Montell Jordan

Montell Jordan is an American R&B singer-songwriter and record producer. Jordan became the main solo male artist on its Def Soul imprint until leaving the label in 2003. In 2010, Jordan left the music business to become the worship leader at Victory World Church in Norcross, Georgia.

Jordan attended Pepperdine University in California, where he earned a bachelor's degree in communications and became a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity in Spring of 1989. Jordan graduated in 1991 and is a life member of Kappa Alpha Psi.

Jordan's first single was the 1995 #1 hit "This Is How We Do It," which sampled Slick Rick's earlier Def Jam hit "Children's Story". This success would not happen for a male act again until Chris Brown's debut single "Run It!" topped the chart in 2005. Jordan followed up his success with "Somethin' 4 Da Honeyz", which peaked at #21. Later hits would include "Let's Ride" with Master P and "Talk Show" with Shae Jones in 1998 and "Get It on Tonite" in 1999.

Besides crafting his own material, Jordan has written and produced for other artists, including Christina Milian, 98 Degrees, Shae Jones, Deborah Cox ("Nobody's Supposed to Be Here," 1998), and Sisqó (the number-one hit "Incomplete," 2000). The singer appears in the film The Fighting Temptations as "Mr. Johnson", an angry convict who is very sensitive about his high-pitched voice. He also had a cameo appearance in The Nutty Professor, and he performed on the documentary Standing in the Shadows of Motown. In 2003 Jordan left Def Soul and released the album Life After Def on Koch Records and also appeared on the album of popular Croatian singer Nina Badrić in duet "Ne dam te nikom" ("I'm Not Giving You to Anyone").

Jordan's song "This Is How We Do It" is used as the opening theme to Howie Mandel's hidden camera show, Howie Do It. In 2009, the song was used in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia during Season 5, Episode #8 ("Paddy's Pub: Home of the Original Kitten Mittens"). In January 2012, "This Is How We Do It" was used in commercials for Jackson-Hewitt Tax Service. The song has also been used in Pepsi commercials and the movie This Means War starring Reese Witherspoon. The song also states his unusually tall height of 6'8".

Jordan is now a born-again Christian and can be seen at Victory World Church in Atlanta, Georgia, where he lives and worships with the church team called Victory World Music. In late 2010, Jordan announced that he was officially leaving his music career behind to become a Worship Minister at Victory World Church.

In early 2011, Jordan wrote a Christian album featuring the song "Shake Heaven", with Beckah Shae.

Montell Jordan. (2013, January 7). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 13:36, January 10, 2013, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Montell_Jordan&oldid=531727342