J. Ivy is an Award Winning Performance Poet, Recording Artist, Song Writer, Author and Actor. Over the years his work has earned him a Peabody, Clio, Telly, and NAACP Image Award and he is widely known for being the “Poet” featured on Kanye West’s Grammy Winning Album, “The College Dropout,” on the classic song “Never Let Me Down,” along with Hip-Hop icon Jay-Z.
Early in his career Ivy was featured on three seasons of HBO’s Russell Simmons presents Def Poetry. From there his work has been featured everywhere from commercials to classrooms. From hosting and performing at conferences for Deepak Chopra to penning and performing a poem for the NBA Hall of Fame Legend Michael Jordan, J. Ivy has used his unique style of poetry to navigate the art form to arenas of all facets. He has poetically narrated, acted, and starred in two B.E.T. documentaries, “Muhammad Ali: The People’s Champ” and “Martin: The Legacy of a King,” which paid homage to two of the world’s most iconic voices. He has done voice-over work for dozens of commercials, starred as the spokesperson in AARP’s national ad, and can be heard on Coca-Cola’s new History Shakers commercial. The author of three books, his latest being “Dear Father: Breaking the Cycle of Pain,” has inspired many to pick up the pen and write their own Dear Father Letter in hopes to promote the Power of Forgiveness. After the world shut down due to Covid-19, in July of 2020, J. Ivy wrote and narrated Beyoncé’s Black Is King promo for the Return of the NBA.
Not only has he collaborated with countless musical artist, J.Ivy has recently released his 4th studio album, “Catching Dreams,” which is a beautiful blend of poetry and music. He also recently finished co-writing and co-producing, singer-song-writer, Tarrey Torae’s upcoming album, “Thanks for the Love,” and co-wrote the new song, “Freedom Ride” with Grammy Nominated House Music Legend, DJ Terry Hunter, which is also by Ms. Torae. He is the Poet Laureate for the famed visual artist Ernie Barnes’ Foundation.
A fun fact for many, is J. Ivy is the man who gave Emmy, Oscar, Grammy, and Tony Award-Winning singer, songwriter, actor, and activist John Stephens the stage name John Legend, as told by John himself on Oprah’s Next Chapter. In 2019 J. Ivy became the first Spoken Word Artist to hold a Chapter President’s seat (Chicago Chapter) in the history of the Recording Academy.
This program is partially supported by a grant from Illinois Arts Council Agency.