Amir Junaid Muhadith (born Chauncey Lamont Hawkins; June 20, 1975), better known by his

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

Loon, is an American former

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

. He is best known for his work with fellow New York rapper

Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs Sean John Combs (born November 4, 1969), better known by his stage name Diddy, and formerly Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, is an American rapper, record producer, and record executive. Born in Harlem and raised in Mount Vernon, Combs worked as a ...

, having signed with his record label

Bad Boy Records Bad Boy Entertainment, doing business as Bad Boy Records, is an American independent record label. The label was founded in 1993 by rapper and record producer Sean Combs. During the mid-1990s, the label signed hip-hop and contemporary R&B, R&B a ...

in 1999. Loon most notably guest appeared on Combs' 2002 singles " I Need a Girl (Part One)" and "

I Need a Girl (Part Two) I, or i, is the ninth letter and the third vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''i'' (pronounced ), plur ...

," which peaked at numbers two and four on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, respectively. Prior, he formed the New York City-based hip hop group

Harlem World ''Harlem World'' is the debut studio album by American rapper Mase. It was released on October 28, 1997, by Bad Boy Records and Arista Records. The album was nominated at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards for Grammy Award for Best Rap Album, Best Ra ...

in 1995, with whom he released one studio album—''

The Movement The Movement may refer to: Politics * The Movement (Iceland), a political party in Iceland * The Movement (Israel), a political party in Israel, led by Tzipi Livni * Civil rights movement, the African-American political movement * The Movement ...

'' (1999)—before disbanding in 1999. As a solo act, Loon signed with

Arista Records Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...

, and later Bad Boy Records that same year to release his eponymous debut studio album (2003). Despite mixed reviews, it was met with commercial success and peaked at number six on the ''Billboard'' 200. He then parted ways with the label in the following year due to his conversion to

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

, and released three independent albums until his retirement from recording altogether in 2009.

Career

Chauncey Lamont Hawkins was born in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. He began his musical career as a member of

Mase Mason Durell Betha (born August 27, 1975), better known by his stage name Mase (often stylized as Ma$e), is an American rapper. Best known for his work with Sean Combs, Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs' Bad Boy Records, he signed with the label in 1996 ...

's rap collective

in 1995, and signed with

after their 1999 disbandment. He also began working severally with group cohort Mase; due to Mase signing with P. Diddy's

, Loon was led by proximity to sign with the label himself, as it was also an imprint of Arista. He made his first solo appearance on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for his guest feature on label mate

Faith Evans Faith Renée Evans (born June 10, 1973) is an American R&B singer, songwriter, and actress. Born in Lakeland, Florida, and raised in New Jersey, she relocated to Los Angeles in 1991 in pursuit of a recording career. Evans initially performed as ...

' 2001 single " You Gets No Love" alongside Diddy, which peaked at number 38 on the chart. Bad Boy parted ways with Arista the following year, and the Bad Boy roster, including Loon, was thereafter moved to

Universal Records Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

. 2002 also saw Loon guest performing on the commercially successful singles " I Need a Girl (Part One)" and "

" both by Diddy, as well as "

I Do (Wanna Get Close to You) "I Do (Wanna Get Close to You)" is the first single from 3LW's second album ''A Girl Can Mack'' and featured P. Diddy and Loon. The single peaked at number 58 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 during 2002. It achieved greater success in New Zealand, ...

" by 3LW and "

Hit the Freeway "Hit the Freeway" is a song by American singer Toni Braxton from her fifth studio album, '' More Than a Woman'' (2002). The song, which features American rapper Loon, was written by Pharrell Williams and Loon himself, while production was handl ...

" by

Toni Braxton Toni Michele Braxton (born October 7, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and television personality. She has sold over 70 million records worldwide and is one of the best-selling female artists in history. Braxton has won seven ...

; the former two peaked at numbers two and four on the chart, respectively. During his time with Bad Boy, Loon served as a ghostwriter on songs by or featuring Diddy, having co-written

Mario Winans Mario Mendell Winans ( Brown; born August 29, 1974) is an American R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer from South Carolina. An extended member of the Winans musical family, he is best known for his 2004 single " I Don't Wanna Know" (f ...

' 2004 single "

I Don't Wanna Know "I Don't Wanna Know" is a song by American singer Mario Winans, featuring American rapper Sean Combs, P. Diddy and Irish singer Enya. The song is based on a sample of the Fugees' song "Ready or Not (Fugees song), Ready or Not", which in turn sam ...

" as well as Diddy's 2001 eponymous single. His 2003 debut commercial single, "Down For Me" (featuring Mario Winans) peaked at number 24 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and remains his highest charting song as a lead artist. It's follow-up, "How You Like That" (featuring

Kelis Kelis Rogers (; born August 21, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter and chef. She attended Manhattan, New York's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, where she played saxophone and was selected for the Girls Ch ...

) peaked at number 88 on the chart. Both preceded the release of his self-titled debut studio album in October of that year, which peaked at number six on the ''Billboard'' 200 and saw mixed reviews. Loon left Bad Boy Records in the following year to launch his own record label, Boss Up Entertainment. He then retired from the

music industry The music industry are individuals and organizations that earn money by Songwriter, writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music and sheet music, presenting live music, concerts, ...

entirely in 2009.

Conversion to Islam

Loon converted to

in December 2008 after a trip to Abu Dhabi, and Dubai, UAE. Born Chauncey Lamont Hawkins, he officially changed his name to Amir Junaid Muhadith after traveling to

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

, the holiest site of Islam, to perform

Umrah The Umrah () is an Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, the holiest city for Muslims, located in the Hejazi region of Saudi Arabia. It can be undertaken at any time of the year, in contrast to the '' Ḥajj'' (; "pilgrimage"), which has specific d ...

. After having converted to Islam, he subsequently ended his music career and would later relocate to Cairo, Egypt where he lived until 2011, and then lastly moved back to the United States of America from 2011 to 2022, and stayed in the United States of America in 2022.

Legal issues

On November 22, 2011, Muhadith was arrested while on a trip to Brussels. He was extradited to the United States in May 2012 and was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment in July 2013 for conspiracy with intent to traffic one or more kilograms of heroin. Many reports have advocated for and confirmed his innocence. Amid the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

effects in prison centers, Muhadith was granted early release on July 29, 2020.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Guest appearances

*1998: "Back Up Off The Wall"

Brand Nubian Brand Nubian is an American hip hop group from New Rochelle, New York, composed of three emcees ( Grand Puba, Sadat X and Lord Jamar), and formerly three DJs ( DJ Alamo, DJ Sincere, and DJ Stud Doogie). Their debut studio album, '' One for Al ...

(uncredited) *2002: "How U Want Dat" (Remix) by the Game *2003: "Tru Rider" (Mowett feat. Loon) *2003: " Gangsta Sh*t" (

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. ( ; born October 20, 1971), better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg), is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Rooted in West Coast hip-hop, he is widely regarded as one of t ...

feat. Loon) *2004: “Whatchu Sayin’” (Truth Hurts feat. Loon) *2005: " Smile for Me" (

Massari Sari Abboud (; born December 10, 1980), better known by his stage name Massari ( ), is a Lebanese-Canadian singer and songwriter. He began his career in the early 2000s and went on to release two contemporary R&B, R&B albums, ''Massari (album), Ma ...

feat. Loon) *2009: "What You Say" (Loon feat. Christopher) *2009: "No Way Nobody" (

Karl Wolf Carl Abou Samah (; born April 18, 1979), better known by his stage name Karl Wolf, is a Lebanese-Canadian musician based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Recently named “Father of A-Pop” Karl Wolf has been a singer, songwriter, and producer sin ...

feat. Loon)

Filmography

;Films

References

External links

Official Loon Myspace
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Loon 1975 births African-American male rappers 21st-century American male rappers 20th-century American male rappers African-American Muslims American prisoners and detainees Bad Boy Records artists Converts to Sunni Islam Living people People from Harlem Rappers from Manhattan American Salafis 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American musicians Muslims from New York (state)