Jay-J

There are at least two artists with this name. 1. Jay-J, born in Hamme Belgium on November 20th 1984 as Gwen Dhanis, has always been passionate about music. However, in his teens Jay-J never imagined that he could become a musician, the world of glamour and fame felt unreachable for him. So thru out high school Jay-J decided to focus on his second passion, becoming a chef. After learning the ropes, Jay-J graduated from high school in 2003. Jay-J immediately started to work in a Belgium restaurant and worked day and night to become a chef. Still Jay-J wanted to learn different cuisines and he decided to move to Italy, there he even won an award for his cooking. A few years later Jay-J got an offer to become a chef in France, world famous for his haute cuisine. After his time in France Jay-J decided to come back to Belgium to work in a friends’ restaurant. Shortly afterwards, inspired by his friend, Jay-J entered a Belgian Beauty competition called Mister Vlaanderen. During this competition though Jay-J realized that this wasn't really his thing, but it gave him the chance to perform again as a singer on stage. Jay-J re found his first passion, music, and he started to practice it again in his free time. Being inspired by great artists like Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, Ne-Yo, Justin Timberlake and many more, Jay-J listened carefully how he could learn from them. It was about the same time that Absolute P management and Mtv Belgium aired a commercial for the new reality show 'The Project’, looking for a new and hot R&B star. This would be Jay-J's chance to try making it in the music business. But The Project wasn't only a singing competition; it was a very hard learning process in becoming a real artist. After a business trip to Konvict Muzik (Akon's label) organized by manager Muls Peter, it became very clear that Jay-J would become the winner of The Project. Jay-J stood out during The Project’, not only as a great singer but also as a great person that never gives up and someone that has the mentality to make it , megastar Akon himself congratulated Jay-J on his excellent mentality and talent . In March 2009 Jay-J signed his first ever record and management deal, and on June 12th 2009 Jay-J released his first single Body to Body , including a great big budget video Jay-J also recorded his first album , set for release in October 2009. 2. Undoubtedly a legend in House Music. Spanning a career with over 150 releases, he’s won a Grammy® nomination, had his own Coke® bottle for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, DJ’d the 2006 MTV® AVMAs and launched two comp series for Defected. Jay-J’s syndicated radio show, “Live From…”, allows fans to “join him live from” his gigs worldwide, showcasing the latest tracks from his signature, Funky House/West Coast sound. As a producer, you’ll see his name on the biggest releases from Moulton Studios, OM, Naked Music and Defected. He’s remixed artists from Jill Scott to Joss Stone and has collaborated with producers from Kaskade to Miguel Migs. On his new label, Shifted Music (www.shiftedmusic.com), you’ll find releases by Jay-J as well as some of the best talent he’s discovered while sharing his passion for House Music around the globe. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.