Jonathan Perry (born June 4, 1988) better known by his stage name J. Perry, is a

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

an singer, songwriter, and composer. On 18 February 2012, President of Haiti Michel Martelly, alongside the Minister of Tourism, Stéphanie Villedrouin & the

Haitian Carnival Haitian Carnival ( ht, Kanaval, french: link=no, Carnaval) is a celebration held over several weeks each year leading up to Mardi Gras. ''Haitian Defile Kanaval'' is the Haitian Creole name of the main annual Mardi Gras carnival held in Port-au-P ...

Committee gave Perry a ''Gold Disk Plaque'' for his song ''Dekole'' (

Haitian Creole Haitian Creole (; ht, kreyòl ayisyen, links=no, ; french: créole haïtien, links=no, ), commonly referred to as simply ''Creole'', or ''Kreyòl'' in the Creole language, is a French-based creole language spoken by 10–12million people wor ...

to mean, ''"take off"'') which inspired the theme of the 2012 Carnival.

Early life

J. Perry grew up in

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is define ...

. He started to play music when he was six years old. Before he had learned musical notes, Perry would already have played back the songs of which he heard. His mother, quickly put him in

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

lessons that he would take after school to further his musical talents. He had the opportunity to play in several concerts, recitals, contests, a Dominican

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

at the age of eleven, and continued to play

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

until thirteen.

Music career

In June 2009, Perry decided to focus on completing his debut album. While working with the CEO and owner, Carl Fred Behrmann of Baoli Records, Perry has been songwriting and producing for many different artists in Haiti. Baoli Records have been pushing Perry in his own music career. After releasing his first single, “Starin at your body”, J.Perry and Baoli Records became in contact with the multi-hit producer Power Surge of XO Management, to produce the debut album with them. This producing company is known for songs such as “Look What I Did” of

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...

Mosley Music Group Mosley Music Group (MMG) is a record label founded and formed by producer Tim "Timbaland" Mosley. Founded in 2006, the imprint is distributed exclusively by Interscope Records and Def Jam Recordings. History The label was created after Timbala ...

( Timbaland) & Konvict Music’s ( Akon & T-Pain) artist

Billy Blue William Blue (c. 1767 – 7 May 1834) was an Australian convict who, after completing his sentence, became a boatman providing one of the first services to take people across Sydney Harbour. He was also made a water bailiff and watched boat tr ...

featuring Brisco of Cash Money Records (

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman (rapper), ...

) & Trick Daddy of Poe Boy Music Group (

Rick Ross William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper. Prior to releasing his debut single, "Hustlin'", in 2006, Ross was the subject of a bidding war, receiving offers from Sean Combs, D ...

) for

DJ Khaled Khaled Mohammed Khaled (born November 26, 1975), known professionally as DJ Khaled, is an American DJ, record executive, record producer and rapper. Khaled first gained recognition as a radio host in the 1990s on the radio station WEDR, 99 Ja ...

’s album “Live from the 305”, and also “Do it” from Jamaican artist, Shifta, featuring chart topping superstar

Flo Rida Tramar Lacel Dillard (born September 16, 1979), better known by his stage name Flo Rida (, ), is an American rapper and singer. His 2007 breakout single " Low" was number one for 10 weeks in the United States and broke the record for digital dow ...

. “Starin at your Body” was remixed with a hit artist “Black Dada” (known for his hit song I’m a Zoe). “One life to live”, Perry's debut album was released in Haiti on November 2011 distributed online through

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

Rhapsody Rhapsody may refer to: * A work of epic poetry, or part of one, that is suitable for recitation at one time ** Rhapsode, a classical Greek professional performer of epic poetry Computer software * Rhapsody (online music service), an online m ...

and others. His first song on the album ''Dekole”'' took Haiti by storm. It was aired a total of 765 times in one week on local Haitian radio stations, with a never seen before airplay. The song was awarded hit song of the year and was chosen as the 2012 "theme song" for the

. The 2012 Haitian national Carnival is named ''“Ayiti ap Dekole”'', inspired by this song. The song even hit Brazilian airwaves via Claudia Leitte, one of the most popular Axé singers in Brazil in which a remix was made with her featuring Perry.

Life story

J. Perry has had "Dekole" as a featured track on the Zumba® MegaMix 33 album, and "Bouje" ( ht, move) on the Zumba® Incredible Results infomercial. By being included in the MegaMix, Miami star

Pitbull Pit bull is a term used in the United States for a type of dog descended from bulldogs and terriers, while in other countries such as the United Kingdom the term is used as an abbreviation of the American Pit Bull Terrier breed. The term was f ...

has launched him into Pepsi commercials.

World Cup 2014

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

had picked the Brazilian interpretation of "Dekole" by Claudia Leitte & J. Perry for their 2014 World Cup Broadcasts.

Discography

* ''One Life To Live'' (2011) * ''Kiyès Ou Ye'' (2017)

Singles

*''Starin At Your Body'' -2011 *''Dekole'' ft. Izolan & Shabba -2011 *''Holding On'' -2011 *''Yeux Dans Les Yeux'' ft. Niskkaa -2011 *''Plane'' -2012 *''Enjoy'' -2012 *''Let It Be'' -2012 (Prod. by

Michael Brun Michael Brun (born 19 May 1992) is a Haitian DJ and record producer based in New York, known for blending electronic music with traditional Haitian styles such as kompa and rara. He released his debut EP ''Gravity'' in 2013 and founded the recor ...

) *''Bouje'' -2013 *''Prezidan'' -2013 *''Konsey -2015

References

External links

(''Video'': President of Haiti Michel Martelly gives J. Perry a Gold Disk Award for Dekole with Minister of Tourism Stephanie Villedrouin Balmir)

(''Video'': Brazilian Remix of the Popular Dekole by Claudia Leitte ft. J. Perry - Alfredo Vasconcelos 2013) {{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, J. 1988 births Living people 21st-century Haitian male singers Musicians from Port-au-Prince