Joshua Elia Williams (born 3 September 1986), 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 ...

J. Williams, is a New Zealand R&B recording artist and professional

hip-hop dance Hip hop dance is a range of street dance styles primarily performed to hip-hop, hip hop music or that have evolved as part of hip-hop culture, hip hop culture. It is influenced by a wide range of styles that were created in the 1970s and made po ...

r. He made his musical debut in 2008 with " Blow Your Mind" which peaked at number 13 on the

New Zealand Singles Chart The Official Aotearoa Music Charts, formerly the Official New Zealand Music Chart (), is the weekly New Zealand top 40 singles and albums charts, issued weekly by Recorded Music NZ (formerly Recording Industry Association of New Zealand). The M ...

. In early 2009 his debut album '' Young Love'' was released with the single " You Got Me" featuring

Scribe A scribe is a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of Printing press, automatic printing. The work of scribes can involve copying manuscripts and other texts as well as ...

. It was certified platinum and became the #1 selling single of 2010 in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Early life and education

Joshua Elia Williams was born in Auckland, New Zealand His father is of Samoan descent and his mother of Fijian descent. He attended Weymouth Intermediate School in Weymouth,

South Auckland South Auckland ( or ) is one of the major geographical regions of Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand. The area is south of the Auckland isthmus, and on the eastern shores of the Manukau Harbour. The area has been populated by Tāmaki M� ...

and attended James Cook High School in Manurewa. He compares his upbringing to that of the

Jackson 5 The Jackson 5, later known as the Jacksons, are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was formed in Gary, Indiana in 1964, and originally consisted of brothers Jackie, Ti ...

family, as his father was very strict regarding religion and music. Williams' has two younger sisters, Keziah and Ezra, and two older sisters,

Emily Emily may refer to: * Emily (given name), including a list of people with the name Music * "Emily" (1964 song), title song by Johnny Mandel and Johnny Mercer to the film ''The Americanization of Emily'' * "Emily" (Dave Koz song), a 1990 song ...

and

Lavinia In Roman mythology, Lavinia ( ; ) is the daughter of Latinus and Amata, and the last wife of Aeneas. Creation It has been proposed that the character was in part intended to represent Servilia Isaurica, Emperor Augustus's first fiancée. Story ...

, who have both appeared on ''

Australian Idol ''Australian Idol'' is an Australian singing competition, which began its first season in July 2003 and ended its initial run in November 2009. As part of the ''Idol'' franchise, Australian Idol originated from the reality program '' Pop Id ...

'' in 2005 (runner-up) and 2006 (top-8), respectively.. In 2023, his younger sister, Ezra, finished runner-up on season 12 of The Voice Australia.

Career

Williams was a member of the hip hop street dance group originally called Dziah (now known as Prestige). In 2006 Dziah represented

at the

World Hip Hop Dance Championships The World Hip Hop Dance Championship is an international hip-hop dance competition created in 2002 by Hip Hop International co-founders Howard and Karen Schwartz, who also created the competitive dance reality television series ''America's Best D ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. They came second to the current champions, the

Philippine All Stars The Philippine All-Stars is a Filipino Hip-hop dance group from the Philippines and the pioneer of Pinoy Hip-hop. They won the 2006 and 2008 World Hip Hop Dance Championships. Hip-hop community regarded All-Star as one of the most jaw-dropping cr ...

. In 2008 at the same competition, this time as Prestige, they came fourth. From 2008 to March 2011 Williams received over in funding from the taxpayer-funded

New Zealand On Air NZ On Air (NZOA; ), formally the Broadcasting Commission, is an autonomous Crown entity and commission of the New Zealand Government responsible for providing funding for broadcasting and creative works. The commission operates largely separa ...

. This included $50,000 to produce the album, and multiple grants to make music videos.

2008 – 2010: ''Young Love''

In September 2008 " Blow Your Mind" was released as the lead single from Williams' debut album. It peaked at number 13 on the

. Second single "Set it Off", was released to commercial radio stations in early 2009 and charted at number thirty six. In March 2009, Williams released his third single, "

Ghetto Flower "Ghetto Flower" is the third single from J. Williams' debut studio album, '' Young Love'' written by his sister, Lavina Williams, known as a member of New Zealand 90s girl band, MaVelle. The single was released on 16 March 2009. Chart performan ...

", which peaked at number 5 on the same chart. The song was certified Gold in New Zealand on 9 June 2009, selling over 7,500 copies. and was written by his sister,

Emily Williams Emily Williams (born 8 October 1984) is a New Zealand-born Australian singer and songwriter. She rose to fame in 2005 on the third season of ''Australian Idol'' and became the runner-up of the competition. After ''Idol'', Williams signed with ...

. The fourth single, "

Stand with You "Stand with You" is the fourth single from J. Williams' first studio album, '' Young Love''. The song features Williams' sister, Lavina Williams. Music video The music video was financially supported by New Zealand On Air. The music video star ...

", was released in June 2009, and peaked at number 6 in New Zealand, becoming his second consecutive top-10 single. It featured his sister,

Lavina Williams Lavina Rose Williams (born 13 June 1979) is a New Zealand musical artist and musical theatre performer. Williams began her career as a member of the 1990s the girl group Ma-V-Elle. The group had multiple songs in the New Zealand music charts, in ...

. The song was certified Gold in New Zealand on 13 September 2009, selling over 7,500 copies. On 13 July 2009 Williams released his debut album, '' Young Love''. The album debuted at number five on the New Zealand Top 40 Albums Chart and was certified gold. On 9 November 2009 Williams released his fifth single from the album, "

Your Style "Your Style" is the fifth single from J. Williams' debut album, '' Young Love''. The song features Erakah. The official remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted f ...

" which featured New Zealand singer,

Erakah Erakah is a New Zealand R&B and soul singer. In 2009, she featured on R&B singer J.Williams single " Your Style" of his album ''Young Love''. Inspired by Soul music Erakah states Alicia Keys, Lily Allen, Beyoncé and Brandy as influences on h ...

. The single peaked at number 16 on the

. In February 2010, Williams released sixth single " You Got Me", featuring New Zealand rapper

. The single peaked at number one on the

, and was certified Platinum. In December 2010, it was declared that "You Got Me" was the #1 selling single of 2010 in

2010 – present

On 25 May 2010 Williams released "

Takes Me Higher "Takes Me Higher" is a single by New Zealand R&B and hip-hop singer J. Williams, released in May 2010. It features pop singer Dane Rumble. Writing and release "Takes Me Higher" was co-written by Williams, Rumble and I. Finau. The single was ...

", which features pop singer

Dane Rumble Dane Aaron Rumble (born 9 February 1982) is a New Zealand recording artist. He is a former member of New Zealand hip hop group, Fast Crew. Background Rumble was born in Kirwee, Canterbury, and received his secondary education at St Peter's Colle ...

. The single only had a

digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Businesses *Digital bank, a form of financial institution *Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) or Digital, a computer company *Digital Research (DR or DRI), a software ...

release. It peaked at number two on the

. In December 2010, "Takes Me Higher" was declared the #19 best seller of 2010 in New Zealand. " Night of Your Life" was released on 11 October 2010 and received a gold certification. In 2010 Williams toured Germany. In 2012, Williams was the supporting act for New Zealand

boy band A boy band is a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their Teenage, teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Many boy bands ...

Titanium Titanium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resistant to corrosion in ...

on their

Come On Home Tour Titanium was a New Zealand pop boy band formed in Auckland in 2012 from the winners of ''The Edge'' radio station's competition to create New Zealand's first authentic boy band. The Edge radio station hosted auditions across New Zealand and even ...

Personal life

Williams and his partner Larissa Brown separated shortly before the birth of their child Ryder, and stories of alcohol-fuelled violence emerged. Williams stepped down from his post as Rugby World Cup ambassador. Williams underwent counselling, and in 2012 rekindled a relationship with his high school sweetheart, Renee Marriot.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

As featured artist

Music videos

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Official Bebo siteRecord Label siteFeature profile on Television New Zealand's Close Up programme
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, J. Living people New Zealand people of Samoan descent New Zealand male singer-songwriters New Zealand singer-songwriters New Zealand contemporary R&B singers New Zealand pop singers New Zealand hip-hop musicians New Zealand people of I-Taukei Fijian descent 21st-century New Zealand male singers 1986 births