KJ-52
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Jonah Kirsten Sorrentino (born June 26, 1975), better known by his stage name KJ-52, is a Christian rapper from
Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...
. The "KJ" part of his name refers to his old rap alias, "King J. Mac",
a name which he later described in one of his podcasts as "horribly cheesy". "52", which is pronounced "five two", not "fifty-two", is a reference to the Biblical story of
Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...
feeding the multitude with five loaves and two fish, which is also sung about in his song "Push Up" from ''The Yearbook'' and in the "KJ Five Two" on ''It's Pronounced Five Two''. He was awarded the Rap/Hip Hop Recorded Song of the Year for "Never Look Away" and Rap/Hip Hop Album of the Year at the GMA Dove Awards of 2007. On July 28, 2009, KJ-52 released "End of My Rope", which is the first single for his album ''Five-Two Television''.


Works

In 2002, Sorrentino released his second album, '' Collaborations''. The album's title referred to the numerous contributions made to the album by guest artists, including Pillar, John Reuben and Thousand Foot Krutch. ''Collaborations'' also represented his first nomination for a Dove Award, for "Rap/Hip Hop/Dance Album of the Year" in 2003.Nominees for the 34th Annual Dove Awards
. Published by the Gospel Music Association. Retrieved January 22, 2007.
KJ-52 has won four Dove Awards, three in the "Rap/Hip Hop Album of the Year" category. He took the 2004 award for ''It’s Pronounced Five Two'', the 2006 award for '' Behind the Musik (A Boy Named Jonah)'', and the 2007 award for ''Remixed''. Dove Award Recipients fo
Rap/Hip Hop Album
Published by the Gospel Music Association. Retrieved January 22, 2007.
He received an additional honor in 2007, for "Never Look Away" from ''Behind the Musik'', in the "Rap/Hip Hop Recorded Song" category.38th Annual Dove Award Recipients
. Published by the Gospel Music Association. Retrieved April 26, 2007.
KJ never tried out for ''
American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...
'','Behind the Musik' with KJ-52
. Published by CBN News Retrieved May 27, 2007.
but suggested such in his song "Fivetweezy". In October 2008, he released his album, ''The Yearbook: The Missing Pages'', a re-release of his album, ''The Yearbook''. It comes with the original record with a slip over cover that has a code to download the 13 songs. 2009 Dove Awards Another productive year for KJ-52 as he was awarded with "Rap/Hip Hop Song of the Year" for "Do Yo Thang"; The Yearbook; KJ-52; Jonah Sorrentino; BEC Recordings/Uprok In 2009, he released "Five-Two Television", an album covering a variety of themes and rap styles. It is his first album in which autotune is used, a controversial step among his fans. The album brings us the (fictitious) story of Chris Carlino, a man who has ruined his life, through a series of interludes. As usual for KJ-52, the album includes both songs with a strong Christian message and songs that are meant only to entertain. KJ-52 also rapped in the Newsboys cover of " Jesus Freak". KJ-52 also rapped in the tobyMac remix of the song "One World" on the album ''Hip-Hope'' which also includes the KJ-52 remixed song "What You Want". KJ-52 released ''Dangerous'' on April 3, 2012. It mixes hip hop album with quite a bit of synth, and has some pop-electric. The first released single, "Dangerous", is more light rock-pop. The second single is called "Shake Em Up", but is commonly spelled "Shakem Up". It features guest artists such as Canton Jones on "It's Goin Down", Lecrae on "They Like Me", Thi'sl on "Shake Em Up", George Moss on "Do the Bill Cosby", and more. His final track, "Go", is a remake of the Hillsong United song with the same name. In 2017, KJ-52 released his first independent album ''Jonah''. The project was over 200% funded through Pledge Music. Following the release of the album, KJ-52 began working on an independent documentary about his life with filmmaker Denver Bailey. The film went on to raise 125% of the goal through kickstarter. The film was released alongside KJ-52's second independent album titled "Jonah Pt. 2" on February 15, 2018. In 2019, KJ-52 released ''What Happened Was'', a joint album with CHH producer and 2019 Rapzilla Freshman, PoetiCS. The album features Xay Hill, Jodie Jermaine, Mitch Darrell, V. Rose, Dre Murray, and Dru Bex. The project was coupled with KJ's first book, also titled ''What Happened Was''. Both the album and the book were over 170% funded through Kickstarter. On November 5, 2019, KJ-52 announced that he would be retiring from music after the release of his next album. As of January 6, 2020, he joined the pastoral staff of Christian Life Fellowship in Cape Coral, Florida. He has been married since June 1996. They have three children.


Eminem and "Dear Slim" controversy

Christian sources often compared KJ-52 to
Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, he is credited with popula ...
, with many calling him a "Christian counterpart". One of the most notable mainstream reactions to the Christian hip hop scene was to KJ-52 and his single "Dear Slim", which was written to Eminem in an attempt to reach him with the message of the gospel. The song became famous and controversial among Eminem fans when it was featured on the hit show ''
Total Request Live ''Total Request Live'' (commonly abbreviated as ''TRL'') is an American television program that premiered on MTV on September 14, 1998. The early version of ''TRL'' featured popular music videos played during its countdown and was also used as ...
''. KJ-52 began to receive hate mail (including death threats) from Eminem's fans, though KJ-52 claimed that the song was not being disrespectful. The artist addressed it in a follow-up song titled "Dear Slim Pt. 2".


Discography


Side projects and other releases

* '' Peace of Mind's'' self-titled album (2003, BEC) * ''Soul Purpose'' with T.C. (Todd Collins) (2004, BEC) * '' KJ-52 Remixed'' (2006, BEC) * ''The Office Prequel Mixtape'' (2009) * Guest rap on " Jesus Freak" for the Newsboys' 2010 album '' Born Again''


Charts


Singles


Guest appearances

*Jeremiah Dirt – ''Plague'' – "Good Medison" (1998) *Urban D. – ''The Missin' Element'' – "The Spittin' Spot" (1999) *Urban D. – ''The Tranzlation'' – "We Go Together Like" (2001) *Pillar - ''Fireproof'' - "Stay Up" (2002) *Bobby Bishop – ''Government Name'' – "Change the Game" (2005) *Zoegirl - ''With All Of My Heart'' - Mix of Life (2007) * tobyMac – ''Hip Hope Hits 2009'' – "One World (Liquid Remix)" (2009) *R-Swift – ''Anthem'' – "Flava of Forever" (2009) * Newsboys – '' Born Again'' – " Jesus Freak" (2010) *Sean Slaughter – ''The Prototype'' – "I'm Gone" (2010) *big AL – ''The Balancing Act'' – "Lookin' @ Us" (2011) *muzeONE – ''Cold War'' – "Lights On" (2011) *Research – ''Cerca Trova'' – "The Struggle" (2011) *Jai – ''Culture Shock'' – "Incredible (Remix)" (2011) * The Ambassador – ''Stop the Funeral'' – "Your Love" (2011) *Canton Jones – ''The Live Experience'' – "I Am (Live)" (2012) *E Tizz – ''What I Gotta Say'' – "I'm Tellin' 'Em All" (2012) * Rawsrvnt – ''Love Deluxe'' – "Jesus Jam" (2012) *Emcee One – ''Introducing Again for the First Time'' – "Introducing Again for the First Time" (2012) *Viktory – ''R4 (Relentless 4ever)'' – "God Is Amazing" (2012) *George Moss – ''It’s Time'' – "Ridin' Windows Up" (2012) * Lincoln Brewster – ''Joy to the World (A Christmas Collection)'' – " Little Drummer Boy" (2012) *For a Season – ''Lion Hearted – EP'' – "Let It Out" (2013) *V. Rose – ''Electro-Pop (Deluxe)'' – "Turn Up Your Light" (2013) *Turnaround – ''Anxious'' – "Ghost Town" (2018)


Awards

GMA Dove Awards


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kj-52 American performers of Christian music Record producers from Florida BEC Recordings artists Gotee Records artists Living people American performers of Christian hip-hop Rappers from Florida 1975 births Musicians from Tampa, Florida 21st-century American rappers