Kokane

Jerry B. Long Jr, better known by his stage name Kokane, was born on 10th March 1969 in Bronx, New York City. Only a few months later his family moved to California where he grew up, spending much time in his father’s studio, who is the popular Motown writer/composer Jerry B. Long Sr. Finally in the mid-1980’s Kokane began his career as vocalist, at a time when rap first appeared in Los Angeles. In the late 1980’s, around the time when his cousin Cold 187um’s rap crew Above The Law was signed in to Ruthless Records to release their debut Livin' Like Hustlers, Kokane got the chance to present some of his musical work to the label’s owner and executive producer Eazy-E, who decided to sign him in. In 1991 Kokane had his first appearance on the “Prelude” of N.W.A’s last album EFIL4ZAGGIN and also released his debut album Addictive Hip Hop Muzick. Because parent label Epic considered Kokane’s stage name debatable, the album and introducing single “Nickel Slick Nigga” were released under the alias Who Am I. Finally in 1994 he released probably his best-known album Funk Upon A Rhyme, showing the world that he’s not simply another rapper but also a great chanter, who can even do a bit of ragga. At that time Relativity was the parent label who allowed his stage name Kokane, although on some versions of the album’s promo singles it is spelled K.O.Kane. As a result of Eazy-E’s unexpected death in 1995, Kokane left the label to sign in to Street Life Records, where he released the nonchalant single “4 Ryders Only” and appeared on the song “4 Tha E” off of Yella’s compilation album dedicated to Eazy-E. Finally, in 1997 Kokane was a free agent. Since then he had a lot of guest appearances on songs by artists from all over the world. For example on Dr. Dre’s 2001, Puff Daddy’s Bad Boy compilation album, he collaborated with Snoop on his album Tha Last Meal and supported Snoop’s rap group Tha Eastsidaz. In 2010 Kokane released the first album on his own independent record label Bud E. Boy Entertainment. Today he lives with his wife Alicia and his 8 children in the Los Angeles area. While his son Naj does the design on Bud E. Boy Ent, his daughter Aanisah started a career as a singer.

Related performers: Corey Feldman , Canibus & Bronze Nazareth , Big Tray Deee , JoJo Pellegrino

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