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KJ-52 (born Jonah Sorrentino, June 26, 1975) is a Christian rapper, best known for two songs addressed to another rapper, Eminem. "KJ" is an abbreviation of his previous hip hop alias, "King J Mack," which he now deems "cheesy." "52" (pronounced "five-two") represents the miracle of the five loaves and two fish as told in the Bible. KJ-52 desires to give his gifts and talents in much the same way the boy gave his food to Jesus in the story.

Biography

Raised in Tampa, Florida, KJ-52 was the product of a broken home, and eventually found himself mixed up in drugs and alcohol. He began writing rap songs at twelve years old, and at fifteen KJ became a born again Christian. While a teenager, KJ began working in youth ministry at a Florida inner-city church. He also recorded a demo, but it was largely ignored. It wasn't until KJ met a young, likeminded rapper named Golden Child, the two formed the Sons of Intellect and began performing throughout Florida. Soon Golden Child moved on and the Sons dissolved. But that brief bit of success in Christian rap had whetted KJ's appetite, and in the summer of 1998 he stepped down from his youth minister position to pursue his Christian rap dream full-time. KJ-52 and many others would still consider him to be in the field of youth ministry, however, as the main consumers of rap/hip-hop music would fall into the category of "youth". KJ fills a significant portion of his songs with messages intended for the current generation of youth, addressing a multitude of issues regarding the church, and Christians in general.

A relationship with Gotee Records' Todd Collins led to a deal with Nashville CCM label Essential, who released 7th Avenue, in April 2000. The LP featured collaborations with the Cross Movement and Knowdaverbs.

In 2002, KJ-52 released his second album, Collaborations. The album's title referred to the numerous contributions made to the album by guest artists, including Ill Harmonics, Pillar, and Thousand Foot Krutch. Collaborations also represented KJ-52's first nominated for a Dove Award, for "Rap/Hip Hop/Dance Album of the Year" in 2003. The most controversial track on the record was entitled "Dear Slim". The track presented an open letter to Eminem, in a similar style to Eminem's song, "Stan". "Dear Slim" was premiered on the MTV countdown show Total Request Live, but was cut short, as is common for the show. The cutting short of the song upset KJ-52 and his fans by portraying the song as an open attack on Eminem. According to KJ-52, the song was not intended to be controversial or as an open "diss" on Eminem. His song "Dear Slim Part 2", which was included on his next solo project, It's Pronounced Five Two, addresses these issues. He has inspired such artists as Nij Ha and popular christian rapper Ezra.

KJ has won two Dove Awards, both in the "Rap/Hip Hop Album of the Year" category. He took both the 2004 award for It’s Pronounced Five Two and the 2006 award for Behind the Musik.

In 2005, KJ was number 26 on the hip hop Charts, VH1 featured him on 40 Least Hip Hop Moments, KJ responded with another rap song. The original segment, and KJ's tongue-in-cheek response, can be viewed on Youtube.

In 2006, KJ was featured in a Breakaway magazine article in which he talked about his ministry and his relationship with Golden Child.

KJ-52 was also in the revolve tour, a concert tour for young Christian girls.

Discography

• 7th Avenue (2000, Essential)
• Collaborations (2002, Uprok)
• Peace of Mind (2003, Uprok) – identified as self-titled group project rather than a KJ-52 album
• It's Pronounced Five Two (2003, Uprok)
• 7th Avenue (2004, Essential) – re-release
• Soul Purpose (2004, BEC)
• Behind the Musik (A Boy Named Jonah) (2005, BEC)
• KJ-52 Remixed (2006, BEC)
• The Yearbook (2007, BEC)

Trivia

This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. Please relocate any relevant information into other sections or articles.

• KJ-52 music is featured in the Christian video game Dance Praise via Dance Praise Expansion Pack Volume 2: Rap/Hip-Hop. The songs included are "Are You Real?", "Jesus" (from Remixed), "Jesus" (from Behind the Musik), and "Video Games".
• An excerpt from the song "Thank You" (from Behind the Musik) was played after the fourth commercial break of the now famous episode of Live! with Regis and Kelly featuring Clay Aiken as the co-host. This episode aired on Friday November 17, 2006.
• KJ-52 wrote a song dedicated as a biography for him, called Behind the Musik

Notes and references

1. "Nominees for the 34th Annual Dove Awards". Published by the Gospel Music Association. Retrieved Jan 22, 2007.
2. Dove Award Recipients for Rap/Hip Hop Album. Published by the Gospel Music Association. Retrieved Jan 22, 2007.
3. "kj52 40 least hip hop moments". Available through Youtube. Retrieved Jan 22, 2007.

External links

• KJ-52 Official Website
• KJ-52 Exclusive Interview with Rapzilla.com
• KJ-52 Interview with ThoughtQuotient.com
• KJ-52 Remixed Album Review
• KJ-52 The Yearbook Album Review

• KJ-52 Myspace Page

• 1975 births
• Living people
• American rappers
• American Christians
• Performers of Christian music
• Christian rappers
• People from Tampa
• Freestyle rappers
• Rappers known by pseudonyms
• Christian hip hop musicians
• Rhythmic contemporary musicians
• American film actors
• American dancers
• American hip hop producers
• Grammy Award winners