Heather Keisha Hunter, nicknamed Double H, is an American rapper, painter, author, and former pornographic actress.
Early life
Hunter was born in The Bronx, New York, to a funeral salesman. She left home at 16 and supported herself by working as a clerk at the Latin Quarter, one of the first downtown/midtown clubs to play rap. At the age of 18, she answered an ad in The Village Voice for striptease artists. Pictorials in Players and Swank followed. Subsequently, the offers to appear in pornographic films started to emerge.
Career
Film and television
Hunter entered the adult film business in 1988 and her career peaked in the mid-'90s. She became known for her interracial- and lesbian-themed films. In her hometown she was a mainstay on the Robin Byrd Show and was a frequent performer. From 1990 to 1992, during her Los Angeles years, Hunter was a dancer on the TV show Soul Train. Hunter has described how she was able to conceal her porn career from Soul Train producer Don Cornelius She got her start while dancing at the Latin Quarter in New York City, where she met adult film actressHyapatia Lee, who suggested she perform in movies. Her first video, Heather Hunter On Fire, came out in 1988. She did a few low-budget movies for New York-based Vidway before moving to Los Angeles and eventually becoming the first African-American woman to be a Vivid Entertainment contract girl. She has 69 videos and one directorial effort to her credit on the Internet Adult Film Database; her final adult video appears to be Honeywood, released in 1999. Old scenes with Hunter continue to be released in numerous compilations. Hunter was inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame in 2003. The same year she starred in her own animated cartoon series, Bulletproof Diva, in which she saves the world from the inhabitants of Hell. In 1996, she, Nina Hartley and Angel Kelly appeared in the music video of Tupac Shakur's How Do U Want It. In 2004 she and Ginger Lynn appeared in non-sex roles in Hustler's Can You Be A Pornstar?
Music career
Hunter has been involved with music professionally since 1993, when she was under contract with Island Records doing House music. She released a song titled "I Want It All Night Long." Hunter later worked for Tommy Boy Records without much progress, as the company did not know whether to market her as an R&B or pop singer. Hunter released an 18-track rap music album on July 12, 2005, titled . She released the music through Blo Records label, owned by her long-time manager, Dave Copeland. Hunter is the company's CEO. In creating the album, she worked with well-known music producers DJ Premier and Scott Storch. Guests on her album include Akinyele, Madison Taylor, plus Chalu and Erin Yes. Hunter's old adult movie friend Janet Jacme appears on the interlude of "My Toolbox." "So Serious" was the only single released from the album. The single and her album's title refers to Hunter's desire to be taken seriously as a hip-hop musician. Hunter said in a VIBE interview: From 1998 to 2000, Hunter hosted The Peep Show on pay-per-view TV. The program was originally hosted by rapper Luther Campbell as Luke's Peep Show. It was a raunchy interview show that aired uncensored music videos. On a 1998 episode, she met rapper Akinyele, who encouraged her to pursue a music career after hearing a sample of her raps. He later appeared with Mr. Cee on Double H: The Unexpected. Hunter has recorded with Esham. Songs also feature Kool Keith, N.O.R.E., Bubba Sparxxx, Above the Law.
Hunter has had an interest in art since she was a child, when she began painting portraits of family members. She furthered this love by majoring in design and illustration at High School of Fashion Industries in New York City. For a short time during her teenage years, she was involved in illegal graffiti art as Ms. 45, but quit after being cited by the police. She enrolled in a special workshop under the direction of renowned street artist, Keith Haring. In June 2006, Hunter opened her own art gallery, Artcore-NYC, in the DUMBO section of Brooklyn, New York. She debuted her "Hunter Collection" paintings as the gallery's first exhibition. The gallery was located at 111 Front Street, and as of 2007 there was an ongoing search for a new location. She wrote a novel, Insatiable: The Rise of a Porn Star, by Hunter and Michelle Valentine, which was published on July 24, 2007, by St. Martin's Press. It purports to tell the story of Simone Young, a young woman with a career and background similar to Hunter's. In an interview, Hunter implied that her story would be fictionalized to protect the privacy of others. A plagiarism suit was filed against Hunter by Dianne Miller; Miller claimed she gave a manuscript to Hunter back in 2005 and Hunter used a number of passages verbatim from Miller's manuscript for her own novel. In November 2008, a judge dismissed most of the claims against Hunter.
