Prince Ital Joe was born in the
Commonwealth of Dominica, and moved to
Brooklyn, New York, at the age of 13 with his parents in 1976. After completing high school, Joe moved to California to pursue his dreams of acting and entertainment. Before getting into the music business, Joe worked for over ten years performing at private Hollywood parties and clubs and from 1988 to 1990 as a concert promoter in the Caribbean for acts like
Ziggy Marley. In 1993, he teamed up with rapper
Marky Mark and released two albums 1994's
Life in the Streets and 1995's
The Remix Album. After
The Remix album, the duo split up with Joe signing with
Death Row Records. He appeared on several Death Row releases including
Tha Dogg Pound's
Dogg Food,
2Pac's (under his "Makaveli" moniker)
The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory and
Daz Dillinger's
Retaliation, Revenge & Get Back, most notably providing vocals on 2Pac's hit "
Hail Mary." A solo album was in the works at Death Row, with Joe recording songs with
Snoop Doggy Dogg,
Nate Dogg,
Yo-Yo,
Coolio and
K-Ci among others for the project, but the album was shelved following 2Pac's death and label head
Suge Knight's subsequent arrest. ==Personal life==