Loon (rapper)

Did You Know?

• Loon was arrested in Brussels on November 22, 2011, and extradited to the United States in May 2012.
• He was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment in July 2013 for conspiracy with intent to traffic one or more kilograms of heroin.
• Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, he was granted early release on July 29, 2020.

Career

Chauncey Lamont Hawkins began his musical career in 1995 as a member of Mase's rap collective Harlem World. After the group disbanded in 1999, he signed with Arista Records. Through his work with Mase, who had signed with P. Diddy's Bad Boy Records, Loon also joined Bad Boy, which operated as an imprint of Arista. His first solo appearance on the Billboard Hot 100 came as a featured artist on Faith Evans' 2001 single "You Gets No Love" alongside Diddy, which peaked at number 38.

In 2002, he appeared on Diddy's commercially successful singles "I Need a Girl (Part One)" and "I Need a Girl (Part Two)," which peaked at numbers two and four on the Hot 100, respectively, as well as on "I Do (Wanna Get Close to You)" by 3LW and "Hit the Freeway" by Toni Braxton. During his tenure at Bad Boy, Loon also worked as a ghostwriter, co-writing Mario Winans' 2004 single "I Don't Wanna Know" and Diddy's 2001 eponymous single. His debut commercial single as a lead artist, "Down For Me" featuring Mario Winans, peaked at number 24 on the Hot 100 and remains his highest-charting song in that role.

The follow-up, "How You Like That" featuring Kelis, reached number 88. Both preceded his self-titled debut studio album, released in October 2003, which peaked at number six on the Billboard 200 and received mixed reviews. Loon left Bad Boy Records the following year to launch his own label, Boss Up Entertainment, and retired from the music industry in 2009.

Conversion to Islam

Loon converted to Islam in December 2008 after a trip to Abu Dhabi and Dubai, UAE. He officially changed his name from Chauncey Lamont Hawkins to Amir Junaid Muhadith after traveling to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, to perform Umrah. Following his conversion, he ended his music career and relocated to Cairo, Egypt, where he lived until 2011, then moved back to the United States, where he remained from 2011 to 2022.