Josiah Gillie, known professionally as J.P. and formerly as Jody P, is an American rapper and singer. He released his debut single "Juicey Ahhh" in 2022 and his breakout single " Bad Bitty" went viral on

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

in 2024.

Life and career

Josiah Gillie was born in

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

to mother Ramona Gillie. Gillie's brother Derek Myles Coleman works as his manager. As a child, Gillie performed in musicals and sang

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

, and in his church choir; he also played basketball and joined an

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

team in eighth grade. He attended

West Allis Central High School West Allis Central High School is a public high school in West Allis, Wisconsin, United States. The school boundaries are the city of West Allis, village of West Milwaukee, Wisconsin, West Milwaukee and portions of New Berlin, Wisconsin, New Be ...

. He began making music in high school, which he described as "horrible quality". , Gillie is attending the

University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point The University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point (UW–Stevens Point or UWSP) is a public university in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, United States. Established in 1894, it is part of the University of Wisconsin System. UW-Stevens Point grants associ ...

as a music performance major with a focus on vocal performance and a minor in communications. He also plays as a

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

for the school's basketball team, the

Pointers Pointer may refer to: People with the name * Pointer (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) * Pointer Williams (born 1974), American former basketball player Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Pointer'' (journal), the ...

. As a freshman at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point, Gillie's cousin encouraged him to try making

lowend Lowend is a subgenre of Milwaukee hip hop, which is a regional subgenre of hip hop, that originated in Milwaukee in 2020s. Defined by uptempo, metronome-like clapping rhythms, heavy bass, and snares, lowend emerged in the early 2020s out of Milwa ...

music, a style of

hip hop music Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music Music genre, genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African Americans, African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide r ...

from

. He recorded his first song, "Juicey Ahhh", on his phone using

BandLab BandLab is a freemium online digital audio workstation (DAW) tool by BandLab Technologies with social media functions, and distribution functions for Musical composition, creating music collaboratively, sharing it, and selling it. It can also be ...

and a lowend beat from

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

that was produced by Milwaukee producer DDMakinHits. He released it under the name J.P. in December 2022. The song soon went viral on

after being posted by the popular Milwaukee-based TikTok account @414hypehousetiktok. After it was endorsed by rapper

Lil Uzi Vert Symere Bysil Woods ( ; born July 31, 1995), known professionally as Lil Uzi Vert, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, they gained initial recognition following the release of the commer ...

on social media in January 2023, a remix of "Juicey Ahhh" featuring Sada Baby was released. In 2023, J.P. released the song "Get Down" and his debut album, ''No Discounts''. J.P.'s breakout single, "Bad Bitty", was released in February 2024. It went viral on TikTok and other social media platforms the following month due to the song's choreography and a meme involving the song's ad-libs. His song "Freak Girl" was released in April 2024. J.P.'s album ''Coming Out Party'' was released in June 2024.

Musical style

J.P.'s music is primarily lowend, and he has described his music as a combination of lowend with R&B. He has named

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...

Luther Vandross Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American Soul music, soul and Contemporary R&B, R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer. Over his career, he achieved eleven consecutive RIAA certification, RIAA-certified ...

, and

Sam Cooke Samuel Cooke (; January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964) was an American singer and songwriter. Considered one of the most influential soul music, soul artists of all time, Cooke is commonly referred to as the "King of Soul" for his distin ...

as musical influences. He has stated that he does not write his music and that his lyrical process is "more of a feeling-type thing".

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Guest appearances

References

American bisexual musicians American LGBTQ rappers Bisexual rappers Singers from Wisconsin 2004 births Rappers from Milwaukee 21st-century American male singers 21st-century American rappers 21st-century African-American male rappers 21st-century American male rappers Living people {{US-musician-stub