Serius Jones

Saleem Jones (born May 3, 1982), better known by his stage name Serius Jones, is an American rapper who is widely known for his freestyle battles. Jones won 12 consecutive battles at New York's Monday Night Fight Klub before facing and beating former Fight Klub King Jin The MC to become MTV's all-time Fight Klub Champion. Jones independently released King Me in 2006, followed by Serius Bizness in 2008 and Why So Serius? in 2009.

Jones chose the name "Serius" from a book on Egyptian phenomena: the star Sirius was extremely important to the Egyptians, lining up with the Pyramid of Giza.

Battle rap career

His most known battles are Jones vs. Jin, Jones vs. Big Ace, which both appeared on MTV 2's Fight Klub, and also Jones vs. Murda Mook which appeared on a SMACK DVD, and also received over one million views youtube.com, Vlad TV, World Star Hip Hop.com and more.

Deal with Disturbing Tha Peace Records

Serius Jones signed a record deal with rapper Ludacris's Disturbing tha Peace record label in 2006 but 18 months later Serius and DTP parted ways. In an interview with HipHopDX.com, Serius stated,

The hospitality in the beginning was really there. But I think after awhile people just got annoyed of me, and sick of me. It's like, this gotdamn Serius Jones guy. He keeps going. He's not stopping and just settling in like everybody else. And it's like, no muthafucka I'm not stopping and allowing myself to be [content] with riding in the fuckin promo van. Like, nah B, this is rap star shit. Cause if it ain't, and if you ain't no fuckin rap star, you just some other little dusty rap nigga with a chain trying to be noticed. And that ain't never been my style. It's all love though, on my end, he said. I don't have nothing but good wishes for them. I wish them all the best. In terms of being people, in terms of character, I don't think they had any malice towards me. But it's a business.

Jones has also stated that:

I heard stuff that supposedly I'm a head case, he said. I'm supposedly a diva. Like, I think my shit don't stink and all this. Look man, if anybody know me, and if anybody has followed anything about me, they know that I'm a humble dude with it when it comes to me not being on stage, when it comes to me not being a rapper. A star is supposed to shine [though]. [And] I'm not turning my shine off because people are uncomfortable about it. I can't do that. I can't afford to do that. I gotta feed people. I gotta eat and at the end of the day, I'm on a mission.

Life is Serius

Between 2006 and 2010, Jones produced and starred in a short autobiography film entitled Life is Serius, directed by acclaimed Independent Filmmaker/Producer Winfield Ezell, Jr. Jones also put out nearly 50 records, 100 music videos, short films, comedy sketches and an animated series "Day In The life" staying relevant online and in the blogs. Jones headlined a tour through Europe while filming a documentary of the experience entitled "The Euro Tour" and recording an album of the same name, including 2 music videos filmed in Rome.

Recent notoriety

Jones has also had several viral videos as seen on YouTube, VLAD TV, WorldStar Hip Hop and other hip hop sites, most notably for his battle with Charles Hamilton at a barber shop in Harlem. After a hiatus, Serius Jones made his returned to Battle Rap in 2012 for Summer Madness 2; his opponent for the battle was rapper Charlie Clips. The following year at Summer Madness 3 Jones battled Math Hoffa. The battle came to a premature end when Math punched Jones in the face (resulting in a lifetime ban from Smack URL for Math) and a fight broke out. A few months after Summer Madness 3, the two met again in a nightclub in Miami which lead into another fight. The following day Jones released a video on instagram stating the blood on his shirt belong to Math Hoffa.

2011-present: Offer From Luxe Society Records, Living Legend and Legendary

Jones is released Serius Business 2 on Thanksgiving in 2011. The EP features appearances by 2 Chainz, Gucci Mane, T-Pain, Bobby V, Sam Scarfo, and Jay Rock. In May 2012 Serius Jones was offered a deal with recently funded indie label Luxe Society Records. Nothing materialized from the offer and no music was ever released.

After a return to battle rap, Serius Jones will release his mixtape Living Legend on February 18, 2014 and follow up with his Legendary album in April of the same year. In conjunction with Serius Jones, the Jersey Mint Records, a New Jersey-based indie record label, was scheduled to release the album but the project was never released.

• Serius Jones Presents Life is Serius (2012)