Have You Met Miss Jones? The Life and Loves of Radio's Most Controversial Diva

Jones, who is New York's hip-hop Hot 97-FM morning DJ, traces her rocky trajectory from the Astoria projects to fame in dishy, inelegant detail. The early years were tough for Jones, born to an epileptic mother who divorced Jones's father early on, remarried periodically, but taught her daughter how to fight and prodded her singing career. Jones attended Manhattan's prestigious High School of Music and Art with Ricky Walters, aka MC Slick Rick, and attended Syracuse University. She was introduced to rapper Doug E. Fresh, who became instrumental in igniting Jones's early singing career in the early 1990s; toured with Fresh's Get Fresh Crew; romanced hip-hop superstar Busta Rhymes; recorded the song “Two Way Street”; then was asked to join Ed Lover and Dr. Dre on their Hot 97 morning show. Although she considered herself a singer first, being a DJ became her bread and butter. Jones has her axes in work and love to grind, and it makes for cluttered, pedestrian reading. (July)