Who is & What's Going On With Jaguar Wright

Born Jacqueline Wright in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Wright grew up in a very religious home, where her parents did not allow her or her sister to listen to nonreligious music. However, when her parents went out, she and her sister turned on the radio. Wright told an interviewer from Honeysoul.com, "We'd be partying and dancing and practicing new dances. Someone would have to play lookout at the window. When my parents got just a couple of doors down, we'd turn off the music, fan off the stereo to make sure it wasn't too hot, put in a gospel tape, wipe off the sweat and act like we were cleaning or something." She said that these experiences gave her a lasting passion for music; because it was forbidden, she wanted it even more. Initially Wright did not plan to be a singer, but aspired instead to become an emcee and make her mark in the rap world. She began her musical career by rapping with a local group called the Philly Blunts. While she was with them, she tried to increase her vocabulary so that she would have a greater variety of expressions and wouldn't have to use curse words in her lyrics. However, she told the Honeysoul interviewer, "I had a way of making deep words sound real dirty." Wright was a single mother by age 16. Her parents helped her to raise her son so he could grow up in a stable household while their daughter pursued her dream of a career in music. She told Amy Linden in Interview that this gamble eventually paid off: "Everything that I told [my son] I was trying to give him, he is now seeing come true." A friend persuaded Wright to perform at Black Lily, a women's open mic event in Philadelphia. She was such a hit that she eventually became a headliner for the event. Wendy Goldstein, MCA senior vice-president for A&R for rhythm & blues, was in the audience. Goldstein was impressed by Wright's performance, and signed her to the Roots' Motive imprint. Roots manager Richard Nichols then asked Wright to sing hooks on Roots tracks. She cre