KJ-52 (Jonah Sorrentino) is a Christian rapper, known for two songs addressed to another rapper, Eminem. The name stems from "KJ," which was an abbreviation of his old rap name and according to KJ, also stands for "knowledge and justification. "52" (pronounced "five-two") represents the miracle of the five loaves and two fish as told in the Bible. KJ-52 feels he is spreading the word of the Lord in much the same way Jesus shared the food in the story.
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From Wikipedia:Jonah Sorrentino, better known by his stage name KJ-52, is a Christian rapper from Tampa, Florida. The "KJ" part of his name refers to his old rap alias, "King J. Mac," a name which he later described in one of his podcasts as "horribly cheesy." "52" (which is pronounced "five two", not fifty two) is a reference to the Biblical story of Jesus feeding the multitude with five loaves and two fish.[citation needed] He was awarded the Rap/Hip Hop Recorded Song of the Year for "Never Look Away" and Rap/Hip Hop Album of the Year at the GMA Dove Awards of 2007. On July 28, 2009, KJ-52 released "End of My Rope," which is the first single for his album "Five-Two Television." His song "Dear Slim" is a based on Eminem's song "Stan" and is a sort of personal message from KJ-52 to Eminem.
In 2002, Sorrentino released his second album, Collaborations. The album's title referred to the numerous contributions made to the album by guest artists, including Ill Harmonics, Pillar, John Reuben and Thousand Foot Krutch. Collaborations also represented his first nomination for a Dove Award, for "Rap/Hip Hop/Dance Album of the Year" in 2003.
KJ-52 has won four Dove Awards, three in the "Rap/Hip Hop Album of the Year" category. He took the 2004 award for It?s Pronounced Five Two, the 2006 award for Behind the Musik, and the 2007 award for Remixed. He received an additional honor in 2007, for "Never Look Away" from Behind the Musik, in the "Rap/Hip Hop Recorded Song" category. KJ never tried out for American Idol, but suggested such in his song "Fivetweezy".
On October 2008, he released his album, The Yearbook: The Missing Pages, a re-release of his album, The Yearbook. It comes with the original record with a slip over cover that has a code to download the 13 songs.
2009 Dove Awards Another productive year for KJ-52 as he was awarded with RAP/HIP HOP RECORDED SONG of the year for ?Do Yo Thang?; The Yearbook; KJ-52; Jonah Sorrentino; BEC Recordings/Uprok
In 2009, he released "Five-Two Television", and album covering a variety of themese and rap styles. It is his first album in which autotune is used, a controvertial step among his fans. The album brings us the (fictitious) story of Chris Carlino, a man who has ruined his life, through a series of interludes. As usual for KJ-52, the album includes both songs with a strong Christian message and songs that are meant only to entertain.
Played on D-day 2010
KJ-52 also sang with the Newsboys in their latest album Born Again. He sang the rap sections in their new rendition of Jesus Freak, filling in for tobyMac who rapped in the dcTalk version of the song.