- Kamaiyah Jamesha Johnson is an Oakland-born rapper who found fame with her first released mixtape in 2016
- Despite her successful career, Kamaiyah has had clashes with the law that led to many arrests
- Kamaiyah has managed to move beyond the arrests to concentrate on her career while founding her own record label, GRND.WRK in 2020
Kamaiyah Jamesha Johnson, 32, is an American rapper and a record label owner. Her childhood was affected by the harsh conditions of living in the ghetto, yet, she survived this to pursue a childhood dream of becoming a great rapper. She found critical acclaim upon the release of her debut mixed tape, A Good Night in the Ghetto (2016).
In spite of the fame that she has garnered and her collaboration with numerous stars she has Drake, Kamaiyah has been involved in crimes that are related to firearms.
The 32-Year-Old Rapper Had a Troubling Childhood and Lived in a Foster Home
Kamaiyah Jamesha Johnson was born on March 13 1992 in Oakland, California but grew up in Sacramento, California. She was raised in hardship in the ghetto.
Her parents were not stable as she had a father who was addicted to crack and was going in and out of jail. Her mother on the other hand was abusive.
As a child, she had to move between foster homes with her two older brothers.
Things turned better for her and her siblings when her grandmother, took them in to live in a two-bedroom apartment. This marked another beginning for the young Kamaiyah. As it is, she started having an interest in music in those early years.
The 32-year-old had her high school education in her neighborhood. It is unclear if she attended college as she launched a musical career at an early age.
All That Led to Kamaiyah’s Arrests
Kamaiyah Got Arrested For Refusing to Remove her Headpiece at The Airport
Back in 2018, just two years after releasing her acclaimed mixtape, the rapper was arrested at the airport for refusing to remove her headgear. She had set off an alarm at the checkpoint in Bradley airport en route to Connecticut. As it is, this aroused the suspicion of the TSA agents who demanded she takes off her headgear.
Kamaiyah refused the demand, this eventually led to her being handcuffed and led out of the airport. She was also requested to pay a fine of $5,000 for breaching the peace and interfering with police work.
She was Also Arrested for Firing a Loaded Gun Indoors
Her next shove with the law was in 2019. kamaiyah was arrested for firing a gun while at the indoor screening of a movie.
On the said day, she fired the gun while in the company of 7 other friends at an apartment complex in San Fernando valley where a movie screening was going on. Following this turn of events, the police and management of the facility used the footage from the cameras to determine who the culprit was.
It took the authority some weeks before they arrested her. At the time she was apprehended, the rapper was found with a handgun which was linked to the weapon shot on the night of the movie screening.
Though the police concluded that it was an unintentional discharge since she did not have a motive, she was charged with negligent discharge of a firearm, a felony that cost her a $35,000 bond.
Kamaiyah Jamesha Johnson was Arrested for Carrying a Firearm at an Airport
Looking at her history of clashes with the law and arrests, the 32-year-old added to her many instances. On August 31, she was once more caught with a loaded gun at the airport while trying to board a plane from Burbank to Oakland.
According to the reports, Kamaiyah was found with a loaded 380 automatic semi-automatic pistol inside her purse. While this is not the first time the rapper is arrested for possession, it brings up an earlier case of shooting indoors which occurred back in 2019.
Questions have been coming up as to why she associates herself with guns. It is also noted that Kamaiyah noticeably posed with two guns on the cover of her album, Divine Timing.
Other Fascinating Facts About the Rapper
1. kamaiyah Started Rapping at the Age of 7
She had an early start in her career when she started writing raps at the age of 7. The experiences of her childhood, such as growing up and realizing that her father was a cocaine addict and the murder of a High School friend, Ronald Hall in 2006 stayed with her for the rest of her life. This experience affected her work as she would later write lyrics that do not promote drug use.
Also, she was also impressed by another rapper, Lil Bow Wow (Bow Wow) after seeing his video That My Name featuring Snoop Dogg.
Apparently, Bow Wow started rapping at the age of 6 and released his first album, Beware of the Dog(2000) when he was only 13. His career and success for someone so young influenced Kamaiyah greatly as she felt that since another young person was doing it, she could also do it.
2. She Worked as a Security Guard Before Her Musical Breakthrough
Prior to her being a celebrated rapper, Kamaiyah worked as a security guard to sponsor her music career.
Over time, she realized that the pay from her security job was not enough to afford her rent and studio time. As such, she took up two more security jobs to make up for it.
Over time, she was discovered by her manager Francois Wiley on Twitter and soon enough he set up a meeting with her.
Having grown up in Oakland, he traced her during thanksgiving when he went to see his family. Soon enough, he invited her to Los Angeles for recording.
3. Kamaiyah Jamesha Johnson Formed The Big Money Gang
Long before she had a solo breakthrough, she was a member of the local group known as the Big Money Gang. The group was made up of rising rappers Joe Banguh, HottBoy Zay, and Baybee.
One of their earliest releases, All I Think About( 2013) laid the foundation for the rising performers. The music video was appealing to many and led to thousands of views on YouTube.
While this early work came before she went solo, it helped to hone her craft before her eventual solo career.
4. The Rapper’s Debut Mixtape Marked her Music Breakthrough
Kamaiyah’s first mixtape, A Good Night in the Ghetto which was released in 2016 led to her breakthrough. Prior to this, she had released a single, How Does it Feel in 2015.
Moving on, the mixtape made it to the top of many charts. Pitchfork placed it at no.47 of 50 Best Albums of 2016 while Complex placed it at no.21. Unlike the two online music publications, Rolling stone placed it at no.17 of 40 Best Albums of 2016.
Probably drawing from the success of A Good Night in the Ghetto, she made a 17-minute documentary that shares the same title to talk about her life.
Moreso, it introduced her to a large audience. She was featured in Yg’s Why You Always Hatin? alongside award-winning Canadian rapper, Drake. This made her name known among other west coast rappers alongside others like MC Hammer and Too $hort, whom she sees as an uncle, to mention a few.
Moving on, she got recognized by the American magazine XXL in its top ten 2017 Freshman Class.
5. She Left a Major Record Label to Start Her Own Independent Label, GRND.WRK
Following the success of her early work, kamaiyah signed to Interscope in 2016. While with the label, her mix tape, Don’t Ever Get It Twisted got shelved due to clearance issues. This would mark the beginning of issues with Interscope. Not long after, she self-released her Before I Wake in 2017 with the label.
However, the west coast rapper left the label to go independent following another rescheduling conflict on her proposed Something To Ride To. This will mark the end as she left shortly after.
She formed her own label, GRND.WRK in 2020. In her own words, she chose that path to get more liberty and freedom to do as she wants. Also, the Oakland-born rapper was not comfortable with how record labels only step in after an artist starts blowing big.
As per this line of reasoning, she felt that staying independent is also of benefit to an artist’s finances. As it is, her breakaway has proven to be quite productive as she released her third mixed tape, Got It Made (2020). She followed after with another mixtape, Oakland Nights in September 2020.
Accordingly, the ownership of her own record label has allowed her to own the masters of her music. This means that she has more control over the production and release of her material.
6. She Wrote a Song in Honor of Her Close Friend
The loss of one of her close friends who is identified as James De’Andre Burks touched the rapper deeply. She and James had been friends since the third or fourth grade. As a result, she honored him in her music. She passed the message in her For My Dog, the last track of her EP.
She revealed that James suffered from cancer and it affected her so much that she could not feel. While he is gone, the Oakland star keeps his memory in her music.
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7. Kamaiyah Jamesha Johnson Net Worth
The rapper is estimated to have a net worth of over $300 thousand. While this may be the usual report given about celebrity wealth, she has not verified or refuted the estimation.
However, she may have more of this amount considering the success of her musical career. So far, she has added to her source of income by starting her own record label. It is estimated that record labels make about 15% to 65% of the royalties from the master of artists’ music. Be that as it may, she will likely make money from other artists that the label will sign in the future.
Despite the money she may have gathered, the artist has also lost some fortune due to her arrests. She has spent a total fine of $40,000 thousand.
Kamaiyah Jamesha Johnson, a female rapper in an industry dominated by men, may have to work very hard to stay relevant in the industry. As it is, her numerous arrests make her add to the crime rates among black rappers. Since most of them later had successful careers despite their clashes with the law, she may also still have a successful career. Other rappers who moved beyond their arrests include Snoop Dog, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, and Lil Kim to mention a few.
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