Iman Jordan formerly known by his stage name Mateo, is an American pop/ R&B singer-songwriter from

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

, Ohio. He was formerly signed to the Krucial Noise imprint on

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner ...

, label imprint of

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...

producer Kerry "Krucial" Brothers.New Music: Mateo – ‘Love & Stadiums’ [Mixtape]
Rap-Up, March 30, 2011. Retrieved June 18, 2011.

Personal life

Iman was born in

, Ohio, into a musical family. His grandfather, Freddy Jordan was a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

and session guitarist at the historic King Records where he played for the likes of

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the hono ...

Freddie King Freddie King (September 3, 1934December 28, 1976) was an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" (along with Albert King and B.B. King, none of whom were blood related). Most ...

, and Charles Brown.Salaam, Khalid
Kerry Brothers’ Newest Signee Steps To The Plate
XXL Magazine, June 3, 2011. Retrieved June 18, 2011. His grandmother was a singer who toured Canada and the northeastern United States. Iman started singing at an early age and playing classical piano at age 5. He attended

Morehouse College , mottoeng = And there was light (literal translation of Latin itself translated from Hebrew: "And light was made") , type = Private historically black men's liberal arts college , academic_affiliations ...

, majoring in music and business.Jackson, Eboyn
The Method: Mateo
HoneyMag, July 29, 2010. Retrieved June 18, 2011. After graduation, Iman moved to New York City where he briefly worked as a strategy consultant. On June 21, 2016, Iman publicly came out as gay via his Instagram. He wrote, "Over the years, I've created so many faces and have done so many costume changes just to hide the simple fact that I am who I am. I've changed my name. I've worn clothes I didn't like. I've written songs about my most meaningful relationships and changed the pronouns. All for what...to meet my assumed expectation of others." Shortly after, he changed his artist name from Mateo to his birth given name, Iman.

Early music career

2008–10: Beginnings in Los Angeles and MySpace Records

Iman eventually moved to Los Angeles, in California, where he began performing under the name Mateo and pursued a career in the music industry. He met with former MTV VJ, Quddus., who was working at MySpace Records quickly took interest and brought Iman over to the label which signed him nearly on the spot. While on MySpace records, he released a three part mixtape series entitled "Underneath the Sky", which garnered critical acclaim. The mixtape series included features from

Kardinal Offishall Jason Drew Harrow (born May 11, 1976), better known by his stage name Kardinal Offishall (), is a Canadian rapper, record producer, DJ, and record executive. Often credited as Canada's " hip hop ambassador", he is regarded as one of the countr ...

, Teairra Mari,

Fashawn Santiago Leyva (born October 19, 1988), known by his stage name Fashawn, is an American hip hop recording artist from Fresno, California. He first gained major attention after releasing his debut album '' Boy Meets World'' in 2009, which was pr ...

, and Shawn Chrystopher.Shake
Mick Boogie Presents Mateo – Underneath the Sky (Mixtape)
2DopeBoyz, March 5, 2009. Retrieved June 18, 2011.Shamz

Okayplayer, June 10, 2009. Retrieved June 18, 2011.Angel
NEW MUSIC: MATEO RELEASES HIS NEW MIXTAPE, “UNDERNEATH THE SKY
, ConcreteLoop, March 3, 2010. Retrieved June 18, 2011. On August 13, 2009, Iman recorded a live EP entitled ''Get To Know Me: Live at Swing House''. His video, "Get to Know Me", from the live EP was featured by MTVU, Fuse, and Music Choice. After a year and a half stint at MySpace Records, Iman decided to part ways with the label in 2010.Angel
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: MATEO
, ConcreteLoop, September 11, 2009. Retrieved June 18, 2011.Mateo Moves Forward With 'Sky Mixtape' Post Myspace Split
SingersRoom, March 4, 2010. Retrieved June 18, 2011.

2010–2012: Krucial Noise signing, ''Love & Stadiums'' and ''Say It's So''

In September 2010, he signed to Krucial Noise, the label imprint of Alicia Keys longtime producer and songwriting partner, Kerry "Krucial" Brothers. Brothers met him through Quddus during the MySpace Records days. He released his fourth mixtape ''Love & Stadiums'' on March 30, 2011, to critical acclaim. The mixtape serves as his first release under Krucial Noise and includes features from

Goapele Goapele Mohlabane (; born July 11, 1977), is an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter. Her name means ''to move forward'' in Setswana, a Southern African language. Early life Goapele's South African father Douglas Mohlabane was an exiled po ...

Pusha T Terrence LeVarr Thornton (born May 13, 1977), better known by his stage name Pusha T, is an American rapper, songwriter and record executive. He rose to prominence as one-half of the hip hop duo Clipse, which was mainly active from 1994 to 201 ...

, Ab-Liva, Gilbere Forte, and

.
Vibe, March 24, 2011. Retrieved June 18, 2011. Iman released his debut single, "Say It's So", on September 21, 2011, off his EP ''Love & Stadiums II''. The single is produced by

Kerry Brothers Kerry Brothers Jr. (born October 1, 1970), also known as "Krucial", is an American record producer, songwriter and hip hop artist. Brothers and singer-songwriter Alicia Keys began a musical partnership in the mid-1990s, co-writing and co-produci ...

and features additional vocals from

and

Swizz Beatz Kasseem Daoud Dean (born September 13, 1978), known professionally as Swizz Beatz, is an American record producer, rapper, disc jockey (DJ) and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, Dean embarked on his musical career as a DJ. At the ag ...

.FRESH MEAT: Mateo's "Say Its So" Ft. Alicia Keys
TheYBF, September 22, 2011. Retrieved September 22, 2011. In September 2011, Iman shot a video for "Say It's So" in New York City, directed by David "Dahveed" Telles.EXCLUSIVE VIDEO PREMIERE: MATEO – “SAY IT’S SO”
, ConcreteLoop, November 10, 2011. Retrieved September 25, 2012. The single charted independently on the Billboard 100 and reached No. 40 on the Urban chart, which garnered attention from Larry Jackson and John Ehman at Interscope Records.

2012–2015: Interscope signing, ''Suite 823'', and "We've Met Before"

In April 2012, he officially signed to

. While working with Kerry "Krucial" Brothers on the upcoming album, they decided to release an all original mixtape project for the summer, entitled ''Suite 823''. The mixtape was released on August 1, 2012, to rave reviews, featuring an appearance by Motown recording artist, Stacy Barthe.Mateo Dishes on Krucial's New Label, First Dates, and 'Suite 823' Mixtape
Singersroom, July 25, 2012. Retrieved September 25, 2012. On August 13, 2013, he released an EP entitled, "We've Met Before" which peaked at No. 3 on the iTunes R&B charts.
You Know I Got Soul, August 13, 2013. Retrieved May 23, 2014. "How Good is Your Love" was the official single released from the EP. The video for the single peaked at No. 6 on BET's 106 and Park and in February 2014, he performed the song on VH-1's "Single Ladies".BET's 106 & Park
BET Countdown, November 22, 2013. Retrieved May 23, 2014. In February 2015, he parted ways with Interscope and Krucial Noise.

2016–2019: Sony ATV signing and self-entitled EP release

After leaving Interscope and Krucial Noise, Iman was signed to a publishing deal with Sony ATV. He garnered several high-profile placements, they include Rihanna's "Desperado", an artist feature on Robin Shulz "Uncovered" album, four songs on the critically acclaimed FOX TV show "Empire", one of which being performed by Alicia Keys and the new DJDS single, featuring Khalid. In October 2018, he independently released his first song, "Therapy", from his self entitled EP. This was his first music release under the name Iman Jordan and since leaving Interscope. The entire EP was released on August 2, 2019, and was produced by Glashaus, the production duo consisting of Dan Glashausser and Tom Glashausser. A visual EP was created for every song on the album and released on YouTube. The album was met with rave reviews and the song "Vibration, was featured on Spotify's Fresh Finds, Study Break, and Alt RnB playlists.

2020–2021: "Technicolor", "Social Distance", "Freedom Song" and television features

Iman released his single "Technicolor" on April 22, 2020. The song was chosen for "Hulu Has Whatever You're Feeling" 2020 campaign. His song "Social Distance" was released later that year, picking up a placement on Showtime's "The Chi". During the height of the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, Iman released a live recording of the soul stirring ballad, "Freedom Song". The song was later featured on ABC's 'Station 13' in the summer of 2021 and performed for ProGeorgia's Women of Color Initiative Soul Serenade.

Discography

Albums

Writing discography

Mixtapes

* ''Underneath the Sky Mixtape Ch. 1: Presented by Mick Boogie'' (2009) * ''Underneath the Sky Mixtape Ch. 2: Presented by DJ Felli Fel'' (2009) * ''Underneath the Sky Mixtape Ch. 3: Presented by Tapemasters Inc.'' (2010) * ''Love & Stadiums Mixtape: Presented by Krucial Noise'' (2011) * ''Suite 823'' (2012)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Iman Living people Musicians from Cincinnati 1986 births Singer-songwriters from Ohio 21st-century American singers American gay musicians