Ms. Jade: Beat Club's First Lady

Like the Winona Ryder/Angelina Jolie psychodrama Girl, Interrupted, Ms. Jade’s debut focuses on women-their pressures, passions and point of view. Yet unlike the main character’s trouble dealing with reality, Ms. Jade knows exactly who she is and where she wants to go. “I’m just trying to make good music,” the 22-year-old hard rockette assures. “I just want people to feel me and understand my talent. At the end of my CD, I want them to say I liked it. I know not everyone is going to like my album. But I want people to respect it. I write my own stuff. Respect that I’m talented and gifted and I won’t stop.” Like P. Diddy.

Ms. Jade has no problem being the first and only lady to represent for Timbaland’s Beat Club Records. She’s ready like Sporty Thievz (Street Cinema). Alongside Petey “wave-it-like-a-helicopter” Pablo, Bubba “Ugly” Sparxxx and Sebastian, she is backed by one of hip-hop’s all-time hottest producers. Like family, they help and look out for each other. Tim put Jade on the remix to Sparxxx’s “Ugly” and Petey helped her refine her flow. “I like working with Petey cause that’s how I started,” explains Jade. “He taught me a lot.” Tim and Missy are like her brother and sister. “With Tim, for the first month I was nervous. But then, we have good chemistry. We understand each other. Being with Tim and Missy, my whole situation changed in terms of my work ethic. There are certain things I used to do that I can’t. Like just staying home, normal stuff. It’s cool to chill but when it’s time to knock your album out, its time to work.”

If Eve is a pit bull in a skirt, Jade boasts she’s a wolf in a dress. “I don’t consider myself strictly lyrical all the time,” she points out. “I think I have many styles. I might do a song based on sex if that’s what the song is based on. I’m not going to do my whole album talking about sex. I’m not going to do my whole album talking about how nice I am. You got to mix it up or your album is going to get boring. I listen to the beat and the rap comes from there.” Jade has more than earned the right to claim she’s nice. “I practice. One summer all I did was write. My friends were saying, ‘You always writing.’ I like rapping. I go wherever the music is.” Plus, she was brought up knowing that working hard is the only way you get things. Just being lazy doesn’t pay the bills. “Whatever job I did I knew I wanted to be happy and comfortable. Some people work and work and they hate going to their job. I think that’s stupid.”

Murder Inc. has Charlie Baltimore. Lil’ Kim led Junior M.A.F.I.A. after B.I.G. passed. Ruff Ryders run with Eve. Dr. Dre’s gearing up to give Shaunta shine. Now it’s Jade’s time to make hot tracks for Timbaland. “Actually, I wasn’t even focused on Tim,” Jade confesses. “I liked his music and beats. But I was like, whoever think I’m nice, let’s go. I didn’t know that it was going to sound as good as it did. I still can’t believe it now.” Tim’s stuttering bass-blessed beat is the perfect backdrop for Jade’s deep, direct delivery on “Feel The Girl,” one of the nine songs he contributed to Girl Interrupted. The mellow rockin’ “Ching, Ching” features Nelly Furtado, who put Jade on her (Tim’s) remix of “Turn Off The Light.” Nelly also took Jade on her US tour for Whoa, Nelly! “Being on tour with Nelly opened my ears to a whole lot of things,” admits Jade. “It opened my world up to different things. I’ve always been into alt and rock, even when I was younger. After being on tour with her I bought a guitar.” Jay-Z appears on “Count It Off” and Petey Pablo’s on “Watch It.” And Jade gives hometown homies R.L and singer Rhonesha mic time.

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“The girl rappers is what made me want to do it,” reveals Jade as she speaks about rap’s first females. “MC Lyte, Queen Latifah, Salt-N-Pepa.” She’s not phased by being a betty in a male-dominated business. “I don’t think it’s extra hard being a woman. Being in the game is hard. You never know who to trust or which way to turn. For some women it may be hard but I can handle different things. The whole record industry is hard period.” And that’s why Jade is branching out. She’s looking to conquer a film role if it suits her and eventually open clothing boutiques. With an ambitious appetite for success and a fearless rhyme flow, Jade is living up to the title of her current favorite song, “Jade The Champ.”