Loon

Loon had that Harlem polish, the kind of voice that makes a rap record feel like a limousine with the windows cracked so the city can hear you winning.

He came up around Harlem World and signed with Bad Boy Records in 1999, just in time for the 2000s. His career is tied to Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs, a fellow New York rapper, and he became the label’s go-to for hooks that felt expensive without trying too hard.

In 2002 Combs put him on two singles as a guest. “I Need a Girl (Part One)” climbed to number two on the Billboard Hot 100. Its sequel, “I Need a Girl (Part Two)”, reached number four. His self-titled debut, Loon, landed in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200, commercial proof that the smooth lane was his.

The rapper on those records was still Chauncey Hawkins. In December 2008, after time in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, he became a Muslim; after the Umrah pilgrimage to Mecca he took the name Amir Junaid Muhadith and stepped away from music. His later life went in another direction, but the music chapter is still part of the Bad Boy story.