Montell Jordan

Montell Jordan was born in 1968 in Los Angeles, California. He attended Pepperdine University in California where he received a bachelor's degree in communication and joined Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity. He spent seven years looking for a record deal when he finally got an opportunity through Paul Stewart, president of PMP Records. Stewart brought Jordan to New York and had him sing for Russel Simmons who signed him immediately.

Jordan was the first R&B artist signed to Def Jam and was a key component of its Def Soul imprint. His first single was released in 1995 and was the hit 'This Is How We Do It.' The track had a strong hip hop tie-in, as did its follow-up, 'Somethin' 4 Da Honeyz.' When the album was released in 1995, it quickly went platinum, as did the single 'This Is How We Do It.'

In 1996, Jordan released the follow-up album, More.... The album went gold, scoring hits with 'Falling' which reached #18 on the Hot 100 and 'What's On Tonight' which reached #21 on the Hot 100.

1998 saw Jordan's third solo release with Let'S Ride. The album went gold, driven by the success of the title track which topped the R&B charts and went platinum. The album scored a second hit with the single 'I Can Do That' which reached #14 on the Hot 100 and went gold.

Continuing his success, Jordan did well with Get It On... Tonite which went gold. The title track of the album continued the trend of past successes, reaching #4 on the Hot 100 and topping the R&B charts.

Unfortunately, Jordan lived in the shadow of 'This Is How We Do It' throughout his career and found himself filling his albums with commercial tracks that were designed to sell records and not to be true to himself. In 2002, Jordan released a self-titled album that stated in the liner that it would break away from the norm and show the true Montell Jordan. The album shined true by avoiding the pop-rap that had been ocmmon in the past and by eliminating big-name collaborations.

Jordan left Def Soul after Montell Jordan, upset that the label had constantly tried to recreate the success of 'This Is How We Do It' and wouldn't let Jordan put out his best work. He felt that his efforts to express himself with his previous release were stifled by Def Soul's refusal to support it and so he broke away. He released the album Life After Def in 2003, with the name expressing the two's departure.

It has been stated that Jordan has a new album gearing up to be released.