Charyse Lois Marshall (born August 8, 1978), better known by the stage name Mahogany Jones, is an American inspirational female

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

, singer, songwriter, community activist, and arts educator with InsideOut Literary Arts. Born in Mt. Vernon, New York, United States, she later moved to California as a child, then back to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

before deciding to permanently reside in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

in 2004. She is most noted for her appearance on

BET Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched ...

's ''

106 & Park ''106 & Park'' is an American hip hop and R&B music video show, set up in a countdown format, that was broadcast on weekdays at 6:00 pm ET/5:00 pm CT on BET; it aired on a one-day delay on BET International. It was the network's highest- rated ...

Freestyle Friday ''106 & Park'' is an American hip hop and R&B music video show, set up in a countdown format, that was broadcast on weekdays at 6:00 pm ET/5:00 pm CT on BET; it aired on a one-day delay on BET International. It was the network's highest- rated ...

s as the first four-time undefeated champion in 2001. She is also known around the world as a Hip-hop Ambassador having served as a cultural ambassador with American Music Abroad and other programs under the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...

Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the United States Department of State fosters mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries around the world. It is responsible for the Un ...

in 2012 and 2013.

Freestyle Friday

The test of her skills as an emcee and her rise to notoriety came when Toni Blackman suggested that Mahogany Jones compete in a rap battle on the cable network

's program ''

'' in a new segment known as

. Prior to Jones, there had been no female rappers that managed to compete without losing. Feeling the pressure, Mahogany made a bargain with God before appearing on the show to use her new emcee skills to glorify him if he allowed her to win. To everyone's amazement, but her own, she won her battle, not once, but four times in a row. However, to uphold her promise to God, Jones stepped away from the competition leaving the show as the only four time undefeated champion and first undefeated female champion.

Music ambassador

January 2012, at the behest of her mentor, Toni Blackman, Mahogany Jones applied for American Music Abroad, a

cultural diplomacy Cultural diplomacy is a type of soft power that includes the "exchange of ideas, information, art, language and other aspects of culture among nations and their peoples in order to foster mutual understanding". The purpose of cultural diplomac ...

program built on the legacy of the

Jazz Ambassadors Jazz ambassadors is the name often given to jazz musicians who were sponsored by the US State Department to tour Eastern Europe, the Middle East, central and southern Asia and Africa as part of cultural diplomacy initiatives to promote Culture of ...

program and facilitated by American Voices on behalf of the U.S.

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

. Jones assembled a four-person ensemble called Mahogany Jones- Live with Lauren "L Boog" Johnson on percussion, Rosalyn Welch as background vocalist, DJ Sean Blu, who is a

Pepsi Pepsi is a Carbonated water, carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long ...

DJ, and herself as the headliner and main vocalist. The group was one of 12 ensembles selected out of nearly 300 applicants to travel abroad and represent the nation. Mahogany Jones-Live performed in Washington, D.C. as part of their tour before flying to Africa to perform in

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

, and

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. While there, Jones taught workshops with local artists, headlined the Amaka Arts Festival in Zambia, appeared on radio shows, performed for students as Livingstone-Kolobeng College and

National University of Rwanda The National University of Rwanda (NUR; , , UNR) was the largest university in Rwanda. It was located at in the city of Butare and was established in 1963 by the government in cooperation with the Congregation of the Dominicans from the Provin ...

, as well as for dignitaries and Vice President of Zambia and his family. In 2013, American Voices asked Jones to serve as a performer - instructor with their Y.E.S. Academy in Iraq, Jones taught hip-hop theater and emceeing classes alongside

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

performer, Michael Parks and break dancer, Cricket. The academy was located in the

Kurdistan Kurdistan (, ; ), or Greater Kurdistan, is a roughly defined geo- cultural region in West Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, languages, and national identity have historically been based. G ...

region of Iraq, however Mahogany also performed at the U.S. Embassy in

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

, Iraq during the trip.

Discography

Albums

* ''Morphed (2008)'' * ''Pure, Vol. 1 (2014)'' * ''Sugar Water (2016)'' * Floating (2020)

Compilations

* ''Bridge Wars'' (Queensbridge Records) 2011

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Mahogany Living people 1978 births 21st-century American rappers