Justin Herman Plaza



Released when Ahmad was only 18, Back in the Day hit 26 on the U.S. pop charts and 19 on the U.S. R&B charts on the strength of its hook - a sample of the Teddy Pendergrass song Love TKO - and Ahmad's quirky vocal style, reminiscent of Fatlip of The Pharcyde fame. It was the major single off his first and only album to date, 'Ahmad'. A remix of Back in the Day is featured on the soundtrack to The Wood, a 1999 motion picture. A second album was recorded for Revolution Records, a sub-label of Giant Records but it was unreleased. After accepting Jesus Christ as his savior, Ahmad abruptly retired from the music business and devoted himself to full-time ministry. After a two year break from the music scene, Ahmad formed Lookalive Records, and went on to found the hip rock soul group 4th Avenue Jones. In 2002, 4th Avenue Jones secured a recording contract with Interscope Records, through Ahmad's imprint Lookalive Records. The band's righteous musical content contributed to its artistic disagreements with Interscope, and its album No Plan B pt. 2 was never released. The band went on to sign a deal with Gotee/EMI records, through which the group released the popular indie album Stereo. 4th Avenue Jones toured extensively, performing for fans in Sweden, Denmark, Canada, the United Kingdom, Holland, and most of the United States. The band has shared the stage with such notables as James Brown, The Roots, Sheryl Crow, Black Eyed Peas, and KRS-ONE. A father of a young son, Ahmad made the decision to transition from full-time recording artist to student, wanting to provide a more stable living environment for his child. Ahmad’s return to academia has been quite a success. His academic accomplishments are as follows: Jack Kent Cooke Fund Scholarship winner; Long Beach City College honors student; Long Beach City College Dean’s List five consecutive semesters; Long Beach City College President’s Scholar; UCLA Regent’s Scholarship winner; 1 of 20 transfer students (from a pool of 1,200) admitted to Stanford University for fall 2008; and, valedictorian of the class of 2008 at Long Beach City College. Ahmad is currently attending Stanford University. After finishing his undergraduate work, Ahmad hopes to complete his graduate studies and, ultimately, become a university professor, author, lecturer, and advocate for the world's poor. Look out for Ahmad's sophomore album 'The Death Of Me' Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.