American rapper and singer (born 1973)
Amil Kahala Whitehead (born September 19, 1973) is an American former rapper and singer.[1] Based in New York City, she signed to Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records label imprint in 1997. The following year, she appeared alongside Ja Rule on his single "Can I Get A..." for the Rush Hour film soundtrack.
Amil's debut studio album, All Money Is Legal (2000), peaked at number 45 on the US Billboard 200 chart and spawned two singles, "I Got That" (featuring Beyoncé) and "4 da Fam" (featuring Jay-Z, Memphis Bleek and Beanie Sigel). The album, released in a joint venture with Columbia Records, saw generally mixed reception and Amil would subsequently leave both labels shortly after.[citation needed]
Early life
Amil was born on September 19, 1973, in New York City, to a white mother and a black father. Amil's parents abandoned her at an early age, and she was then adopted and raised by her aunt. As a teenager, Amil gave birth to a son, with her then boyfriend Kendall Morgan. Amil's aunt and adoptive mother died in 1994. A year later, Morgan was killed in a stabbing incident and Amil started dealing drugs to financially support herself.[1] During this time, she used music as an emotional outlet.
Career
In 1997, Amil was a member of Major Coins, an all-female group. The group met Jay-Z, who was looking for a woman to provide vocals on his third album, Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life. Jay-Z asked Amil to freestyle and liked it, and selected her for the role.[2]
When Major Coins broke up, Amil decided to follow a solo career with Jay-Z's label, Roc-A-Fella Records, and joined the 1999 Hard Knock Life Tour. After the tour, she appeared on songs with Mariah Carey, Beyoncé, Jermaine Dupri, AZ, DJ Kay Slay, LL Cool J, and Funkmaster Flex.[3][4]
She has appeared on Jay-Z songs such as "Nigga What, Nigga Who", "Can I Get A...", "Do It Again (Put Ya Hands Up)", "S Carter", "You, Me, Him and Her", and "Pop 4 Roc".[5] In August 2000, Amil released her debut solo album, All Money Is Legal. The album featured the single "I Got That", a duet with Beyoncé,[6] and All-Star Roc-A-Fella single "4 Da Fam". The album also featured Jay-Z, Memphis Bleek, Carl Thomas, Eve, and Beanie Sigel.
Album sales were disappointing, and the singles did not sell well either. Following that album, her last Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam single, "Hey Papi", a song from the soundtrack to the feature film Nutty Professor II: The Klumps, was released. In 2002, Amil had a small role in State Property.[7]
In 2005, Amil temporarily re-formed "Major Coinz" and released songs on the mixtape circuit including the single "Glamorous Life" which was featured on MTV's Mixtape Monday.[8]
In 2008, Amil released mixtapes titled Az Iz and Amil Returns: The Lost Classics Edition, delivering lyrically with songs such as the emotional "Tears of a Teenage Mother" and the Caribbean vibed "Don't Worry".[9][10]
Amil released the song "Stop" in July 2012. The song was intended to promote the rapper's unreleased mixtape, A Time to Kill.[11][12] Amil released the song "Remember" in 2014. It was also intended to promote a mixtape titled Another Moment in Life, which remains unreleased.[13]
