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3D Na'Tee | |
|---|---|
 James in 2024 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Samantha Davon James |
| Born | (1986-12-18)December 18, 1986 (age 38) New Orleans,Louisiana |
| Genres | Hip hop |
| Occupation | Rapper |
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Labels | Already Legendary, BMB |
| Website | www |
Samantha Davon James (born December 18, 1986), known professionally as3D Na'Tee, is an American rapper, songwriter, and video director. 3D Na'Tee has been featured on several national media outlets such asMTV,[1]The Source Magazine,[2]XXL Magazine,[3][4]The Fader Magazine,[5] RapRadar[6] and RapRehab.[7] She has also received attention from Louisiana newspapers and music magazines.[8][9]
Samantha Davon James was born on December 18, 1986 inNew Orleans, Louisiana, and grew up in the3rd Ward. She attendedNew Orleans Center for Creative Arts forvisual arts.[10]
In 1999, James began recording with local label called Clientell Records. Over the next five years, she recorded multiple mixtapes under the "Snypa Squad" and got featured on other projects by Clientell Records. However, in 2006, a year afterHurricane Katrina, Clientell Records dismantled and 3D Na'Tee, who had previously established herself as a battler rapper amongst the local rap scene in New Orleans, released her first mix tape project3's Company Vol.1: The Rapper, The Hustler, the Diva followed byVolume 2 in 2007. After the release of her second project, she appeared onThe Kush 2 DVD which was produced byYMCMB presidentMack Maine. The DVD featured other Cash Money/Young Money artist likeLil Wayne,Nicki Minaj, andBirdman as well asCurren$y ofWarner Bros. Records.
After the local success of her first two releases and her appearance onThe Kush 2, James released her third mix tapeHeavy Is the head That Wears The Crown followed by a music video for a song she titled, Guess Who's Coming 2 Dinner. That video piqued the interest ofG-Unit Records affiliate andShade 45Sirius XM radio host Nelson Gomez who invited her toNew York for an interview on hisXM show as well as on rapper50 Cents' ThisIs50.com website. Soon after, the talk of her third release also got her featured inHipHop Weekly Magazine byBenzino, former co-owner ofThe Source Magazine.[11]
Because of video releases likeGuess Who's Coming 2 Dinner which spoofed many mainstream hip hop artists, James' music has been described as controversial and sometimes offensive.[12] That song also shared the title of her for mix tape released in 2010.
Guess Who's Coming 2 Dinner (The Mixtape) lead to 3D Na'Tee being nominated for a total of 5 Nola HipHop Awards by her in her home town at the NOLA Hiphop Awards.[13] She won three awards (the most awards won by a single artist) for Lyricist of the Year, Mixtape of the Year, and Female Artist of the Year.[14] The mixtape included collaborations fromCurren$y (courtesy of Warner Bros. Records), Ebony Eyez,[15] and Babs Bunny (formerly ofSean "Diddy" Combs-founded group,Da Band).[16][17]
In early 2011 James was featured onMTV'sSuckerFree Freestyle[18] hosted byDJ Envy. 3D Na'Tee and Syleena collaborated on a song called Go Head.[19]
July 27, 2011 James released a video for Switch[20] which she shot and edited herself. The song included several previously released instrumental versions of songs produced by super producerTimbaland. This video gained her a nomination for Director of the Year and an award for Video of the Year. Because of the momentum the Switch video gained the day of its release, Timbaland viewed it online and in less than 24 hours, flew James toMiami's Hit Factory Studio to work with her on her next project, The Coronation.[21][22] After several months spent traveling with Timbaland and other artist signed to his label, a contract was presented to 3D Na'Tee to sign to Timbaland's production companyMosely Music Group and to be managed by members of Timbaland's management team. 3D Na'Tee and Timbaland later announced viaTwitter that she was no longer a part of Timbaland's company because she decided not to sign the contract presented. In a later interview, James explained that there was no ill feelings towards Timbaland and cited her reasons for not signing were strictly because of contractual clauses that could not be agreed upon.[23][24]
Exactly two years after James last mixtape release, she released her highly anticipated street albumThe Coronation which featured artists likeKeri Hilson, Young Fletcher, and Lyrica Anderson.The Coronation also featured production from Mizay Entertainment'sLex Luger,Maybach Music Group's Yung Shun, Heartbeatz, Casa Di, Versive Manhattan, Serious Beats, Da Smokestarz, among others.
In August 2012 it was announced by DJ Skee, Sirius Satellite Radio Host, that the first release from The Coronation entitled NO LOVE produced byMMG's Young Shun was the #9 most requested song in the country.[25] The Coronation's second release, Lil Kim produced by Casa Di gained recognition as well as being featured on bothThe Source andThe Fader Magazines websites.[2][26] Lil Kim was a cautionary tale of a young girl with an absentee father who, because of her father's absence, unfortunately grew up and "fell in love" too fast. The song and its video (directed by Charley Mac), gained a lot of attention from tons of hiphop artist likeTrina,Missy Elliott,[27] andChamillionaire,[28] who featured 3D Na'Tee's video on his social site chamillionaire.com.
