Playhouse Music "First Look" @ J. Xavier

J. Xavier

J Xavier’s Biography

Occasionally, a teen comes along who wows us with an insanely mature grasp on music, and an almost shocking confidence and coolness, J Xavier isn’t that one, he sort of blows that person out of the water.

At just 18, the Houston native’s become a prodigal son of hip hop and is poised to be the next under-20 superstar, having racked up a list of accomplishments that take most people an entire lifetime to accumulate.  J Xavier has performed live more than 300 times, he has developed his own TV show  “YGTV” (Young Generation TV) which is now featured on KTBU Houston’s 55, and has conducted more than 150 television interviews with everyone from Chris Brown, Lil’ Wayne, Nick Cannon, Yao Ming,  Kobe Bryant and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee to name a few.

A local hit in Houston, his track “I’m a Rider” earned him the Best Song of the Year in 2003 while his charismatic stage performance and talent earned him Best Stage Performer of the Year in 2004 and Rap Artist of the Year in 2005 at the Houston Holy Hip-Hop Awards.   He has also recorded a song titled “Lord, What The Hook Gon’ Be” with Bishop T.D. Jakes for MegaFest.

After winning America’s Most Talented Kids Show contest in August of 2004—at the age of 12—J Xavier started working with a Music World Music producer, and, by coincidence, found himself giving an impromptu performance at a company party held in Houston a few years ago. “When J started performing, he caught everybody’s eye, and [CEO/founder] Mathew [Knowles] comes up to me and says, “I need to talk to you. This kid has talent,” Sam recalls.

In 2005, Knowles signed the young rapper to a co-management deal. “When I first saw him,” says Knowles, “I saw a twinkle in his eye that I haven’t seen in any other performer besides Beyonce—J Xavier is a star.”   He completed his debut album, Young Prince of tha South, which was released December 2006 by Noo Day Entertainment through Mathew Knowles’ Music World Music.  Says J, “With this album, I want everybody to say, ‘This kid is hot, he’s clean and positive, he has the lyrics and he is truly the Young Prince of the South!’”  While cutting the tracks for Young Prince of tha South, J Xavier utilized aspiring Houston producers. The disc also features guest appearances by hometown heroes Mike Jones and Lil KeKe, a track featuring Houston rap history icon Hawk and a hot collaboration with the legendary George Clinton. The album’s first single, “I Love My Music” hit radio at the end of July 2007.

J Xavier made his debut on the Pink Panther CD sampler, a CD that was bundled with the movie’s DVD release at Wal-Mart stores. He was the only artist on the sampler not signed to Sony Records. He then popped up on the Bring It On: All or Nothing Wal Mart sampler. Wal Mart is such a strong supporter of J Xavier’s that he is featured in their back to school commercial campaign.

He recorded an anthem for Houston Rocket Yao Ming, “Yao Ming Wants the Dunk” with the legendary funk hero George Clinton, (which J translated himself into Mandarin Chinese, Ming’s native language), and he’s also honored fellow NBA stars Steve Francis and Tracey McGrady with their own theme music, as well as penning rhymes for the Houston Comets, the Houston Texans and the Houston Astros.  J  Xavier was invited by the host committee of the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics to promote the “Yao Ming Wants The Dunk” song on several stages as he prepares to release the music digitally and visually on cell phones with a global marketing campaign.

As if rapping isn’t enough, J Xavier also has some serious acting skills. He has a role in MTV films’ “My Super Sweet 16 The Movie” with Aly and AJ where he plays 14-year-old Randy.  This original movie aired on MTV in late summer of 2007.  He is also in the feature film entitled A Good Man is Hard to Find featuring Mary Mary and Deborah Cox.

J Xavier also received the Texas Gospel Excellence Award, which was followed by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee of Houston saluting not only his talent, but his positive outlook on life; in early 2004, she appointed J Xavier a National Black Caucus Youth spokesperson. (He’s also since become a spokesperson for the World Youth Foundation Anti-Tobacco Campaign and Youth AIDs / 8^th Wonder of the World and has recently received a proclamation from Mayor Bill White for HIV/AIDS work and is currently working as a youth spokesperson with MADD and the CDC (Center for Disease Control) for adolescents and teens.

Both former mayors of Houston, Lee Brown and Bill White presented this young phenom with proclamations marking, Feb. 18^th as “J. Xavier Day”.   As he’s racked up awards and recognition, his songs have run the gamut: He wrote a track encouraging people 18 and older to get out and vote—a track that was used as a vehicle to teach youth the voting process. 

Active in the community, J Xavier is a Global Youth AIDS Ambassador and has partnered with the organization FAWN (Fighting Aids with Nutrition), which provides vitamin supplements to adults and children with AIDS. He is also actively involved as a spokesperson on Scholastic.com for their PSA program that encourages young adults to read. J. Xavier recently signed on to become the youth spokesperson for Prepared 4 Life’s national Lemonade Day event, which teaches education, responsibility, and entrepreneurship for youth across America.  His latest accomplishment was participating in a multi-arts performance at the Xiang Yun Theatre in Beijing Olympic Park during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Further proof of his rising star: At the last BET awards, he sat in the front row, making an appearance on the red carpet, and he was recently tapped (for the second time!) by Chris Brown to open the chart-topping R&B star’s summer tour. What’s more, J Xavier has got mad love for the church! The son of a pastor, he preaches positivity, is anti-drugs and anti-violence and urges young adults to get out and vote! J Xavier has big plans to not only make himself stand out from his music industry peers, but also to become a voice for his generation. Advocating fans to stay focused, stay in school, listen to their parents and say no to sex, drugs and violence.

J Xavier comes from a family of musical children. One of five, his older brother plays trumpet and one of his sister’s wrote a song on Whitney Houston’s last album. His father, Samuel Harris Jr., founder and pastor of The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ in Houston, and mother Lynette Harris raised J Xavier in the church, which the young star calls “his foundation” and he has been a part of helping those with broken lives.

The seeds of J Xavier’s career were planted at the age of seven when he delivered a powerful version of R. Kelly’s “I Believe I Can Fly” during a school talent show. “When he sang the song, I couldn’t stop crying. It really broke me down,” says his dad. At age nine, J Xavier caught the ear of a member of his father’s congregation while playing drums at church. He was invited to cut some demos, and while doing so, he not only fell in love with it, but garnered some serious recognition.

Of his positive message, J says, “I’m raised that way, and I want to come in the game and have people say J Xavier is not just talking loud and saying nothing but he’s backing it up.”

 “All of my music is clean and positive, but it’s still hittin’ on the level with artists like T.I. and Kanye West,” says J Xavier. “When I get onstage, the energy from the crowd is crazy and I have that energy, and together it’s like, ‘Wow! This is what I was born to do!’

“I just want to make a difference in the music industry,” he says. “I just want to stand out and be different.”  “You can be anything you want to be, do anything you want to do,” he says. “Go with what you feel is right for you and keep God first, because without him we’re nothing.”

J. Xavier has recently penned a song for the 2010 Great American Cleanup Campaign, a green initiative which goes hand in hand with another effort that he’s involve with to help build 1000 green homes in Haiti for disaster relief.  He is presently working on his sophomore project titled “Youngest In Charge” and preparing for a national tour called “Get On Tha Bus Tour” bringing awareness to HIV/AIDS, Violence, Drugs, Teen Pregnancy, Teen Drop-outs, and Illiteracy. The tour is scheduled to go into 30 cities, starting in Houston, Texas.  Be on the look out for two film projects featuring J Xavier titled “The Drum” & “The Last African Prince”, and lastly he is scheduled to shoot a screen test for his own show on “The Disney Channel”.  This young artist is poised to blow!