Jaheim Hoagland's story is one of struggle, strength and salvation. And on his dynamic Warner Bros. Records/Divine Mill debut LP, Ghetto Love, people worldwide - young and old - will hear and empathize as they view and experience the life of a naïve boy who is slowly transformed into a focused and tenacious man. The Brunswick, New Jersey native has always been focused on his musical aspirations, especially after the tragic death of his father, and then his mother, while he was young.

Singing since he could speak, the born-again singer relentlessly shopped his demo tape and attained minor singing fame aboard New Jersey Transit trains. He eventually dropped off a demo of his at Newark, New Jersey's Naughty Gear store. It would fatefully fall into the hands of production wiz Kay Gee, who's propelled phenomenal acts like Zhane', Next, and his own group, Naughty By Nature, to platinum-plus success. A week later, Jaheim was asked to audition for Kay Gee. Two years later, through his company Divine Mill, Kay Gee would help Jaheim sign a deal with Warner Bros. Records. Ghetto Love is Jaheim's soul-searching diary which takes one through the caged-bird battles of boyhood and on to the experience, free-soaring wings of manhood.

On the engulfing "Looking For Love," Jaheim's raw vocal prowess flies above a funky and smooth bassline as he tells of his slow and careful search of love. With a hook illustrating his lust-filled frustration, he sings, "Looking for love in all the wrong places / been around seen a lot of pretty faces / I know I'm the one for you / The only lying I would do is in the bed next to you." Jaheim explains: "I've been looking for love for awhile and I got my heart broke once. So it's hard for me to trust again," he says. "All I want is happiness." Ghetto Love Features Kay Gee as executive producer and is filled with majestic ballads and uptempo pleasers written by Blackstreet's Eric Williams, Next's RL, Darren and Cliff Lighty, as well as some well-placed vocals by Terry Dexter and Missjones. The debut mixes rambunctions R&B with hardcore hip-hop, stylistically portraying the world of a boy who's witnessed street-stories lived out in view of death, jail, poverty and life-saving ghetto love. After 19 tracks of the melodic diary of a lost-and-found man, Jaheim comes to epitomize the meaning of his name: God's wisdom