Memphis Bleek facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Memphis Bleek
Memphis Bleek (front) in 2001 with Beanie Sigel
Background information
Birth name	Malik Deshawn Cox
Born	(1978-06-23) June 23, 1978 (age 47) Brooklyn, New York City, U.S.
Genres	Hip hop
Occupation(s)	Rapper songwriter
Years active	1996–present
Labels	Island Def Jam Def Jam Roc-A-Fella

Malik Deshawn Cox (born June 23, 1978), known as Memphis Bleek, is an American rapper. He is famous for working closely with fellow New York City rapper Jay-Z. Many people saw Cox as Jay-Z's close friend and a younger artist he helped guide.

Cox signed with Jay-Z's record label, Roc-A-Fella Records, in the late 1990s. Through this label, he released four main studio albums: Coming of Age (1999), The Understanding (2000), M.A.D.E. (2003), and 534 (2005). Later, he started his own record labels: Get Low Records in 1998 and Warehouse Music Group in 2016. He even signed rapper Casanova to Warehouse Music Group.

Early Life

Memphis Bleek was born in Brooklyn, New York. He grew up in the Marcy Projects, which is a housing area in the Bedford–Stuyvesant part of Brooklyn. Interestingly, this is the same neighborhood where Jay-Z also grew up.

Music Career

Memphis Bleek was one of the first artists to sign with Roc-A-Fella Records. He was seen as a young artist that Jay-Z helped a lot. Bleek's first official song appearance was on "Coming of Age" from Jay-Z's album Reasonable Doubt in 1996. He also appeared on "Can I Live II," which was on a later version of that album.

He continued to appear on many of Jay-Z's albums. These included Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life (1998), Vol. 3… Life and Times of S. Carter (1999), The Dynasty: Roc La Familia (2000), and The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse (2002).

After Jay-Z's Vol 2… Hard Knock Life became very popular, Roc-A-Fella Records released Bleek's first album, Coming of Age (1999). This album was a big success, entering the Billboard 200 chart at number seven. It sold 118,000 copies in its first week. In 1998, Bleek also started his own record label called Get Low Records.

Album Releases

After his first album, Memphis Bleek released three more albums with Roc-A-Fella Records. These were The Understanding (2000), M.A.D.E. (2003), and 534 (2005). Both Coming of Age and The Understanding sold over 500,000 copies, earning a "gold" award from the Recording Industry Association of America.

Between The Understanding and M.A.D.E., Bleek took a three-year break from music. He did this to care for his older brother, who was seriously hurt in a motorcycle accident.

His album 534 was named after the building number of the housing project where he and Jay-Z grew up. This album was the first release from the "new" Roc-A-Fella. This was because Jay-Z had taken on a new role as president of Def Jam Recordings.

A song from the album, "Dear Summer", was performed only by Jay-Z. It talked about how he used to release an album or song every summer for eight years. This song was Jay-Z's first since he took a short break from music in late 2003. The album 534 also featured one of the first recordings by a new artist named Rihanna. She was on the song "The One."

Popular Songs

Memphis Bleek's most successful song on the charts was "Is That Yo Chick". It featured Missy Elliott and Jay-Z. This song reached number 7 on the Hot Rap Singles Billboard chart. It also reached number 68 on the main Billboard Hot 100 chart. Another popular song was "It's Alright", which also featured Jay-Z. It reached number 61 on the charts.

In 2005, Memphis Bleek told MTV that he was working on an album called The Process. He said this album was very important for his career. He wanted to create a "classic" album, meaning a truly great one. He said if it wasn't a classic, he wouldn't release it. He worked on this album for many years and released songs like "Hustla," "Get Ya Money Off," and "Let It Off" to promote it. As of 2025, the album has not yet been released.

Memphis Bleek left Roc-A-Fella Records in 2009. Jay-Z told him he was ready to run his own music company. In the same year, Bleek signed a new deal with Mass Appeal Entertainment.

In 2010, he helped Jay-Z on stage as a hype man (someone who helps excite the crowd) during a show at a festival in Sweden.

Memphis Bleek has also released online mixtapes. On April 10, 2012, he released The Movement. It was downloaded over 125,000 times on DatPiff. On June 6, 2012, he released Kush Vol. 2. Then, on March 21, 2014, he released The Movement 2 for free download.

Personal Life

On December 13, 2014, Malik Cox married his longtime girlfriend, Ashley Coombs. The wedding took place in Cinnaminson, New Jersey. Jay-Z was one of the guests at the ceremony. In July 2018, Cox announced that he and Ashley had welcomed their first child, a daughter. Cox also has a son, who was born in June 2002. Memphis Bleek is also the cousin of another rapper from Brooklyn, Sean Price.

Other Ventures

Warehouse Music Group

With Jay-Z's support in 2015, Memphis Bleek started his own record label called Warehouse Music Group. He is the CEO and founder. The first song released by the label was Memphis Bleek's "So Different," featuring Manolo Rose. This song created a lot of excitement for the new label. On July 28, 2016, Memphis Bleek announced that he had signed Manolo Rose and Casanova to his label. In 2017, Manolo Rose released "Ball Drop" and "Pink Fur." That same year, Casanova released three popular songs: "Don't Run," "Go Best Friend," and "Left, Right," which featured Chris Brown and Fabolous.

Films

Memphis Bleek has also acted in movies. In 2002, he played the character "Blizz" in the film State Property. In the same year, he was also in Paper Soldiers. He also made short appearances in movies like Backstage and Fade to Black.

Video Games

Fans can play as Memphis Bleek in the video game Def Jam: Fight for NY.

Discography

Studio albums

• Coming of Age (1999)
• The Understanding (2000)
• M.A.D.E. (2003)
• 534 (2005)

See also

In Spanish: Memphis Bleek para niños