The Origin Story
South African native Jean Grae is a musician born of musicians. Grae undoubtedly had many musical influences in her life, however, the music that came from her home country of South Africa became the main source of her passion. “A choir of African children singing gospel in their native language,” she mentioned in a 2003 interview that the piece she most enjoyed from her early days was one enriched with her culture. As a result of Jean Grae’s commitment, hard work, and love for this profession, she has dramatically influenced Hip-hop culture through a multitude of forms.
Jean Grae was born Tsidi Ibrahim on November 26, 1976, in Cape Town, South Africa. She moved to New York with her mother and father in early 1977. In 1995 Jean was discovered by George Rithm Martinez, an educator and artist. Her talent was unearthed during Martinez’s recruitment for a five-song demo with his group Ground Zero.
The Come Up
In 1996 Grae joined musical group Natural Resource and within a year she and the other members of Natural Resource, DJ Aggie and Kobie Dixon released 2 12-inch singles, I Love This World, and Negro League Baseball/ They Lied. In 1998, Natural Resource disbanded, and Jean Grae, who was priorly known as What?What? changed her name to Jean Grae. This marked the beginning of her solo career, as well as her rebranding as a progressive rap artist.
In 2002 Grae signed with Babygrande Records and released her first solo EP Bootleg of the Bootleg. Grae then released two more bodies of work without an executive label contract. Those works were her second studio album This Week and her first solo EP, Going Crazy. Throughout her years as an artist, Jean Grae has produced a plethora of works. All of which include 7 studio albums, 7 Extended plays, and 1 single, Anthem for the End of the World was released in 2005. Her love and commitment to art expression showed in many platforms such as her sitcom, comedy sets, audiobooks, albums, and stage plays.
In 2013, Life with Jeannie debuted on YouTube. “Grae acted as the writer, director, and star of the sitcom, which appears to be loosely based on her life.” The very first episode, released December 25th of that year, depicted just an average day in the life of Jean Grae. Jean made no efforts to glamorize her portrayed life in the series. Although short-lived, Jean Grae’s four-episode series comically highlighted the life of a “Black woman in New York just hanging out and living life with her friends.”
The Success
In addition to all her projects she is said to be a talented performer. In April of 2011, Jean was invited to headline a performance at the Trinity International Hip-hop Festival. In that performance many countries were represented. The other performers included Emicida, Amkoullel, Ben Sharpa, Eekwol, Oma Offedndum, and DJ Boo. Together they represented the following countries: The United States, Brazil, Mali, South Africa, Canada, Syrica, and the Philippines.
Jean Grae has opened doors for what defines a successful artist. She expanded the idea of what female rap artists capable of the scope of hip-hop culture. Grae used her background in literature, dance, producing, and more in all her projects. Whether it was her thought-provoking lyrics or the creative and artistic components to each of her music videos, which she no doubt was a part of, she has and will always continue to push the never-ending boundary that is hip-hop.
Jean Grae produced many projects under the aliases of Run Run Shaw and Nasain Nahmeen. Her works included 3 tracks on her most popular album Everything’s Fine, released in 2018, as well as her songs “Block Party,” “Thank Ya!” “No Doubt,” “Get It.” A glance at her Patreon page reveals the plethora of works she has put out since the beginning and even before her solo career.
From writing to producing to rapping, singing, directing, filming, and editing, Jean Grae has found a way to construct work through all platforms. Jean Grae’s dedication and love for expressive art have truly shown in the works she has created and been a part of since the start of her career in 1996. She has redefined success while dramatically influencing underground Hip-hop culture and its communities through outreach and performances. In her 2011 performance, Jean Grae performed a mix of songs self-written and produced and truly left a mark on the latter half of Trinity’s 2011 festival. Since December 2018, Jean has not released any new projects instead she chooses to remain an active part of her community through the non-denominational Church of Infinite You, which she founded in 2016.