Joi Gilliam is an American R&B/Rock singer, record producer and songwriter associated with the Dungeon Family collective based in Atlanta, Georgia, and as such often performs with OutKast, the Organized Noise production team, and Goodie Mob (her ex-husband, Big Gipp, is a member of the latter group).

Biography

Debut album: Pendulum Vibe

In 1994, Joi released her debut solo LP, Pendulum Vibe, on EMI with Dallas Austin as the Executive Producer. While the lead single "Sunshine & The Rain" received heavy airplay on video outlets such as VH1 & MTV, the single failed to become a hit and album sales were disappointing, selling only 76,000 copies in the U.S. Even though album sales were low, Joi received widespread praise from critics, some calling her the new "Madonna", Madonna herself, was so in love with the album, she changed the direction of her "Bedtime Stories" album. Madonna is also responsible for making the call that landed Joi's becoming the first black model in a major Calvin Klein print ad campaign. While Joi was receiving heavy media attention, she released 2 more singles "I Found My Niche" & "Freedom". during this time, Joi's style, not easily classified, was the first to be tagged "neo-soul". But, as an artist and performer, Joi was beyond classification. What she represented as a new voice of black womanhood was further celebrated on the Mario Van Peebles film, "Panther" soundtrack where her single “Freedom,” was rerecorded with an all-star cast of female singers including: Aaliyah, Mary J. Blige, En Vogue, Me'shell Ndegeocello, TLC, Queen Latifah, Vanessa Williams, SWV, Brownstone and many more.

Amoeba Cleansing Syndrome

In 1996, Joi prepared for the release of her second album, Amoeba Cleansing Syndrome, on Dallas Austin's "Freeworld" label, Joi and creative partner Austin, brought in the assistance of legendary pioneers Fishbone to be her backing band. the song "I Believe" was originally picked to be the first single, a video, which featured a then 7 month Pregnant Joi was shot, but weeks before its release EMI Executives wanted more "Radio Friendly" tracks for the album, and the video's release was canceled and the album's release was put on hold. Before returning to the studio, Joi gave birth to a healthy baby girl "Keypsiia "Blue-Daydreamer" Gipp and took a short hiatus. After almost a year delay, Joi returned with a new single "Ghetto Superstar" which featured her then husband rapper Big Gipp, the song, written for her father, coined the term "Ghetto Superstar". A video was shot and released, it featured both Big Gipp & their 1 year old daughter Keypsiia. Yet, despite its MTV buzz status, when her then label EMI folded, so did the release of the album. Even though the album never saw the light of day commercially, months after its cancellation, the album began circulating amongst fans due to heavy bootlegging, several media outlets were able to obtain copys of the album, giving the project 4 to 5 Star Reviews, calling it "Ahead of its time". But in spite of the positive feedback received for the album, Joi was disappointed about its cancellation and decided to take a hiatus to take care of her family.

Lucy Pearl

In 2000, Joi joined Raphael Saadiq's group, Lucy Pearl, replacing Dawn Robinson (formerly of En Vogue). the group made their first public appearance with Joi on January 25, 2001 on Jay Leno's late night show performing "You" which was also featured on the Save the Last Dance soundtrack. Even though Joi performed and shot two videos with the group, they never released a studio album together and the group later disbanded.

Star Kitty's Revenge

In 2002. Joi released her 3rd album (2nd Commercially) ( Star Kitty's Revenge, on Universal Records the lead single "Missing You" was produced by Dallas Austin whom she had not worked with since doing background vocals on TLC'S song "Silly Ho". while the first single failed to become a hit, the 2nd single "Lick" which featured fellow Dungeon Family member Sleepy Brown was included in the film xXx received a large amount of attention from Andrew Soeder courtesy of the film's soundtrack, with no video and little airplay from radio stations across the country, sales for the single soared becoming Joi's most successful single to date, the song would later be sampled by fellow ATL recording artist Gucci Mane on his 2007 hit Freaky Gurl. The following year she was released from Universal after the sales of Star Kitty's Revenge failed to impress label executives, in spite of the widespread attention received from "Lick" the album sold only 101,217 copies in the U.S. according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Tennessee Slim Is The Bomb

After leaving Universal, She signed with Raphael Saadiq's Pookie Entertainment label preparing for the release of her 4th album, but due to distribution issues with the boutique label, the album's release was canceled. to avoid having another project shelved, Joi decided to release the project herself.

In late 2004, Joi developed her own independent label and distribution company Joilicious Records and put finishing touches to her album. The album was set to be released in 2005, but was eventually pushed back to Spring 2006.

On March 28, 2006, Joi released her 4th album (1st independent) Tennessee Slim Is The Bomb. The first single, "I'm So Famous", was released commercially in late 2006. In spite of moderate airplay from commercial radio, the single received widespread popularity courtesy of online, satellite, and college radio stations across the globe; by late 2006 sales increased dramatically, making physical copies of the album scarce and raising digital sales, the album debuted on the Billboard Top 200 Digital Albums Chart in 2007. A second single "Dance With Yesterday" was released and met with better success in airplay & sales than its predecessor. A follow-up album is scheduled for late 2009.

Collaborations

Throughout the years, as a member of Atlanta's famous Dungeon Family, her voice graced the tracks of several Outkast, Goodie Mob, TLC songs and non-ATLien artists such as Robbie Williams, Big Tymers, George Clinton, Curtis Mayfield, Queen Latifah, Too Short, Fishbone, Jim Crow, Shaquille O'Neal, Joss Stone, and D.O.C., to name a few.