Joell Ortiz

Real Name: Joell Ortiz
D.O.B.: July 6th, 1980 Brooklyn, New York

Label: Koch Entertainment

Joell Ortiz is of Colombian and Puerto Rican descent born outta BK, New York. At the age of 17, Ortiz made the decision to pass on both an academic and basketball scholarship to stay in Brooklyn to take care of his mother who was, at the time, using drugs. He is Puerto Rican and hails from Cooper Park Houses. He was featured in the “Unsigned Hype” column of the March 2004 issue of The Source and was also selected as Chairman’s Choice in XXL. During the same time Ortiz also went on to win the 2004 EA Sports Battle which earned his song “Mean Business” a spot on the NBA Live 2005 soundtrack.[citation needed] The same year he was offered a contract to Jermaine Dupri’s So So Def label. The deal quickly soured, resulting in bad blood between Ortiz and Dupri. In 2007 he signed to Dr. Dre’s Aftermath record label. Joell has since collaborated with KRS-One and Kool G. Rap.

Music Career

Though signed to Aftermath, Ortiz released an album titled, The Brick (Bodega Chronicles), April 24, 2007 on Koch Records. The Brick features production by Showbiz and The Alchemist, among others. Guest artists include Big Daddy Kane, Styles P, Big Noyd, Akon, Immortal Technique, Grafh, and Ras Kass. Ortiz parted ways with Aftermath Records on April 15, 2008. According to Ortiz, he asked to be released from his contract because when he asked for a release date for his album he was informed that Eminem, 50, and Dre had to drop before he did. Joell Ortiz in 2008 has said that he is dropping an album on Koch Records called The Free Agent. He has released a couple of songs from the album like Good Times, Memories, and Can’t You Tell?. Ortiz has made guest appearances on different projects and songs by Statik Selektah, Smif-N-Wessun, Termanology, Butta Verses, J the S, D.O.E., Jay Rock, Duo Live, and Joe Budden. Joell Ortiz has joined(Joe Budden, Royce Da 5’9”, Crooked I) as a hip hop super group under the name Slaughterhouse. The group has said after the solo albums come out they will try to put something out as a group. Joell Ortiz is rumoured to make an appearance on Royce Da 5’9”s album Street Hop alongside the other members of Slaughterhouse.

Discography

  • 2007 The Brick (Bodega Chronicles)
  • 2009 Free Agent (unreleased)

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