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Nahum Thorton Grymes (born November 29, 1984), better known by his stage name J. Holiday, is an American R&B singer and rapper. He is best known for his 2007 single " Bed", which peaked at number five on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It preceded the release of his debut studio album '' Back of My Lac''' (2007), which peaked at number five on the US ''Billboard'' 200 and number 32 on the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
. His second album, ''
Round 2 Round 2 may refer to: * ''Round 2'' (J. Holiday album), 2009 * ''Round 2'' (The Stylistics album), 1972 * Round 2 (company), a toy company based in Indiana, United States {{disambiguation ...
'' (2009) peaked at number four on the former chart and was led by the single " It's Yours". After label changes and several delays, Holiday released his third album, '' Guilty Conscience'' (2014) independently, which moderately entered the
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...
chart and saw positive critical reception. He released his fourth studio album, ''Time'', on February 7, 2022.


Early life

Nahum Thorton Grymes was born in
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, to an African-American mother Frances Grymes, and an Eritrean father. His name is inspired by a biblical figure because he is the son of a preacher. After his father died when he was just eleven, Holiday was raised alone by his mother in Washington, D.C., and
Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in Northern Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Washington, D.C., D.C. The city's population of 159,467 at the 2020 ...
. His mother made sure that her son completed his education and attended church. Holiday attended a local
high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...
where he displayed his singing talent during a showcase night. By then, he frequently listened to
Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...
,
Boyz II Men Boyz II Men ( ) is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. Formed in 1985, they have been a trio composed of baritone Nathan Morris, tenor Wanya Morris, Wanyá Mo ...
,
Tupac Shakur Tupac Amaru Shakur (; born Lesane Parish Crooks; June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor, regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all tim ...
, R. Kelly, and Jodeci. Although he had the passion to go deep onto the music path, his mother wanted him to complete his education. Upon his graduation, Holiday began recording demo tapes.


Career


2006–2008: ''Back of My Lac''

J. Holiday signed a recording deal with
Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...
in 2006. He released his debut album, '' Back of My Lac''', in October 2007. The album debuted on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 chart at number 5 selling 105,000 copies in its first week. It debuted at No. 1 on the
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...
. The album debuted in the Top 20 R&B/Hip Hop albums in Canada and charted within the Top 100 albums in Canada. It became a Top 10 R&B/Hip Hop album in the UK and a Top 40 UK album entry peaking at No. 32. In the U.S. it also made it to #8 on the Tastemakers chart and No. 5 on the Top Digital Albums and Billboard Comprehensive Albums Chart. The lead single from this album was " Be with Me", which stalled at No. 83 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart. " Bed" was released as the album's second single on June 19, 2007. Debuted on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the issue week of July 4, 2007, at number 89 and has peaked at number 5. It was number 1 on the
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...
for five weeks in a row. The single has also debuted on BET's 106 & Park countdown at number 9 on Tuesday July 31, 2007. On Wednesday, August 15, 2007, "Bed" hit number one on its 11th day on the countdown. J. Holiday also performed "Bed" on 106 & Park on August 17, 2007. "Bed" was also performed on ''
Showtime at the Apollo ''Showtime at the Apollo'' (formerly ''It's Showtime at the Apollo'' and ''Apollo Live'') is an American variety show that first aired in syndication from September 12, 1987, to May 24, 2008. In 2018, the series returned on Fox with Steve Harve ...
'' along with the single "Suffocate". This song was No. 70 on ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
''s list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007. The video for "Bed" was ranked the No. 11 video of 2007 on BET: Notarized. His video for the third single, "Suffocate", debuted on BET's 106 & Park on November 7, 2007. The video was shot in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
,
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. "Come Here" was released as a single but was ultimately canceled.


2008–2009: ''Round 2''

''
Round 2 Round 2 may refer to: * ''Round 2'' (J. Holiday album), 2009 * ''Round 2'' (The Stylistics album), 1972 * Round 2 (company), a toy company based in Indiana, United States {{disambiguation ...
'' is the second studio album by
Contemporary R&B Contemporary R&B (or simply R&B) is a popular music Music genre, genre, originating from African Americans, African-American musicians in the 1980s that combines rhythm and blues with elements of Pop music, pop, Soul music, soul, funk, Hip-hop, ...
singer J. Holiday. The album was released on March 10, 2009. The album sold 55,000 units in its first week and debuted at number 4 on the Billboard 200. "It's Yours" was the first single from the album, which featured production from The Co-Stars ( Teairra Mari's "
Make Her Feel Good Make or MAKE may refer to: *Make (magazine), ''Make'' (magazine), a tech DIY periodical *Make (software), a software build tool *Make, Botswana, in the Kalahari Desert of Africa *Make Architects, an architecture studio *Make or marque, List of car ...
"), and Jasper Cameron ( Lloyd's "
You In Modern English, the word "''you''" is the second-person pronoun. It is grammatically plural, and was historically used only for the dative case, but in most modern dialects is used for all cases and numbers. History ''You'' comes from ...
" and " Player's Prayer"). The song was well received, becoming the most added single at Urban Mainstream radio the week of December 13, 2008. " It's Yours" peaked at 25 on the US R&B chart. The second single that was supposed to be released was "Fall", but due to label problems it was canceled like "Come Here" on his previous album.


2012–2014: ''Guilty Conscience''

In 2010, J. Holiday left
Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...
and signed to
Def Jam Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The ...
at the time working on his third album. He then released his mixtape, ''M.I.A: The Lost Pages'', in 2011, in promotion of the album. In early 2012, J. Holiday left Def Jam Recordings. On May 29, 2012, he released his single "Sign My Name", from his upcoming third studio album. J. Holiday has been receiving heavy rotation of his single "Sign My Name" and has been on multiple radio stations giving the fans what they need. His "Sign My Name" Tour has kept him busy to the point of have performance dates booked months in advance. He embarked as the headliner in the "Bad Boyz of R&B" Tour and the release of the movie "School of HardKnocks" that he starred in alongside Elise Neal, Erica Hubbard and Cisco Reyes was highly anticipated. In July 2013, he revealed the title of his third studio album, titled ''Guilty Conscience'', via
Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
. The album was scheduled to be released on November 11, 2013. He announced the lead single for the album titled "After We Fuck", will be sent to urban radio soon. The album was pushed back until December 10, 2013. A music video for the single will be released on November 5, 2013. ''Guilty Conscience'' was pushed back again and was released on January 28, 2014, through his label Holiday Music Group. The album achieved No. 42 on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.


2018–present: ''Time''

On October 5, 2018, the lead single "25 to Life" was released, and an upcoming album entitled ''Time'' has been announced in the works. His 2019 single "Feel Like" was released, and has also announced his upcoming tour "Underrated Part I" which started in
Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...
on August 3, 2019. The album was released on February 7, 2022.


Discography

Studio albums * '' Back of My Lac''' (2007) * ''
Round 2 Round 2 may refer to: * ''Round 2'' (J. Holiday album), 2009 * ''Round 2'' (The Stylistics album), 1972 * Round 2 (company), a toy company based in Indiana, United States {{disambiguation ...
'' (2009) * '' Guilty Conscience'' (2014) * ''Time'' (2022)


Filmography


Tours

* The Double Up Tour (with R. Kelly,
Ne-Yo Shaffer Chimere Smith (born October 18, 1979), known professionally as Ne-Yo ( ), is an American singer and songwriter. Regarded as a leading figure of Contemporary R&B#2000s, 2000s R&B music, he is the recipient of numerous accolades, includi ...
and
Keyshia Cole Keyshia Myeshia Cole (née Johnson; born October 15, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, television personality and actress. Dubbed by critics as the " Princess of Hip-Hop Soul", she is known for her soulful voice and heartfelt lyrics. Bor ...
) (2007) * The Guilty Conscience Tour (2013)


Awards and nominations

American Music Awards The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show produced by Dick Clark Productions since 1974. Nominees are selected on commercial performance such as sales and airplay. Winners are determined by a poll of the public and ...
, - , ,
2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
, , J. Holiday , Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist , , -
BET Awards The BET Awards are an American award show that was established in 2001 by the BET, Black Entertainment Television network to celebrate Black person, Black entertainers and other minorities in music, film, sports and philanthropy. The awards, which ...
, - , ,
2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
, , J. Holiday , Best Male R&B Artist , , -
Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...
, - , ,
2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
, , '' Back of My Lac''' , Best Contemporary R&B Album , , -
NAACP Image Awards The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. The over 40 ...
, - , ,
2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
, , J. Holiday , Outstanding New Artist , , -


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Holiday, J. 1981 births Living people 21st-century American singers 20th-century African-American male singers 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers American hip-hop singers American people of Eritrean descent American contemporary R&B singers Capitol Records artists Def Jam Recordings artists Singers from Washington, D.C. 21st-century American male singers 21st-century African-American male singers