In 2009, Jeru started to collaborate with drum and bass producers. His album Still Rising was released on October 16, 2007. On April 2, 2007, during a La Coka Nostra concert at the Gramercy Theatre in New York, Jeru the Damaja came out for a surprise appearance to perform his song " D.
The album received little attention and mixed reviews. His next album, Divine Design, released in 2003, was the first album under his new record label, Ashenafi Records. Jeru, however, has dismissed this and claimed that they wanted to go in different directions.ĭavis appeared semi-retired until 1999, when he released his third album, Heroz4Hire, released together with Mizmarvel, which was his first album under his then-newly created Know Savage Records. After the release of Math, Jeru reportedly had a falling-out with DJ Premier and Guru. As on his first album, Jeru was critical of commercial hip-hop artists and the record labels that produced them such as Death Row Records and Bad Boy Entertainment the latter he criticized on the concept track "One Day". The album was also widely acclaimed, although not on the same level as his debut. ĭavis followed up in 1996 with his second album, Wrath of the Math, again produced solely by DJ Premier. Jeru responded lightly in the intro of the track "Me or the Papes" and also on the track "Black Cowboys". Fugees member Pras lightly mentioned Jeru on the track "Zealots", from the group's landmark 1996 album The Score, with the line "No matter who you damage, you're still a false prophet", referencing Jeru's single "You Can't Stop the Prophet".
The album was well-received but was criticized by the Fugees for its lyrics, particularly for the song "Da Bichez". ĭavis's first album, The Sun Rises in the East, was released in 1994 and produced entirely by DJ Premier. The following year he released his first single " Come Clean" which was produced by DJ Premier and became an underground hit. Jeru the Damaja was born February 14, 1972, in Brooklyn, New York, and spent his early years in the borough's East New York neighborhood, where he began rhyming at block parties as a youth.ĭavis first showcased his unique style to audiences on "I'm the Man", a track from Gang Starr's 1992 album Daily Operation.