Raised on Chicago’s South Side, Rita Jackson, better known by her alias Rita J, is a trained dancer, actor, singer and songwriter. She started out as part of the nine-member Chicago Hip-Hop group Family Tree in 1999 and released her solo debut album Artist Workshop in 2009. Her sophomore album Lost Time in 2014.

Throughout her career she has shared stages with many notable artist such as Jean Grae, Guilty Simpson, Chali 2na and J-Live. Her most popular collaboration to date is with french rapper and producer 20syl on the track “Voices”.

Though influenced by the soul music of her parent’s generation of the 70’s, Rita eventually found solace in her generation’s Hip-Hop music. Her music is influenced by the style, wordplay, and story-telling abilities of Nas, the cadence and vocabulary of Black Thought, the melodic delivery of Buckshot, the hard, edgy female perspectives of MC Lyte, Queen Latifah, and the self-knowledge of KRS-ONE.