J. Ivy is a hip-hop poet, musician, actor, and speaker. Ivy(James Ivy Richardson II) was born March 3, 1976 in Chicago, Illinois. Hereceived a Peabody Award for his performance on Russell Simmons’sDef Poetry, aswell as a Grammy Award for his contribution with Jay-Z on Kanye West’s TheCollege Dropout album. J. has also collaborated with John Legend, RZA, The Last Poets, The Roots, Common, Mos Def, The BlackCrowes, Bob Dylan, and many more. He supports his community through his Write toLive Academy and the Dear Father Initiative, which encourages young people toexplore careers in the arts.