[3][2] Little was born on July 14, 1968, in Cleveland, Ohio, to parents Joe Little Jr., and Patricia Ann Little.

In 1998, he co-wrote and produced two singles, "It's Your Turn" and "No Mans Land", for Levert's RIAA Platinum-certified album "Love & Consequences"[7][8] In 2000, Little and Levert co-wrote and produced the singles "Selfish Reasons" and "Proven and True" for The Temptations' album "Ear-Resistible", which won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Album.

[9][10][11] In 1994, as solo artist, Little released his debut album entitled, "Puttin' It Down" on Atlantic Records under the name J.

[12][13][14][15] In September of that year, Little participated in the group Black Men United along with Al B.

Sure, Keith Sweat, El DeBarge, Christopher Williams, Brian McKnight and Little's then-mentor Gerald Levert recording the track "U Will Know" from the soundtrack to Doug McHenry's 1994 film Jason's Lyric.