Q-Lo

''' Jermaine Carter Williams. Jr. KRS (born June 23, 1989), better known by his Q-Lo''' is a Sierran per,, and. He first gained prominence for his role as Internet personality, Jeremy J., a ger and comedian, who posted daily videos on video-sharing sites. Following the release of his first mixtape, No Second Chances, Sierran recording label Chicago Star signed Williams up in 2009. Following his record deal, Williams re-branded himself as "Q-Lo" and his first studio album, Coup De Grâce, produced hit singles, "We Down All Day" and "Saturdays Only" which both debuted as number three and five on the Soundbase Top 200 and Sunset 40 charts respectively. After his album, Hoosier's Man, Q-Lo made the decision to move to Los Angeles from his hometown Oakalona in 2011.

In 2012, he released his album, I Called But You Didn't Answer Me, signaling a direction toward more mature, deeper content in his music. He began vocally denouncing the situation in his home province San Joaquin, particularly over its poor economic state and police brutality. Q-Lo then released the album Saudade in 2014 which was universally acclaimed and seen as William's greatest work yet, carrying the most political overtures of all his albums. In 2015, for his musical career and philanthropic efforts, Q-Lo was officially knighted by King Smith II into the Royal Order of the Rose of Sharon. On June 2016, Williams released his fifth studio album OPEN SEASON, returning to his roots in style and devoid of the politicization of the previous album, and hosted the 2016 Percy Awards for Art, Music, and Television at Los Angeles, unveiling a new music video showing his intention to run for Prime Minister in 2020.

William's music is predominantly rapping although some of his songs feature his own singing as well. He has been lauded for his innovative and eccentric style, experimenting with sounds derived from other genres into each of his albums. As of 2016, Williams has amassed a BAM award, four Percy Awards, and attained several records on the Soundbase and Sunset 40 charts. Williams currently resides in, a district in Los Angeles, Gold Coast and co-manages Skid Row Records, a subsidiary of OP Entertainment.

Early life
Williams was born and raised in Oakalona. He grew up in Poinsettia Heights, a lower end neighborhood, and recalled the hardship he and his family endured. His mother, Barbara, worked as a public school clerk while his father worked as an auto parts repairman. Both parents are practicing and raised Williams' two younger siblings, Jackie and Deshawn in the same town. He attended Starry Meadows Elementary as a child, but frequently ditched school to fool around with his friends. Eventually, Williams had accumulated enough points, resulting in his parents' arrest for suspected negligence and the appointment of a truant officer to monitor Williams' movement to and from school. Williams recalled the time his family endured was "filled with sleepless nights and my parents crying every time the bills came piling in". This incident influenced Williams later on to stay in school and study harder. Although Williams began attending school at his own will, it was not until sixth grade when he received his first honor roll. Entering into middle school, Williams' family was able to move to a more affluent neighborhood as both parents found better work in Bernheim.

Williams attended Isaiah Landon High School and served two years as vice president of the school's Black Student Union (BSU) and his senior year, an officer for the Student Mentors program. In addition, Williams played for his school basketball team all four years, and was recognized as a varsity athletic scholar during graduation. He finished ranked 22nd out of 721 in the class, and received a Blue Prime Ministerial Award for his endeavors. After graduating, he then studied at the Styxie College of the Arts, receiving a financial grant from the San Joaquin government. During the summers and breaks, he was employed part-time as a local licensed. He graduated in 2011 with a conjoint degree in acting and photography. Williams recalled his childhood as "pretty normal" although commented how the financial situation of his family often became a "persistent challenge". He admitted to using several drugs frequently for recreational purposes including and  while in high school and his freshman year in college. Following an that nearly killed him, Williams decided to limit consumption.

While in college, Williams established an online presence by uploading videos on various video-sharing sites including and gained a cult following for his comedic sketches and vlogs. Under the personality, "Jermey J.", Williams acquired a subscriber base of 4 million on YouTube in 2014. Williams first displayed his ping skills publicly in one of his videos in 2008, a video that has since received over 400 million views. Around this time, he also converted to Canaanism after making friends from the Sanctuary, a decision that strained his relationship with his parents, who remained devout Methodists.

2009-10: No Second Chances
In 2009, Williams released his debut mixtape, No Second Chances, with 13 songs focusing on themes revolving the gang violence, urban decay, alcoholism, and failing romances Williams observed while growing up in Oakalona and Bernheim. Some of the songs featured collaborating Styxer artists, Kitkat, Fren-Z, and Yeeda, who would later join Q-Lo to form the group's record label, Skid Row Records. No Second Chances was Williams' breakthrough work, and it received national attention almost instantly, much thanks to Williams' established fanbase who promoted his songs on social media. Two of his tracks, "We Down All Day" and "Saturdays Only" (both originally titled as "VII. We Down All Day" and "X. Saturdays Only") debuted at number three and five on Soundbase Top 200 and Sunset 200, before peaking both at first and second. In addition, three more of his songs, including "III. I Made U", "IV. Farewell", "VI. Hail Mary" would peak at 8th, 11th, and 16th on the Sunset 200 board respectively.

Williams' success attracted several record label companies, eventually resulting in him signing up with Chicago Star in August 2009. Chicago Star released a remastered version of No Second Chances in the fall of 2009, and included two bonus tracks of recorded songs that did not make the cut for the original mixtape. By the end of the year, No Second Chances was downloaded online over 1.5 million times, and the remastered mixtape sold with 750,000 units. The album was certified Platinum in Sierra, Brazoria, and the United Commonwealth. Q-Lo started his own, Qo-Qos, in December 2009, partnering with Von Holt in designing clothing, apparel, and shoes.

2010-11: Coup De Grâce and Hoosier's Man
Immediately following the initial success of No Second Chances, Williams produced and released his debut studio album, Coup De Grâce on April 12, 2010. Although the album was not announced until four months before the release date, unauthorized leaks of several songs, namely "Pardon My French" was spread among fans, boosting hype among Williams' fan base and garnering media attention. On the day of the album's release, over 18,000 fans gathered to Williams' concert at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center. The week of the album's release saw 320,000 albums copies sold, and debuting at number 1 on the Sunset 40. The album proved to be a critical success, wounding up as the best-selling album of any Sierran music that year, selling more than 2.3 million copies or digital downloads by the end of 2010. On May 30, 2010, Williams released his first single since Coup De Grâce with "Easy Politics" which performed favorably and debuted on the Sunset 40 at number 3 before topping the charts 2 weeks later for 3 weeks straight.

Williams launched his first international concert tour, the Pablo Escobar Experience, on May 30, 2010, traveling across North America, Europe, and Asia. While performing at, on June 28, 2010, Williams announced he was planning to release another studio album, Hoosier's Man and that it was halfway completed at that point. Following the conclusion of his tour, Williams was able to sign on four more rappers to be featured in his upcoming album: PolitikZ, Omar Omari, Yeeda, and Big Dogg. Although the album was slated to release on October 31, 2010, it was postponed until November 19 due to a private dispute between Williams and Chicago Star. While the issues were resolved and the album was released, Williams revealed that he and the record label had agreed to mutually terminate the relationship in December. A month later into the new year, Williams founded his own record label Skid Row Records (SRS), which became a subsidiary under O.P. Entertainment. The album was a success, and Williams was praised critically for his experimentation with incorporating and country music and folk rock into his songs although commercially, it was not as successful as its predecessor. It did not set any chart records although two songs, "Styxie Lovin" and "Alabama Shot Pockets" peaked at number 3 and 6 on the Sunset 40. Nonetheless, it was still well-received among the general public, particularly with those in Williams' home region, the Styxie, as the style of music drew heavily from the scene there. His rise to national recognition as an artist prompted Williams to move closer to Hollywood, purchasing a $2.3 million apartment complex for himself and his fellow SRS members along.

2012-13: I Called But You Didn't Answer Me
Williams' new label, Skid Row Productions (SRP), signed on his friends, Kitkat, Fren-Z, and Yeeda, and signed on producers DJ Glock and DanceDanDance. To officially commence the beginning of the record label, Williams and the crew launched the Soup Kitchen Tour, focusing their itinerary and schedule in North America. During an interview in Chicago, Williams announced that yet another album was in the works, and that SRP planned on producing a collaborative album as well. Williams stated that his next album would be elevated to a higher "conscious state", and was looking forward to work under his own terms through his label. The tour included 18 stops in 33 days, beginning in Bernheim and ending in New York City. His concerts consisted of rapping preselected songs as well as songs chosen by the audience, skits, and updates regarding his upcoming work. Attendees to the inaugural and final concerts were given free QoQo merchandise and a prepaid order for Williams' new album.

In March 2012, Williams released a music video for a new single, "Sleazy Girl" with SRP associate Fren-Z and rapper Esquire. The video was filmed in and attracted controversy during production and post-production. While on film, Williams and his production crew were allegedly found using marijuana on set. Footage of the incident only surfaced online after Williams had returned from Jamaica and finished the video. Jamaican authorities voiced their disapproval of Williams' actions, believing his usage was intentional and only elicited "negative stereotypes" about the island. In addition, the video and lyrical content was highly controversial, criticized for being heavily serialized and raunchy, with 22 instances of the word "slut" or "hoe" sung in the explicit version. The clean edit did not remove some of the song's innuendos including the reference to oral sex in the song's hook. Despite the controversy, the music video received over 50 million views in a week, and sold 2.3 million units by the end of the year, eventually warranting a Double Platinum certification in Sierra.

In May 2012, he teased the album, releasing a sample track, "Too Turnt Up" and that the name of the album would be I Called But You Didn't Answer Me. He officially premiered the song before a live audience on The Really Late Night Show with Freddy Mapes. The song was a significant success, selling for 1.6 million units and debuting on the Sunset 200 at number 2 in June, and remaining at number 1 for 2 weeks before being beaten by Aesop's "Long Nights". On August 18, 2012, Williams released I Called But You Didn't Answer Me and was met with critical acclaim, easily clinching the debut at number one as an album, and selling 260,000 album on its first week. The album quickly attained a gold certification, and two songs, "Dial 1 After Freestyle" and "Operator" remained in Sunset 40 all year. Several verses in one of his songs, Blacklist attracted attention with Williams asserting that he was the top rapper in the game, and vowed to take over Hollywood with his music. Fellow Sierran rappers Fresco, Big Leo, Knockout, and E31G responded with their own respective diss tracks, and Williams responded with Skid Row Productions declaring "war" with their enemies, and seeking to eliminate them through freestyle battles. All parties involved in the war including those who had made diss tracks against Williams agreed to participate, holding the battles at the Salinas Convention Hall in Los Angeles on October 18, 2012, with Williams and his colleagues battling against the challengers. Revenue from the sales to the event (which totaled over $1.8 million) went directly towards providing free computers to schools in disadvantaged communities throughout the Southwest Corridor.

On January 5, 2013, after several months of musical hiatus, Williams released an extended play titled, Young Playas with no promotion or announcement on his official website. The EP featured six songs, all of which were singles cut from previous albums. William's lack of publicity on the EP generated buzz that Williams was preparing for a greater, and radically different upcoming album. Later in March, Williams released a new single, "Fuck This World", featuring Freakishly Tio, which was accompanied by a music video directed by Frankie Macias. At the end of the video, the release date for the highly anticipated SRS compilation album, Squad Up was to be on June 6, 2013. The album proved to be a great success, and Newstar Entertainment declared the album as a "strong indicator that Skid Row Productions intends to be the leading innovator in Sierran popular music". Four other singles were released that year ("Unashamed of You", "Squad Talk", "Old Spanish", and Third Wheel"), all songs of which placed on the top 10 in the Sunset 40. He was also featured on three other songs by the likes of pop rock singer Joseph Lambert, R&B artist Elijah Addams, and the Sierran K-pop girl band 4OUR including their rapper, Emma Chae, who later became his current girlfriend.

2014-15: Saudade
Although Williams wanted to follow up the very successful and productive year of 2013, he decided to spend time on a break, vacationing with his then-wife, Jasmine Marx in Hawaii, whom he married on January 6, 2014. While in Hawaii, Williams spent much of his time devoted to maintaining his online video series, and took up numerous deals with major production studios, landing several roles in works such as the 2015 historical drama film Landon as Atticus Freeman, and Sierran anime series Boku no Koi as Marvel. While he was committed to these projects, his marriage with Marx rapidly deteriorated, with public attention first drawn and speculating of a relationship drift when Marx returned to Los Angeles in late April 2014.

Emotionally worn down by his wife, Williams isolated himself in their private residence in Kauai and spent days without contacting anyone other than his agent and crew members. Finally, in early June, he emerged from his house where the media had stayed close by, anticipating his appearance, where he announced that he was once again creating a new album which he believed would be his greatest work yet. At the time, he gave the album the tentative name, Magnum Opus and stated that it would incorporate all of the styles and musical philosophies of his previous albums.

Saudade, Williams' fourth studio album, was released on November 2014, and was a tremendous success among critics and fans alike, hailed by many who regarded it as Williams' best work. Returning to the tone set by his breakout mixtape, No Second Chances, Saudade expanded on the themes of political injustice and personal struggle in Saudade whilst fusing the adapted styles and flows in his other albums that made them successful. The album featured extensive use of percussion and electric guitar, two instrumental choices that are typically absent from hip hop, and included distorted sounds and samples from trap music, alternative rock, and trance. The album included many songs that received heavy radio play and downloads, particularly the international hit, "Broken Glass", and Sunset hits "Vengeance", "A Melancholic Friday", "Every Single Time", and "Come Back". Saudade went Platinum in Sierra, Brazoria, the United Commonwealth, the Dixie, and Hudson by March 2015.

Following the conclusion of the Reflections Tour in April 2015, Williams released Skid Row Production's second, Sqrr and a collaborative album, End Yourself with Kitkat. Three of Sqrr's tracks charted on Sunset 40 and two songs from End Yourself ("Down the River" and "Bleach Please") also made it into the Sunset 40. Williams later confirmed that a few of the tracks where he was featured on Sqrr were mostly ad libbed, and some lines were raw, unedited recordings. End Yourself was highly controversial particularly due to its focus on the subject of, and the National Association for Children's Safety unsuccessfully petitioned to have the album banned from general stores and supermarkets.

2016-present: OPEN SEASON
In January 2016, Williams announced that he was producing yet another studio album, teasing fans by leaving cryptic messages and tweets on his social media pages, and hiring an advertising agency to promote the upcoming album through pasting decals and stickers throughout major cities across North America and Europe. He tentatively named his album, Field Day, and released a song titled, "On Target" in March. In April, he released yet another song, this time, accompanied by a music video, titled, "Death Row", depicting himself as an executioner with his fellow SRS crew members, killing off effigies of some of his rivals in the industry, specifically Simba and E3IG à la, in response to the months before of his own credibility once again dismissed and ridiculed by other rappers. Instantly, reminiscent to Williams' last major public reputation challenge in 2012, he elicited the responses of his rivals. Although E3IG and others attacked responded, Simba did not, prompting Williams to release yet another attack against Simba, labeling the rapper as weak, and his music as terrible. Sibma released a diss track in late May, well over a month later, titled "I Wonder Why", which was poorly received critically and publicly that it was deemed the "death" of Simba and his career. Williams boldly declared himself "King of Rap" with Simba's "death", and the equally poor responses and performances from other rivals in his song, "I am the Greatest", which became the introductory song to OPEN SEASON, the official title for his new album. OPEN SEASON was released less than a month later in June 16, 2016 to rave reviews, and record sales of over 1.3 million on opening week, and four songs charting the Sunset 40.

Influences
As a child, Williams grew up listening to early hip hop artists such as, , , the , and. He started rapping at around 8, mostly with his friends. As a child, Williams frequently ditched school to listen to hip hop and play basketball with his friends. He also began to closely follow local, homebred from the Styxie, most prominently, MC Rick, whom he has credited as a major influence to his early music. In his mixtape, No Second Chances, Williams made extensive use of grimy, chant-heavy beats accompanied by soul music reminiscent of traditional Styxie folk music circles as MC Rick pioneered in.

His first official album, Coup De Grâce was partly inspired by 's  as West's album incorporated orchestral instruments and. Wishing to also test out unconventional music, Williams' album was a nod towards West in that direction. He consulted Sierran composer Henry Fritz in organizing and overlaying his album with a wide range of instruments including and the. Samples or remixes of -era pieces were also included, such as "" (used in "The Revolution") and "" (used in "Oakalona Etiquette"). In addition, he drew music arrangements and beats found in Sierran when songs made the signature tonal shift in their second halves commonly found in Williams' early music.

Personal life
Williams has received media attention for several relationships he was involved in, particularly when he dated actress Alexa Ross in 2010. Their 8-month relationship was surrounded with controversy as rumors of infidelity (on Ross's part) and publicized arguments circulated across the news. Their relationship mutually ended by February 2010 but Ross later made frivolous claims that she was pregnant with William's child, and began Q-Lo, leading into a legal court battle that forced the courts to issue an 18-month  against Ross. Williams began dating fashion model Jasmine Marx in 2011, and became engaged in September 2013. They married in January 2014 at a private wedding ceremony held at the Hollywood Sanctionist Church. After a little more than six months later, an official spokesperson of Williams announced that Williams and Marx had separated following "irreconcilable differences". This was confirmed by a spokesperson from Marx and the two filed for divorce in Clark in August. A month later, Williams was found vacationing in Hawaii with K-pop star Emma Chae whom he had previously collaborated in the past. Williams later officially confirmed that he and Chae were in an "intimate relationship" in November 2014 while still legally married to Marx. Williams and Marx's divorce was finalized on January 6, 2015, exactly on their one-year anniversary.

Williams is a registered Democratic-Republican, and donated several hundred thousand dollars in supporting legalizing marijuana and LGBT marriage equality in his home province of San Joaquin. In a 2013 interview, Williams stated that he was a republican, and that while he did not identify with the republican community, he strongly opposed the monarchy for "various reasons", a sentiment openly expressed in his 2015 single, "Fuck the Queen", in response to the abdication of Smith II and ascension of Queen Angelina II. Despite this, he was officially knighted by the King earlier that year, and was inducted into the Royal Order of the Rose of Sharon for his contributions to the arts and music in Sierra. In addition, he has used the honorary title of "Sir" and the honorific suffix of the Order (KRS) in his name on some publications. He is also an avowed unionist, and supports further integration into the Conference of American States.

Feuds
Since at least 2010, Williams and fellow Sierran rapper Simba were rivals with Simba also rising into the community at the same time as Williams. While Williams hailed from the Styxie, Simba came from Compton, and both had dated Amber Jennings at one point. Simba originally requested Williams to promote him and feature him on Williams' debut album, Coup de Grâce, but Williams declined. Shortly after the album released, Simba, at his own concerts, began dropping subtle jabs at Williams, calling him a "gnome-looking pussy" on several occasions. In 2013, Simba released a diss track, "A Real One" against Williams, accusing Williams of being a hypocrite and dishonest. The song ridiculed Williams' music content and rapping ability, as well as his credibility as someone from the "hood", particularly because of Williams' purportedly larger fanbase outside the "target hip hop community". In response, Williams released "Squad Talk", addressing Simba's accusations, but the song simply added more tension to their beef. The song dismissed Simba as pathetic and jealous of Williams' fame, and Simba's diss track was a desperate attempt to gain spotlight again in face of waning sales. At the 2014 BAM Awards with Williams in attendance, Simba won the Fire Artist Award (for the "trendiest" artist of the year), and in his acceptance speech, called Williams a "fake nigga" on live television. The phrase failed to censor, meriting its own controversy, but the audience erupted in disapproval, with Simba being booed. Williams later won one award that night, for Best Rapper in the Game, beating out Simba for the award, much to the embarrassment of Simba.

Albums

 * Coup De Grâce (2010)
 * Hoosier's Man (2011)
 * I Called But You Didn't Answer Me (2012)
 * Saudade (2014)
 * OPEN SEASON (2016)

Extended plays

 * Who Dat (2011)
 * Young Playas (2013)

Mixtapes

 * No Second Chances (2009)
 * One Second Chance (2009; remastered version of No Second Chances with bonus tracks)
 * End Yourself (2015; collaborating with Kitkat)

Compilation albums

 * Squad Up (2013; with Skid Row Records)
 * Sqrrr (2015; with Skid Row Records)

As lead artist

 * "I Hate Them" (2010)
 * "Easy Politics" (2011)
 * "The Gambit" (2011)
 * "Downhill" (2012)
 * "Sleazy Girl" (2012; featuring Esquire and Fren-Z)
 * "Too Turnt Up" (2012)
 * "Fuck This World" (2013; featuring Freakishly Tio)
 * "Unashamed of You" (2013)
 * "Squad Talk" (2013)
 * "Old Spanish" (2013)
 * "Third Wheel" (2013)
 * "Clam Jam" (2014)
 * "Ecstasy" (2014)
 * "Momentarily" (2014)
 * "Yung Niggas" (2014)
 * "Fuck the Queen" (2015)
 * "Uzi Uzi" (2016)
 * "Monica Flow" (2016)

As featured artist

 * "Short-Term Love" (2012; Rachel Blume feat. Q-Lo)
 * "Not Again!" (아니 다시) (2012; Indigo Pop feat. Q-Lo)
 * "Rift Walk" (2013; Yeeda feat. Q-Lo)
 * "Always There For You" (2013; Joseph Lambert feat. Q-Lo and Elijah Addams)
 * "Love Me Again" (나를 다시 사랑) (2013; 4OUR feat. Emma Chae and Q-Lo)

Headlining

 * Pablo Escobar Experience (2010)
 * Reflections Tour (2015)

Co-headlining

 * Soup Kitchen Tour (with KitKat, Fren-Z, and Yeeda) (2012)
 * SRS vs. the World (with KitKat, Fren-Z, and Yeeda) (2013)
 * Opland Extravaganza (with various O.P. Ent. artists) (2017; upcoming)