Jones was born in
Dallas, Texas. His father worked as a preacher. As an
Oak Cliff native, Jones started rapping in the early 1980s at the age of 10 and competed in
rap battles on the local circuit. In the early 1990s, Jones and former
Dallas Cowboys player,
Kevin Smith, formed their first record label called Puppy Dog Unlimited Records. Tha Realest got married on July 7, 2011.
Death Row Records Jones began his association with Death Row Records in March 1996 when he auditioned for Tupac Shakur in
Las Vegas. Following Shakur's death in September 1996,
Suge Knight offered Jones a contract with the label. after working on
Suge Knight Represents: Chronic 2000, Tha Realest sustained relatively serious injuries to the foot, having been shot in a
drive-by shooting after leaving the studio in which he had just finished recording a song with Tha Dogg Pound (
Kurupt and
Daz Dillinger).
After Death Row Records Following Suge Knight's release from prison, Tha Realest left Death Row Records in late 2001 to pursue a record deal in order to release his debut album, for which he had recorded approximately 150 songs. Tha Realest was signed to
Tru 'Dat' Entertainment in 2006, a company founded by Hysear Randell to seek and recruit talented individuals in film, music, fashion and sports. The
music video for his debut single, "Eurry Now and Then" was released shortly thereafter. It features cameo appearances by
C-Bo,
Yukmouth, Nutt-So, Young Hogg, Big C-Style and
Ray J. In 2007, Hysear was accused of
embezzling millions of dollars' worth of tax payers money through
fraudulent money transfers. Tru 'Dat' Entertainment was subsequently forced to discontinue the label. On July 14, 2009, Tha Realest released his album
Witness Tha Realest, which had been delayed substantially due to the demise of Tru 'Dat' Entertainment. It was distributed by
E1 Music via RBC Records and Team Dime Entertainment. Tha Realest made the following comment about the album:
Witness Tha Realest Mixtape, was released in November 2006 which consisted of some leftovers from the original
Witness Tha Realest studio album scheduled for release on July 15, 2004. This, however, changed due to the absence of a distribution company.
Films Tha Realest, like many other rappers such as
G-Unit and
Ice-T, has appeared in several hip-hop themed
pornographic productions including a few alongside other rappers such as
Snoop Dogg who, himself, has produced
several pornographic films. His main productions are titled
Tha Realest #1 and
#2 and feature original music by Tha Realest and many popular
pornographic actresses such as Mika Tan, Lyla Lei and Brooke Haven. The films were produced by Antiqua Pictures and Fatt Entertainment. The Realest also appeared in a
low-budget film titled
Slumber Party which was released in 2005 and also featured several former Death Row Records performers such as Daz Dillinger and
Crooked I. ==Discography==