Johnnie Valentine Newt (born July 9, 1979) is an American R&B singer and songwriter from San Francisco, California. He is known for his work with R&B singer Tank, and served as a member of his production group Song Dynasty.
J. Valentine | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Johnnie Valentine Newt |
| Born | July 9, 1979 San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Labels | CityBoyz |
| Website | www.jvalentine.com |
Newt was credited with songwriting work on Tank's singles "When We" and "Emergency", while his credits for other artists include Tyrese's "I Like Them Girls", the title track of NSYNC's album Celebrity (2001),[1] Mario's "How Could You," and Omarion's "I'm Tryna".[2][3] He guest performed on Tupac Shakur's posthumous albums, Still I Rise (1999) and Until the End of Time (2001).
Early life
editValentine was born in The Fillmore District of San Francisco, California. As a kid, J. and his brothers would go down to Fisherman's Wharf where they were street performers. J. attended Balboa High School, where he played varsity basketball all four years of high school and AAU along with the likes of NBA players Drew Gooden and Deshawn Stevenson. J. was also seen in Keyshia Cole's debut video "I Changed My Mind" as her love interest. He also worked on her 2010 album Calling All Hearts as a producer and songwriter. Valentine is of African-American and Chinese ancestry. His father was African-American and his mother was Chinese-American.
Musical career
editWhen Valentine was 9 years old, he and his brothers formed the band The Newtrons. In 2009, he founded the CityBoyZ Muzik label and signed hip-hop artist Bailey, and subsequently released the song “Go Dumb” which was originally a record from his Hide Ya Breezy mixtape.
Valentine's 2011 album The Testimony featured artists Keri Hilson, Twista, Gucci Mane and LeToya Luckett. The album accumulated over 17 thousand records sold and reached the iTunes top 10 for R&B/Soul.[citation needed] Valentine recorded “My Girl” with Chris Brown for In My Zone 2.
Valentine's production company, Song Dynasty, includes his brother Bobby Newt, his friend Texx and R&B singer Tank. The team has written and produced songs for artists such as Jamie Foxx, Keyshia Cole and Ron Isley. In 2014, they produced Now or Never, Tank's first Atlantic Records project. The album's second single, “Emergency,” held the number 5 spot on the Billboard music charts. They wrote the song “Regret” for R&B singer LeToya Luckett featuring Ludacris, which also peaked at #78 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and #8 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.[4]
Valentine scored his first #1 single on the R&B charts with Tank in 2022, with the successful single "Slow".[5] The duet song is from Tank's tenth album release, R&B Money.
Valentine and Tank are the hosts of a weekly podcast called R&B Money Podcast, where the two discuss R&B music and other topics with some of the genre's current stars and its greatest legends.[6]
Additionally, Valentine also works as Tank's manager.
Discography
editAlbums
edit| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| The Testimony[7] |
|
Mixtape
edit| Title | Mixtape details |
|---|---|
| Hide Ya Breezy[8] |
|
| Love & Other Drugs[9] |
|
References
edit- ^ Cantin, Paul. "celebrity". Jam.canoe.ca. Archived from the original on January 1, 2013. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Song Dynasty Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & Mor". AllMusic.
- ^ "J. Valentine Working On New EP, Releases '4U' Music Video". Vibe Magazine. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
- ^ Newt, Johnnie. "About". J. valentine. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
- ^ Tank and J. Valentine’s ‘Slow’ Reaches No. 1 at R&B Radio
- ^ Tank Launches R&B Money Podcast With His Manager J. Valentine
- ^ "The Testimony by J. Valentine". Itunes.apple.com. 15 February 2011. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
- ^ "Hide Ya Breezy by Bailey & J. Valentine". Itunes.apple.com. 11 January 2011. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
- ^ "Love & Other Drugs". Hotnewhiphop.com. Retrieved 3 October 2018.