Amil

Biography

Amil Kahala Whitehead (born September 19, 1973) is an American rapper. Based in New York City, she signed with Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records, in a joint venture with Columbia Records in 1997. The following year, she appeared alongside Ja Rule on Jay-Z's single "Can I Get A..." (from the Rush Hour film soundtrack), which peaked at number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Amil's debut studio album, All Money Is Legal (2000), peaked at number 45 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart and spawned the singles "I Got That" (featuring Beyoncé) and "4 da Fam" (featuring Jay-Z, Memphis Bleek and Beanie Sigel). The album was met with mixed critical reception and she parted ways with both labels shortly after.

Early life

Amil was born on September 19, 1973, in New York City, to a white mother and a black father. Amil's parents abandoned her at an early age, and she was then adopted and raised by her aunt. As a teenager, Amil gave birth to a son, with her then boyfriend Kendall Morgan. Amil's aunt and adoptive mother died in 1994. A year later, Morgan was killed in a stabbing incident and Amil started dealing drugs to financially support herself. During this time, she used music as an emotional outlet.

Career

In 1997, Amil was a member of Major Coins, an all-female group. The group met Jay-Z, who was looking for a woman to provide vocals on his third album, Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life. Jay-Z asked Amil to freestyle and liked it, and selected her for the role.
When Major Coins broke up, Amil decided to follow a solo career with Jay-Z's label, Roc-A-Fella Records, and joined the 1999 Hard Knock Life Tour. After the tour, she appeared on songs with Mariah Carey, Beyoncé, Jermaine Dupri, AZ, DJ Kay Slay, LL Cool J, and Funkmaster Flex.
She has appeared on Jay-Z songs such as "Nigga What, Nigga Who", "Can I Get A...", "Do It Again (Put Ya Hands Up)", "S Carter", "You, Me, Him and Her", and "Pop 4 Roc". In August 2000, Amil released her debut solo album, All Money Is Legal. The album featured the single "I Got That", a duet with Beyoncé, and All-Star Roc-A-Fella single "4 Da Fam". The album also featured Jay-Z, Memphis Bleek, Carl Thomas, Eve, and Beanie Sigel.
Album sales were disappointing, and the singles did not sell well either. Following that album, her last Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam single, "Hey Papi", a song from the soundtrack to the feature film Nutty Professor II: The Klumps, was released. In 2000, Amil filmed her appearance as "Tonya" in the crime drama film Get Down or Lay Down. The movie, later retitled State Property, was distributed through a joint deal with Roc-A-Fella and Lionsgate and released in early 2002 after Amil's departure from the label; in the final version of the film, she is credited as "Boss’ Assassin".
In 2005, Amil temporarily re-formed Major Coinz and released songs on the mixtape circuit including the single "Glamorous Life" which was featured on MTV's Mixtape Monday.
In 2008, Amil released mixtapes titled Az Iz and Amil Returns: The Lost Classics Edition, delivering lyrically with songs such as the emotional "Tears of a Teenage Mother" and the Caribbean vibed "Don't Worry".
Amil released the song "Stop" in July 2012. The song was intended to promote the rapper's unreleased mixtape, A Time to Kill. Amil released the song "Remember" in 2014. It was also intended to promote a mixtape titled Another Moment in Life, which remains unreleased.