Amil Kahala Whitehead (born September 19, 1973) is an American former rapper and singer. Based in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, she signed with

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

Roc-A-Fella Records Roc-A-Fella Records was an American record label and music management company founded in 1994 by record executives and entrepreneurs Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, Damon Dash, and Kareem "Biggs" Burke. Carter issued his debut album, '' Reasonable Doubt ...

, in a joint venture with

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

in 1997. The following year, she appeared alongside

Ja Rule Jeffrey Bruce Atkins (born February 29, 1976), better known by his stage name Ja Rule (), is an American rapper, singer, and actor. Born and raised in New York City, Ja Rule became known for blending gangsta rap with pop rap, pop and contempo ...

on Jay-Z's single " Can I Get A..." for the ''

Rush Hour A rush hour (American English, British English) or peak hour (Australian English, Indian English) is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice e ...

'' film soundtrack. Amil's debut studio album, ''

All Money Is Legal ''All Money Is Legal'', also known as ''A.M.I.L.: (All Money Is Legal)'', is the only studio album by American rapper Amil. It was released on August 29, 2000, through Roc-A-Fella Records, Roc-A-Fella, Columbia Records, Columbia, and Sony Music ...

'' (2000), peaked at number 45 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 chart and spawned the singles " I Got That" (featuring

Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...

) and " 4 da Fam" (featuring Jay-Z,

Memphis Bleek Malik Deshawn Cox (born June 23, 1978), known by his stage name Memphis Bleek, is an American rapper. He is best known for his affiliation with fellow New York City-based rapper Jay-Z, with Cox often described as his hype man and protégé. Cox s ...

and

Beanie Sigel Dwight Equan Grant (born March 6, 1974), better known by his stage name Beanie Sigel, is an American rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is best known for his association with Jay-Z and his label Roc-A-Fella Records, to which Grant signed ...

). The album was met with mixed critical reception and she parted ways with the labels shortly after.

Early life

Amil was born on September 19, 1973, in

, to a white mother and a black father. Amil's parents abandoned her at an early age, and she was then adopted and raised by her aunt. As a teenager, Amil gave birth to a son, with her then boyfriend Kendall Morgan. Amil's aunt and adoptive mother died in 1994. A year later, Morgan was killed in a stabbing incident and Amil started dealing drugs to financially support herself. During this time, she used music as an emotional outlet.

Career

In 1997, Amil was a member of Major Coins, an all-female group. The group met

, who was looking for a woman to provide vocals on his third album, '' Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life''. Jay-Z asked Amil to freestyle and liked it, and selected her for the role. When Major Coins broke up, Amil decided to follow a solo career with Jay-Z's label,

, and joined the 1999 Hard Knock Life Tour. After the tour, she appeared on songs with

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey ( ; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Songbird Supreme" by ''Guinness World Records'', Carey is known for her five-octave voc ...

Jermaine Dupri Jermaine Dupri Mauldin (born September 23, 1972) is an American rapper and record producer. Raised in Atlanta, Georgia as the son of Columbia Records executive Michael Mauldin, he began his career in music at the age of nine. He discovered th ...

, AZ, DJ Kay Slay,

LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, alongside fellow new school hip ho ...

, and

Funkmaster Flex Aston George Taylor Jr. (born August 5, 1967), professionally known as Funkmaster Flex, is an American DJ, rapper, record producer, and host on New York City's Hot 97 radio station. In 1992, he became host of the first hip hop radio show on Ho ...

. She has appeared on Jay-Z songs such as " Nigga What, Nigga Who", " Can I Get A...", " Do It Again (Put Ya Hands Up)", "S Carter", "You, Me, Him and Her", and "Pop 4 Roc". In August 2000, Amil released her debut solo album, ''

''. The album featured the single " I Got That", a duet with Beyoncé, and All-Star Roc-A-Fella single " 4 Da Fam". The album also featured Jay-Z,

, Carl Thomas,

Eve Eve is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develop through oral traditions and there ...

, and

. Album sales were disappointing, and the singles did not sell well either. Following that album, her last Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam single, " Hey Papi", a song from the soundtrack to the feature film '' Nutty Professor II: The Klumps'', was released. In 2002, Amil had a small role in ''

State Property State ownership, also called public ownership or government ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, property, or enterprise by the national government of a country or state, or a public body representing a community, as opposed to ...

''. In 2005, Amil temporarily re-formed "Major Coinz" and released songs on the

mixtape In the modern music industry, a mixtape is a musical project, typically with looser constraints than that of an album or extended play. Unlike the traditional album or extended play, mixtapes are labeled as laid-back projects that allow artists mo ...

circuit including the single "Glamorous Life" which was featured on

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

's Mixtape Monday. In 2008, Amil released mixtapes titled Az Iz and Amil Returns: The Lost Classics Edition, delivering lyrically with songs such as the emotional "Tears of a Teenage Mother" and the Caribbean vibed "Don't Worry". Amil released the song "Stop" in July 2012. The song was intended to promote the rapper's unreleased mixtape, A Time to Kill. Amil released the song "Remember" in 2014. It was also intended to promote a mixtape titled ''Another Moment in Life'', which remains unreleased.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Album appearances

References

External links

Biography
at

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

{{Authority control 1973 births Living people 20th-century American women rappers 21st-century American women rappers 21st-century American rappers 20th-century African-American women singers 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers 21st-century African-American women singers 21st-century American women singers 21st-century African-American singers African-American women rappers African-American women singer-songwriters American women singer-songwriters American women hip-hop singers Columbia Records artists East Coast hip-hop musicians Hardcore hip-hop artists Rappers from New York City Roc-A-Fella Records artists Singer-songwriters from New York (state)