J.I the Prince of N.Y

Charismatic rapper J.I the Prince of N.Y harnessed an aptitude for social media platforms to build recognition for himself and his recordings while still a teenager. His appearance on Jermaine Dupri’s reality series The Rap Game paved the way for the 2019 arrival of mixtapes Hood Life Krisis, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, which showcased an unforced assurance alongside pop-friendly beats. Vol. 3 followed in late 2020 and registered on the Billboard 200. In 2022 he launched a new sequence titled Young & Restless, Vol. 1 Baby Don.

Born Justin Irvin Rivera in 2001, J.I started rapping by age 11 and regularly uploaded freestyles to multiple social platforms. Drawing from East Coast figures such as Nas and Jay-Z, he cultivated an approach that balanced aspirations of pop superstardom with street credibility. At 15 he committed fully to his music by entering the 2016 season of The Rap Game. Although victory eluded him, the resulting exposure launched his career. His first single, “No Static,” surfaced in 2016, and its video later amassed tens of millions of streams. The three-song EP Barely Famous appeared the next year.

With a massive social media audience behind him, J.I signed to G*Starr, an Interscope Records subsidiary, in 2019 and delivered the mixtape Hood Life Krisis, Vol. 1. Its standout track, “Need Me,” rose to the Top Ten of Billboard’s Heatseekers chart before attaining gold certification. The single’s success also carried the project onto Billboard charts, where it reached number nine on the Heatseekers list in 2022. December 2019 brought Hood Life Krisis, Vol. 2. The EP Welcome to GStarr, Vol. 1, containing the singles “Spanglish” with Myke Towers and “Painless” with Lil Durk, arrived in July 2020. Later that year, December saw the release of Hood Life Krisis, Vol. 3; featuring A Boogie wit da Hoodie, the project became his first to appear on the Billboard 200. Singles issued the following year, including “Morning” and “Taken for Granted,” both surfaced on his June 2022 mixtape Young & Restless, Vol. 1 Baby Don.