Lyfe Jennings

Lyfe Jennings
Lyfe Jennings performing "Cry" live at Howard Theatre
Background information
Birth name	Chester Jermaine Jennings
Born	(1978-06-03) June 3, 1978[1][2][3]
Origin	Toledo, Ohio, United States
Genres	R&B, soul
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter, record producer, instrumentalist
Instruments	guitar, bass, piano
Years active	2003–present
Labels	Sony Music Entertainment, RED Warner Bros. Records, Asylum Records, eOne Music
Associated acts	Bone Thugs-n-Harmony Bun B
Website	http://www.lyfeonline.com

Lyfe Jennings (born Chester Jermaine Jennings on June 3, 1978) is a platinum-selling American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, record producer, and instrumentalist. He plays the guitar, bass, and piano which he integrates into his music. The New York Times referred to him as a "socially minded R&B singer".^[4]

Bio

Lyfe Jennings was Born on June 3, 1978 in Toledo Ohio.He grew up in a working class family and was the middle of five kids. He first began singing in church. His love for music led him to join a group that included two of his cousins and his older brother. After splitting, Lyfe continued his interest in music. As stated in the songs "Ghetto Superman" and "More Than A Girl" from The Phoenix, Lyfe lost his father at a young age. When he was a teenager, Lyfe Jennings started to perform as at that time he belonged to the group called “The Dotsons”. In this band, he was joined by his brother and two cousins. In the beginning of the 90s, however, the band decided to stop performing. It was also the time when he began to get into trouble and his career in music was stopped because of the fact that he was sent to prison at age 14^[5]. After being released from prison in 2002 after serving 10 years he continued on to due music. Two days after his December 2002 release from prison, he recorded a four-song demo CD. The day after that, he was performing live in a club. He had only a month of freedom before he was on-stage at the famous Apollo. He was booed when he walked on-stage with an acoustic guitar, but when the Apollo audience heard his gritty falsetto and lyrical songwriting, they were swayed to the tune of five amateur-night victories in a row. Lyfe figured sold 1,000 copies of his four-song demo CD during his Apollo "residency." That, along with a ton of calls from promoters and record label execs on his answering machine back in Ohio, influenced Lyfe to move to New York City and pursue a major-label deal. Columbia Records had the right offer and released his debut, Lyfe 268-192 was released in August 2004. A year after its original release, the album was reissued with a new version of "Hypothetically," featuring American Idol winner Fantasia added as a bonus track. The more hip-hop-oriented follow-up The Phoenix arrived in August 2006, with Three 6 Mafia and Young Buck making guest appearances. Lyfe Change released in April 2008, featured a handful of new production associates as well as a verse from T.I. Jennings. Lyfe moved to Warner Bros. and began working on another album, tentatively titled Sooner or Later, which he stated would be his last. It finally appeared in August 2010 as I Still Believe and featured guest spots from Bryan-Michael Cox, Warryn Campbell, Fabolous, Bobby Valentino, Ludacris, Anthony Hamilton, and Jazmine Sullivan. He did another prison stint for his actions in a 2008 domestic dispute and returned to music in October 2013 with Lucid, released on the Mass Appeal label. Like all of his previous studio releases, it peaked in the Top 10 of Billboard's R&B chart. Tree of Lyfe, recorded primarily in his home studio, followed in June 2015.^{[6][7] [8]}

Tree of Lyfe

On his new album, Tree of Lyfe, Lyfe Jennings describes it as his most personal work to date and produced the majority of the album at his home studio in Greenwood, Mississippi . When asked about his current musical mindset, Lyfe Jennings response is one of reflection and experience, “Everybody feels like they have to reinvent themselves. I don’t think you can reinvent the truth. It is what it is. I’m not focused on reinvention. I want to go deeper. This album reaffirms the reasons why people started loving this music in the first place.”^[9][10]

Personal life

In 1992 At the age of 14, lyfe and a group of friends traveled to a house on Nebraska Avenue to seek revenge against a rival drug dealer who was competing for business with a member of the group. One of the men threw a firebomb inside the house, which killed a 25-year-old mother of six. The men later learned that they had struck the wrong target. Jennings' lawyer said Jennings had no role in the fire-bombing and his client went to the site thinking the men were only going to vandalize the target's car. Still, he was found guilty of arson and served 10 years in prison. ^[11]

The numbers "268-192" attached to the end of his debut album represent the identification number he was given while incarcerated. Then Lyfe appeared on Showtime at the Apollo.^[4]

With his former-manager and ex fiancé, Associate Producer Joy Bounds^[12][13] Jennings has two sons, Phoenix Jennings (19 April 2005) and Elijah Jennings (24 December 2006).^[14]

He has a daughter Liyah Jennings (born October 2008) with ex-girlfriend Early Childhood Educator Anita Priestley.^[15][16]

Jennings has a son with ex-girlfriend, Actress Stuntwoman Marquita Goings, Lyfe Michael Jennings, born February 2011.^[17][18]

His youngest son, Knoah Mendoza born January 2016, with ex-girlfriend, Model India Mendoza.

According to the Marietta Daily Journal, in October 2008 after arguing with Joy Bounds he followed her to her family's house in Smyrna, Georgia. There he broke down the door, fired shots in the street, and then led police on a 90 mph chase that ended when he crashed his 2005 Corvette. In September 2010 he was sentenced to three and a half years after he pleaded guilty to multiple charges arising from the incident.^[19][20]

Discography

Studio albums

• 2004: Lyfe 268-192
• 2006: The Phoenix
• 2008: Lyfe Change
• 2010: I Still Believe
• 2013: Lucid
• 2015: Tree of Lyfe

Singles

• 2004: "Stick Up Kid"
• 2005: "Must Be Nice" (Produced by Lyfe Jennings)
• 2006: "Hypothetically" (featuring Erin)
• 2006: "S.E.X." (featuring La La Brown)
• 2006: "Let's Stay Together" (Produced by Lyfe Jennings)
• 2008: "Cops Up"
• 2008: "Never Never Land" (Produced by Lyfe Jennings)
• 2008: "Will I Ever" (Produced by Lyfe Jennings)
• 2009: "Haters got it all effd up"
• 2009: "Work" (featuring Fabolous)
• 2009: "If I Knew Then"
• 2010: "Busy"
• 2010: "Statistics" (Produced by T-Minus)
• 2013" "Boomerang" (Produced by G2G and LaShaunda Carr)
• 2015: "Pretty Is" (Produced by Shaun "ShaunnyMac" Williamson)
• 2015: "Gold" (Produced by Lyfe Jennings)