Montell Jordan Biography

Montell Jordan is an American former singer, songwriter and record producer, best known for his 1995 single "This Is How We Do It". Jordan was the primary male solo artist on Def Jam's Def Soul imprint until leaving the label in 2003.

In 2010, Jordan left the music business to become the worship leader at Victory World Church in Norcross, Georgia.

Jordan was born and raised in South Central Los Angeles. He attended Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, where he earned a bachelor's degree in communications. He became a member of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity in the spring of 1989. Jordan graduated in 1991.

Jordan's first single was the 1995 #1 hit "This Is How We Do It," which sampled Slick Rick's earlier Def Jam hit "Children's Story". Jordan followed up his success with "Somethin' 4 Da Honeyz", which peaked at #21. Later hits would include "Let's Ride" with Master P and Silkk the Shocker. He co-wrote, produced and sang back-up on Shae Jones's 1999 album Talk Show. The Jordan single Get It On Tonite peaked at #4 in the same year.

In addition to crafting his own material, Jordan has written and produced for other artists, including Christina Milian, 98 Degrees, Shae Jones, Deborah Cox ("Nobody's Supposed to Be Here," 1998), Lil' Mo ("Ta Da," 2000), and Sisqó (the number-one hit "Incomplete," 2000). The singer had a comedic supporting role in the film The Fighting Temptations as Mr. Johnson, an aggressive convict who is self-conscious about his high-pitched voice. He made a cameo appearance in The Nutty Professor, and he performed in the documentary Standing in the Shadows of Motown. In 2003 Jordan left Def Soul and released the album Life After Def on Koch Records. He contributed to the album of popular Croatian singer Nina Badrić in the duet "Ne dam te nikom" ("I'm Not Giving You to Anyone"). Jordan's last release was 2008's Let It Rain on the Fontana Records label.

Jordan performed his hit, "This is How We Do It" during the February 25, 2015 halftime show of the Minnesota Timberwolves vs Washington Wizards NBA basketball regular season game.

Jordan sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the Friday May 8, 2015 NBA playoff game between the home Chicago Bulls and the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers. He then performed "This is How We Do It" for the half time show.

Jordan sang "This is How We Do It" for the half time show on Friday, May 22, 2015 during the NBA playoff game between the home Golden State Warriors and the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers.

Jordan is now a born-again Christian and can be seen at Victory World Church in Atlanta, Georgia, where he lives and worships with the church team called Victory World Music. In late 2010, Jordan announced that he was officially leaving his music career behind to become a Worship Minister at Victory World Church.

In early 2011, Jordan wrote a Christian album featuring the song "Shake Heaven", with Beckah Shae.