Survivor of hurricane Katrina, Jaha, a courageous fem fetal arrives directly from the Dirty South steppin fresh off the battle field of New Orleans. Katrina's 175mph wind blows, Jaha, your way-- the first of a new breed of hard-edged teenage female emcees to hit the hip-hop scene in a long time.
She follows in the tradition of MC Lyte, Queen Latifah, Da Brat, Lauryn Hill, and Missy Elliott. Jaha, born Megan Ratleff in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1988, is nurtured in a hip-hop infused household, with her parents having a strong foundation in hip-hop culture her path is wide open. It doesn't hurt either, that her mom is an emcee herself, always supportive of her daughters interest in rhyming.
At age 11, Jaha recorded her first verse on her mother, Nabii Bastet's, debut cd which gave her inspiration to continue to pursue her new found lyrical skills. Meanwhile she was also given the opportunity to be home schooled at the humble beginnings of "Kuumba Academy" an independent African based school of young warriors started by her parents 10 yrs ago, which incorporates hip-hop culture into its curriculum. Jaha proudly serves amongst Kuumba's first official high school graduating class.
Wasting no time Jaha free-styled her way through several competitions never intimidated. Jaha served as a 5x time champion on BET 106 and Park's Freestyle Friday, being the youngest MC ever to win. As a young woman, beating men twice her age, she holds the titles from the "Battle South 2002-2003", MIC Check 2004, and the infamous battles at New Orleans prominent underground hotspot "The Hanger". She is a living legend for her work on the mic and equally feared, respected, and loved by emcees alike. As Jaha's love for hip-hop grew, within the "Big Easy" so did her fans.
Jaha's drive has become contagious. Everyone who comes in contact with her wants to help her succeed. During the 2005 Essence Music Festival Talib Kweli was compelled to highlight her on stage, during a set, after hearing her free-style back stage among industry on-lookers. Jaha has also blessed the mic with Chris Brown, The Roots, Dead Prez, David Banner, Nelly, Doug E. Fresh, Slick Rick, and recorded with Umar Bin Hassan from the legendary Last Poets on her debut mix tape "The BlackJack Move".
"Welcome to JAHA" the Top 10 Remixtape Vol II has just been released May 2006. Jaha has taken the top ten industry tracks and has claimed ownership. From the Busta Rhymes Remix of "Touch It" to the Christina Milian Remix of "Say JAHA" to the Chamillionaire remix "From tha Durty", JAHA has blessed each and every track with clever hardcore metaphors, wordplay and a sicker than sick flow. "Welcome to JAHA" also hits us with two hometown feature tracks "Move Around" featuring Mannie Fresh and BG and "Hustla Muzik" featuring Lil Wayne. "Welcome to JAHA" Top 10 Remixtape Vol II will mos definitely be in a hood near u.our goal is to push 500gs of this crack all over the country from the West Coast to the East Coast and of course bumpin' on the streets of the Dirty South.
If that isn't enough, Jaha somehow finds time to work in the community both locally and nationally. After surviving 3 days on her roof during hurricane Katrina, Jaha manage to tour a 6 week gulf state tour with the "Finding Our Folk Tour". During this tour Jaha performed at many historically black colleges including Spellman College and Southern University, where she left audiences amazed for a great cause. Jaha facilitates hip-hop workshops with youth of color in juvenile facilities, high schools, and community centers. The work she does is supported by an organization called "Blackout Arts Collective". They sponsored her on the annual "Lyrics on Lockdown" tour. She performed in Oakland, Houston, NYC, New Haven, DC, Boston, and Atlanta within a period of 30 days, giving this 17yr old emcee the experience of a lifetime.
She continued on to judge the "Youth Speaks Teen Slam finals" in Oakland, Ca. Jaha served as a panelist at the "Hip-Hop Summit" held at Xavier University, and at the "Hip-Hop Explosion" in New Orleans. . And now, she adds to her resume an impromptu appearance on 106 and Park's SOS Hurricane Katrina Telethon, where she was asked by the Queen (Latifah) to free-style live on air. Jaha, proceeded with confidence, passion and emotion to win the hearts of the studio audience, Steve Harvey, Queen Latifah and millions of viewers watching and since then the Queen has become Jaha's personal mentor guiding her through her big moves within the entertainment industry.
At this point Jaha is already respected from her hood to your college campus but Jaha does not sit around biggin herself up. Instead, she pursues her future work and aspirations to: represent New Orleans to the fullest, bring respect back to female emcees, get signed by one of her idol's and go platinum.
Don't tell her she can't. Jaha doesn't know the meaning of the word.
In fact, it is safe to say, Jaha is one of those dynamic artists of the century that will lead us into the next era of hip-hop.
She stands above the rest--the natural talent with passion and experience.
Don't Sleep; Jaha Doesn't!
