Kidada Jones

From 1992 to 1994, she dated American hip hop recording artist, record producer, actor, entrepreneur and author LL Cool J. Talking about his breakup with Kidada, LL Cool J mentioned in his 1998 autobiography, ‘I Make My Own Rules,’ that due to Kidada’s spiritual belief, he ended the relationship with her. He mentioned that Kidada would visit an ashram, seek consultation of a guru and offer prayer to statues.

For several months, Kidada had a live-in-relationship with noted American rapper and actor Tupac Shakur, regarded by many as one of the greatest hip hop artists ever. She first met him in a club and started dating him in 1995. It was rumoured that Kidada was engaged to Shakur, but no engagement ring was ever spotted on her ring finger during such tenure.

On September 7, 1996, while she was waiting for Shakur in their Las Vegas hotel room, the rapper/actor was shot four times in a drive-by shooting by an unknown assailant. After getting the intimation, she rushed to the hospital and remained by his side till Shakur died battling the injuries for six days. Kidada reportedly tattooed his face on her arm. Recalling Shakur’s murder, she said that it is the most horrible thing that she faced ever in her life. Annie Ilonzeh portrayed the role of Kidada in the 2017 biographical drama film, ‘All Eyez on Me.’

Kidada Ann Jones was born on March 22, 1974, in Los Angeles, California, US, as the eldest daughter of Quincy Jones and Peggy Lipton. Born to celebrity parents, it was quite normal for Kidada to meet famous personalities like Michael Jackson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar who frequented her home during her growing up years.

She grew up with her younger sister Rashida in Bel-Air, Los Angeles. Rashida became an actress and screenwriter. Her half-brother, Quincy Delight Jones III, is a music producer, film producer, and author. She is also half-sister to Rachel Jones, Kenya Kinski-Jones, Martina Jones and Jolie Jones.

Kidada is of African-American descent from her father’s side while her mother is Ashkenazi Jewish. She faced identity crisis while growing up and by the age of 15, she was thrown out of eleven schools for not fitting in. She graduated from Fairfax High School in Hollywood, California.

She was a student of the California based for-profit college ‘Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising’ (FIDM) and left it after accepting an offer to work with American fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger of the ‘Tommy Hilfiger Corporation.’ An ad campaign focused on Kidada and some of her friends, including Oliver Hudson, Kate Hudson, Tamia and Aaliyah was launched by Hilfiger. Kidada also worked as a muse for the fashion designer for eight years.

Her initial endeavors in fashion designing saw her serving as a celebrity stylist for the ‘Vibe’ magazine (founded by her father in September 1993). She garnered attention when she dressed Michael Jackson in hip hop clothing for the cover of ‘Vibe’ in 1995.

For three years, she designed a clothing line for famous American rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, entrepreneur, TV personality and actor Snoop Dogg. Around this time, she also modeled for noted fashion magazines, including ‘Harper's Bazaar,’ ‘Vogue,’ and ‘Elle.’ She has also featured in several commercials and advertisements.

Meanwhile, she tried her hands at acting and made her debut with science fiction teen horror film, ‘The Faculty.’ Kidada portrayed the character of Venus in the film, which starred Elijah Wood and Josh Hartnett among others. Although her scenes were shown in TV previews for the film, her role was chopped-off before film’s release on December 25, 1998.

She essayed the role of Jesse in the Robert Downey Jr. starrer film, ‘Black & White.’ It was first shown at the ‘Telluride Film Festival’ on September 4, 1999, and later screened at the ‘Toronto International Film Festival’ on September 15, before its release on April 5, 2000. In 1999, she also played the role of Brandy in the film ‘Thicker Than Water’ that had several rappers and urban entertainers like Big Pun, MC Eiht, Ice Cube, Fat Joe and Mack 10, in starring roles.