While the Underdogs, Troop's Steve Russell, and Wyclef Jean all contributed to Lyfe Change, a number four Billboard 200 hit upon arrival in April 2008, it was driven most by 'Never Never Land,' a number 18 R&B/hip-hop single that Jennings wrote and produced himself. Jennings sought more production collaborators as he made his third LP. The single and its parent release were both certified gold by the end of the year. It pushed The Phoenix, issued in August 2006, to the top of the Billboard 200. A ballad regarding sexual pressures placed on teenage girls, 'S.E.X.' topped the R&B/hip-hop chart and became Jennings' second Top 40 hit. While these collaborations were no doubt arranged to broaden the singer's appeal to rap listeners - the debut contained no guest verses - it was a duet with another singer, LaLa Brown, that was most successful. The likes of Three 6 Mafia, Project Pat, and Young Buck were matched with Jennings for The Phoenix. Titled in part after his inmate number, the self-produced album reached number 39 on the Billboard 200, peaked on the R&B/hip-hop chart at number seven, and spawned three charting singles, including the platinum, Top 40 pop hit 'Must Be Nice.' Jennings' personal narratives were epitomized with 'Greedy,' on which he sang of being wanted by police for child support he couldn't pay. The Harlem theater's notoriously unsparing crowd preemptively jeered Jennings as he strode to the mike with his acoustic guitar, but the performer's natural grit and sincerity won them over for a five-night reign, during which he sold copies of his demo and generated interest across the music industry.Ĭourted by numerous labels, he signed with Columbia, and in August 2004 made his proper debut with Lyfe 268-192. Within a few weeks of his release in 2002, Jennings cut a demo, made his live debut, and competed at Amateur Night at the Apollo. During his term, he worked on writing and playing music, inspired especially as a songwriter by Erykah Badu's Baduizm. An arson conviction sent him to prison for a decade.

His third LP of the 2010s, 777 (2019), was promised to be his final statement.Ī native of Toledo, Ohio, Lyfe Jennings - born Chester Jermaine Jennings - was in his church's choir as a youngster, and by his early teens, he was singing in a family group called the Dotsons.

Since achieving takeoff at Harlem's Apollo Theater, Jennings has hit the upper reaches of the R&B/hip-hop chart every two or three years with albums such as Lyfe 268-192 (2004), the gold-certified The Phoenix (2006), and Lyfe Change (2008). An R&B outlier, Lyfe Jennings has set himself apart as a self-produced singer and guitarist who balances love songs with acute societal observations, wisdom regarding day-to-day life and romance, and unflinching reflections on his personal struggles.

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