 2007, she represented lingerie brand

Wonderbra The Wonderbra is a type of push-up underwire brassiere that gained worldwide prominence in the 1990s. Although the Wonderbra name was first trademarked in the U.S. in 1955, the brand was developed in Canada. Moses (Moe) Nadler, founder and major ...

, following on from the likes of

Eva Herzigová Eva Herzigová (born 10 March 1973) is a Czech-Italian supermodel and actress. Early life and career Herzigová was born in Litvínov, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic), the daughter of an accountant mother and an electrician father. Growing ...

and

Caprice Caprice, from the Italian ''capriccio'', may refer to: Art and entertainment * ''Caprice'' (1913 film), a film starring Mary Pickford * ''Caprices'' (film), a 1942 French comedy film * ''Caprice'' (1967 film), a film starring Richard Harris ...

. She featured in a spoof video of the

Cadbury's Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company fully owned by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second largest confectionery brand in the world after M ...

popular ''

Gorilla Gorillas are herbivorous, predominantly ground-dwelling great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four or fi ...

'' television advertisement, in which a gorilla played the drums to the Phil Collins single, "

In the Air Tonight "In the Air Tonight" is the debut solo single by English drummer and singer-songwriter Phil Collins. It was released as the lead single from Collins's debut solo album, ''Face Value'', in January 1981. Collins co-produced "In the Air Tonight" w ...

". During 2011, Jentina was in the judging panel for ''Travellers Got Talent'', and she also appeared in the 8-part documentary ''A Gypsy Life for Me'' which aired on Bio in November 2011.

Discography

Albums

Singles

¹ - Released in the United Kingdom only.
² - Released in Italy only.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jentina 1984 births Living people English Romani people English female models British contemporary R&B singers English women singer-songwriters English hip hop musicians English women rappers People from Woking Romani female models Romani rappers Romani singers British hip hop singers