Mila J

Mila J
Birth name Jamila Akiko Aba Chilombo[1]
Also known as Mila J, Japallonia, Karate ChopHer, Heika
Born (1982-11-18) November 18, 1982[2][3]
Los Angeles, California, United States[4]
Genres R&B, Hip-Hop
Occupation(s) Singer, Songwriter, Dancer
Instruments Vocals
Years active 1995–Present
Labels TUG, Silent Partner, Motown
Associated acts Ty Dolla Sign, IMx, Jhené Aiko, Tinashe, Brandy, MýaJodeci
Website www.projectmilaj.com

Jamila Akiko Aba Chilombo (born November 18, 1982), known as Mila J, is an American singer, songwriter, and dancer. She is known for being in Prince's video for "Diamonds and Pearls," and appeared on tracks by RaRa, IMx, Trey Songz and Omarion. She released several singles in 2006–2009 under the name "Mila J," and then went on a hiatus for a number of years before returning as "Japallonia" in 2012 and then reverting to her stage name as Mila J.

She is currently signed to Motown, and released her debut EP entitled M.I.L.A., which stands for Made in Los Angeles on October 14, 2014. Currently, she's working on her debut full-length LP due to be released Summer 2016.

Early life

Jamila was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Christina Yamamoto[1] and Dr. Karamo Chilombo (né Gregory Wycliff Barnes), a pediatrician. Her parents later divorced.[5] Her sister is singer Jhené Aiko.[6][7]

Music career

Career beginnings

At a young age, Jamila was part of a dance group and first came to the attention of Chris Stokes as a dancer in Prince's "Diamonds and Pearls" video in 1991. She and her sister Miyoko were in the R&B group Gyrl, managed by Stokes and toured with Immature, who were signed to MCA/Silas Records.

The "Gyrl" group was formed by Jamila, Miyoko and Paulette Maxwell. When they were backup dancers for Immature, the name of group was Innocence. Like dancers, they appeared in the videos "Da Munchies", "Constantly", "Constantly" (the remix version), and "I Don't Mind". In 1995, Gyrl released their debut single, "Play Another Slow Jam" on Silas Records, which peaked at #74 on Billboard's Hot R&B Singles chart, staying on the chart for 6 weeks, but missed the Hot 100. After the debut single "Play Another Slow Jam" in 1995, Paulette left the group.[3]

In 1997, Jeanae' Briley and Tai-Amber Hoo joined Gyrl, released the single "Get Your Groove On", that was in the movie B*A*P*S which peaked at #91 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #30 on Billboard's Hot R&B Singles chart, staying on the chart for 14 weeks, becoming their highest chart appearance to date. After that the group was solved.[3]

In 2005, she was also a member of the girl group Dame Four, with Tomasina Parrot, Tennille Mathis & Mercedes Nelson, who released a single "How We Roll". Dame Four split up not long after releasing their radio single in late 2005.

In the early 2000s Mila took a hiatus from the music industry, commenting on this Mila said due to being in a variety of girl groups, she did not know who she was as an "artist," during her hiatus Mila said she avoided Quid pro quo and discovered her artistry saying "I definitely think I was able to take that time off and really figure out who I was as a solo artist and what I wanted to talk about, what I wanted to address, be myself, basically. It was a break because I was in the industry for a minute."[8]

2006–2013: Split Personality debut

After appearing on tracks by RaRa, IMx, and Omarion, Jamila was set to release a 2006 solo album "Split Personality" under the name Mila J but was shelved.[9] Her single "Good Lookin Out" entered Billboard Radio Monitor's R&B/Hip-Hop chart at No. 37 and also at No. 64 on the Hot R&B/Hip hop songs chart. The album featured a number of appearances from artists on the T.U.G. roster and its associates, including Marques Houston, Young Rome, Rufus Blaq, and The Underdogs. She performed two songs, "Complete" and "I'm Mi" from the unreleased album during Showtime at the Apollo.

In 2012 Jamila redefined herself by changing her name and appearance from the soft feminine Mila J to the rough-around-the-edges Japallonia. She released a mixtape for free download through DatPiff, supported by a music video, "Blinded."[10] Following Mila J's 2012 Internet success with her highly popular mixtape, which received more than 700,000 downloads, she released her "Movin On" music video with VEVO and giving away the single for free on her website and VEVO page.

2014–present: Return to Music, M.I.L.A & Full-Length LP

Main article: M.I.L.A.

Now once again billing herself as Mila J, she released her first single called "Smoke, Drink, Break-Up" with the music video premiering on BET's 106 & Park. The single has peaked at #33 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart. On May 28, she performed the song at BET's 106 & Park. After the lead single release, she was featured on Trey Songz's Trigga for their song, "Disrespectful" and several other projects. She was currently working on an album entitled M.I.L.A., which stands for Made In Los Angeles.[11] She stated that the album will have a 1990s vibe to it and contains a lot of relationship-based songs such as "Pain in My Heart" and "Times Like These". B.o.B, Ty Dolla Sign, Problem are some of the features mentioned on this project. On August 27, she premiered the lyric video of her second single, "My Main" produced by DJ Mustard and features Ty Dolla $ign on her YouTube channel.[12]

In 2015, Mila was featured on Jodeci's album "The Past, The Present, The Future" with a track titled "Body Parts". Mila collaborated with duo, BC KINGDOM for their joint-EP entitled, "PRESS START" where she finds her voice experimenting on different sounds, unlike her previous work. Her stage name was changed to MILA, at that short period of time. Critics reviewed the EP as "melancholically dark and edgy" and calling it a "Summer's love jam" for the fans. On June 10, she reverted her stage name back to Mila J and premiered a new single, "FreakNic", of her upcoming untitled debut full-length LP. She released her second mixtape on November 12, 2015 titled, "The Waiting Game".[13]

Influences

Mila has cited Janet Jackson as her main inspiration. She went on to say "I just love how she entertains," said Mila of the pop icon. "You go to her shows, she’s gon’ have a million dancers—lights, camera, action. It was just cool to see a female dancing and singing."[11] Mýa and Brandy are also huge inspirations to Mila.

Discography

Main article: Mila J discography

References

External links

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