(1989-02-22) February 22, 1989 (age 35) Aurora,
Illinois
Musical artist
Jahmila Adderley, known professionally as Mila Jam,[1] is an American transgender singer,[2][3] songwriter, dancer, actress,[4] and LGBTQ activist.[5][6][7][8]
Mila Jam performed as the popular YouTube impersonator Britney Houston.[10][11][12][13][14] She was known for creating parodies of popular videos and posting them on YouTube within days of the original videos' releases. She began creating her parodies while in the national touring company of Rent.[15]
Several of her parodies have over a million hits, with her parody of
Rihanna's song "
Umbrella" having over two million.[16] For her parody of the
Pussycat Dolls' song "When I Grow Up", Jam recruited four drag queens to serve as the "Britney Cat Dolls".[17] She choreographed and starred in the 2008
MTV original television pilot Newsical, which was not picked up.[18]
Jam has appeared on
BBC Three's Lily Allen and Friends,
MTV, and MTV News. She has also hosted episodes of the YouTube talk show I’m From Driftwood.[12]
The music video for Jam's song "Faces" was released to coincide with
International Transgender Day of Visibility and featured appearances by
Laverne Cox,
Tituss Burgess,
Candis Cayne,
Geena Rocero,
Peppermint,
Zackary Drucker,
Trace Lysette, and
Nathan Lee Graham. The song has been called an anthem for the LGBTQ movement and focuses on self-acceptance, inner beauty, and sense of belonging.[20][21][22][23] Jam described the song as being "about looking in that mirror and hearing, 'Do I belong, am I enough, will someone love me for who I really am?' We wear smiles all the time but hide in fear and loathing because we feel different. The journey is universal no matter who you are."[24]
Awards
Mila was awarded Best Video and Dance Artist at the 2013 GLAM Nightlife Awards[25] and she was named Odyssey Nightlife Awards Breakthrough Artist in 2015 .[26]