From the self-titled album "Ahmad" (1994) Ahmad Ali Lewis, who was born October 12, 1975 (as heard in the track "Zoom"), in Los Angeles, California, is an American emcee. Credited simply as Ahmad, he is best known for the 1994 single "Back in the Day," a nostalgic song that became a signifier for nostalgia in hip-hop culture. Ahmad is also a member of the group 4th Avenue Jones. Ahmad Ali Lewis was born and raised in South Central Los Angeles. He made his recording debut in 1993 on the soundtrack of The Meteor Man with the song "Who Can." Released when Ahmad was only 18, "Back in the Day" the remix version (produced by Maurice Thompson & Jay Williams of Barr 9 Productions) hit #26 on the US pop charts and #19 on the U.S. R&B charts on the strength of its catchy hook, sung over a sample of the Teddy Pendergrass song "Love TKO." It was the first single off his first album, Ahmad. The remix of "Back in the Day" is also featured on the soundtrack of The Wood, a 1999 motion picture. Ahmad secured his first recording contract while still a senior in high school and promptly earned a gold record for his chart-topping hit. A second album was recorded for Revolution Records—a sub-label of Giant Records—but it was unreleased and he was dropped from the label. In 2002, Ahmad formed a band called 4th Avenue Jones, a collective with a sound he dubbed hiprocksoul. 4AJ secured a recording contract with Interscope Records, through Ahmad's imprint Lookalive Records. He has toured extensively as a solo artist and as a member of 4th Avenue Jones, visiting such places as the Netherlands, the U.K., Canada, Sweden, Denmark, and Zimbabwe. Additionally, Ahmad has written, extensively, for other artists. Leela James recorded the Ahmad penned single "Mistreating Me" on her LP "A Change Is Gonna Come." Also, more recently, his song "Back in the Day" was interpolated by The Dream & Mariah Carey for use on her song "Candy Bling," featured on her 2009 Island records release "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel." Wanting to provide a more stable environment for his toddler son Yeshuwa, Ahmad enrolled at Long Beach City College and graduated as valedictorian, with a 4.0 grade-point average. He was accepted as a transfer student by several universities for the fall of 2008 and chose Stanford University. Ahmad is a 2008 recipient of the prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship, the largest private scholarship for two-year and community college transfer students in the country. Ahmad's transition from hip-hop artist to scholar has not gone unnoticed; in fact, his story was featured in the November 2009 issue of XXL magazine, and on the front-page of the Los Angeles Times.I can't say Back in the Days was a big deal to me, nevertheless Ahmad had my respect as a preeminent underground rhymer. Peep this joint where Ahmad ciphers with Juice on the World Famous Wake Up Show.
If you were reading GhettoManga back in 2010-2011, then you might remember that I was feeling his record The Death of Me like braille! If you like hip hop music, it's worth your time to at least listen to this record via the miracle of Bandcamp.
Here's an interview Ahmad did with Kristina Spicer of The Other Side in 2018, so you can get to know where his head is at these days.
Hip-Hop Artist, Ahmad Talks Life After Hit Record ‘Back In The Day’. If you grew up in LA, watched The Wood, or just know good hip-hop music then you know the hit song ‘Back in The Day’. Did you ever wonder what happened to Ahmad after making the classic hit record? Well I got a chance to catch up with him, and he has been nothing less than busy. Ahmad grew up in South Central LA during the LA riots and now he holds a Bachelor’s degree from Stanford and a Master’s from USC. #TheWood #BackInTheDay #Ahmad Production/Editing: Kristina Spicer Videography: Sol Washington Graphics: Cydia Flowers Subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwsM... Let's connect: Instagram @kristina.spicer https://www.instagram.com/kristina.sp... Twitter: @kristinaaspicer https://twitter.com/kristinaaspicer
Finally, when I saw on Facebook that it was Ahmad's birthday, I started looking to see if he had new music, and it looks like he dropped a short film with Shames Worthy last summer, but I couldn't find it as of this writing. If I find it (or any other new Ahmad music) I will let y'all know.
Samax Amen is a professional Content Developer, Illustrator and Cartoonist. He is the artist of many great comics you never heard of like FREELANCER LIFE, Herman Heed, Champion of Children, and The World As You Know It. He even writes and draws his own comics, like Dare: The Adventures of Darius Davidson, Spontaneous, and Manchild when he gets around to it. Because making comics is hard and stuff, he started GhettoManga as a blog in 2006 and as a print magazine in 2008. GhettoManga.com
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