Tsidi Ibrahim (born November 26, 1976), known professionally as Jean Grae, is a multidisciplinary artist and writer. She emerged in New York City's

underground hip-hop Underground hip hop (also known as underground rap or simply underground) traditionally refers to hip hop music that is outside the general mainstream canon or counter-cultural in nature, usually with a heavy emphasis on emotion, lyricism, and/or ...

scene and developed an international following. Throughout her music career, her distinctive style and lyricism gained recognition, with artists such as

Talib Kweli Talib Kweli Greene (; born October 3, 1975) is an American rapper. He first earned recognition through his collaboration with fellow Brooklyn rapper Mos Def (now known as Yasiin Bey) in 1997, when they formed the group Black Star. Kweli's music ...

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

, and

Black Thought Tariq Luqmaan Trotter (born October 3, 1973), better known as Black Thought, is an American rapper, singer, actor and the lead Emcee (hip hop), MC of the hip hop group The Roots, which he co-founded with drummer Questlove in Philadelphia. Regar ...

of The Roots expressing admiration for her work.

Early life

Jean Grae was born Tsidi Ibrahim, in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

, South Africa, on November 26, 1976. The child of South African

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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

musicians

Sathima Bea Benjamin Beatrice "Sathima Bea" Benjamin (17 October 1936 – 20 August 2013) was a South African vocalist and composer based in New York City for nearly 45 years. Early life She was born Beatrice Bertha BenjaminChinen, Nate ''The New York Times'', 29 ...

and

Abdullah Ibrahim Abdullah Ibrahim (born Adolph Johannes Brand on 9 October 1934), previously known as Dollar Brand, is a South African pianist and composer. His music reflects many of the musical influences of his childhood in the multicultural port areas of Cap ...

, Grae was raised in The Hotel Chelsea, Manhattan where the family moved after her birth. Grae studied Vocal Performance at

Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, often referred to simply as LaGuardia or "LaG", is a public High school (North America), high school specializing in teaching visual arts and performing arts, near Lincoln ...

, before briefly studying in Music Business at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

Career

1996–1998: Career beginnings

Grae joined a hip hop group called Natural Resource along with rapper Ocean and

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...

James "AGGIE" Barrett. In 1996, they released two

12-inch single The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a "single" or a few related sound tracks on each surface, compa ...

s on their label, Makin' Records. They appeared on singles by Pumpkinhead and Bad Seed, as well as on the O.B.S. (Original Blunted Soldiers) double

. She produced much of the material released under pseudonym "Run Run Shaw".

1998–2004: Solo career

Natural Resource dissolved in 1998, after which Jean changed her

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

from What? What? to Jean Grae, a reference to the

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the team first appeared in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 (September 1963). Although initial ...

character

Jean Grey Jean Elaine Grey-Summers is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''Uncanny X-Men, The X-Men'' #1 ...

.Crockett, Stephen A., Jr. (2008),
Grae's Anatomy
", ''

The Root "The Root" is a song by American recording artist D'Angelo. It is the eighth track on his second studio album, '' Voodoo'', which was released on January 25, 2000, by Virgin Records. "The Root" was recorded and produced by D'Angelo at New York's ...

'', August 12, 2008. Grae released the LP ''Attack of the Attacking Things'' on August 6, 2002, and released '' This Week'' on September 21, 2004. She has recorded with major hip-hop artists such as

Atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...

The Roots The Roots are an American Hip-hop, hip hop band formed in 1987 by singer Black Thought, Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and drummer Questlove, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''T ...

, Phonte, Mr. Len,

Pharoahe Monch Troy Donald Jamerson (born October 31, 1972), better known by his stage name Pharoahe Monch, is an American rapper known for his complex lyrics, intricate delivery, and internal and multisyllabic rhyme schemes.Edwards, Paul, 2009, ''How to Rap: ...

, The Herbaliser,

Masta Ace Duval Clear (born December 4, 1966), better known by his stage name Masta Ace, is an American rapper and record producer from New York City. A lead member of Mr. Magic's hip hop collective Juice Crew, he is best known for his guest appearance alo ...

and

Immortal Technique Felipe Andres Coronel (born February 19, 1978), known artistically as Immortal Technique, is an American rapper, activist and songwriter. His lyrics are largely commentary on issues such as politics, religion, institutional racism, and govern ...

. Grae recorded an album with

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

producer 9th Wonder, entitled '' Jeanius''; the unfinished recording was leaked online, and work stopped.Johnson, Christopher (2008),
"Jean Grae: 'I Am Hip-Hop
NPR Music. However, at a release party for ''9th Wonder's Dream Merchant Volume 2'', Grae stated that ''Jeanius'' was still going to be released. It was released on June 24, 2008, on Zune Live Marketplace, then on disc on July 8, 2008. Grae's rapping was described by

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

as "remarkable for its rapidity, clarity and idiomatic cadence. The writing has a good-humored polysyllabic literacy."Christgau, Robert (2008)
"Jean Grae Shows There's No Better Femcee"

NPR Music NPR Music is a project of National Public Radio, an American privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization, that launched in November 2007 to present public radio music programming and original editorial content for music ...

2008–present: Freelance

On a blog, Grae stated: "I don't wanna complain anymore, I just wanna change some things about the way artists are treated and the way you guys are allowed to be involved, since it IS the digital age." Since then, Grae's music has been self-released through the artist's website and

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...

. On June 25, 2011, Grae released a free mixtape entitled ''Cookies or Comas'', which features guest appearances from

Styles P David R. Styles (born November 28, 1974), better known by his stage name Styles P (also known Mononymous person, mononymously as Styles), is an American rapper, best known as a member of East Coast hip hop group the Lox. Formed with fellow rappe ...

, Talib Kweli and Pharoahe Monch; it also includes "Assassins" from Monch's '' W.A.R.'' album and "Uh Oh" From Talib Kweli's '' Gutter Rainbows''. This was followed by the 10-track ''Dust Ruffle'' on January 2, 2013, featuring unreleased songs from 2004 to 2010. Between October and November 2013, Grae released EPs titled ''Gotham Down Cycle 1: Love in Infinity (Lo-Fi)'', ''Gotham Down Cycle II: Leviathan'', ''Gotham Down Cycle 3: The Artemis Epoch''. In December 2013, Grae combined them into ''Gotham Down Deluxe''. Grae branched out from music, releasing audiobook ''The State of Eh'' in January 2014, and writing, directing and starring in the online sitcom ''Life with Jeanie''. In 2013, Grae had a supporting role in indie film ''Big Words'' and in 2015 appeared on the ''And The Crime Ring'' episode of

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

2 Broke Girls ''2 Broke Girls'' (stylized as ''2 Broke Girl$'') is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS from September 19, 2011, to April 17, 2017. The series was produced for Warner Bros. Television and created by Michael Patrick King and Whitn ...

''. On October 2, 2016, Grae hosted the Golden Probes. On September 9, 2018, Grae and Quelle Chris released their 15 track joint album '' Everything's Fine'', rated by

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

as the 22nd best Hip Hop Album of 2018. Grae identifies as gender transcendent and uses she/her pronouns. Grae's rapping style relies on a complex interplay of shifting rhythms and slanted rhymes. An analysis by Matt Daniels for ''The Pudding'' indicated that Grae uses a higher-than-average range of vocabulary in her lyrics.

Discography

Studio albums

*'' Attack of the Attacking Things'' (2002) *'' This Week'' (2004) *'' Jeanius'' (with 9th Wonder) (2008) *'' Everything's Fine'' (with

Quelle Chris Gavin Christopher Tennille (born October 19, 1984), known as Quelle Chris, is an American record producer, rapper and songwriter from Detroit, Michigan. He has released over 15 albums as a solo act and with his collaborative projects. Career Te ...

) (2018)

Compilation albums

*''Dust Ruffle'' (2012) *''Gotham Down Deluxe'' (2013)

EPs

*'' The Bootleg of the Bootleg EP'' (2003) *''Ho x 3: A Christmas Thingy'' (2012) *''Gotham Down: Cycle 1: Love In Infinity (Lo-Fi)'' (2013) *''Gotham Down: Cycle II: Leviathan'' (2013) *''Gotham Down: Cycle 3: The Artemis Epoch'' (2013) *''jeannie'' (2014) *''#5'' (2014) *''The State of Eh. A Read Along Album Book Thing. By Jean Grae'' (2014) *''That's Not How You Do That: An Instructional Album for Adults'' (2014) *''That's Not How You Do That Either: Yet Another Instructional Album for Adults'' (2015) *''iSweatergawd'' (2015) *''Saix'' (2015) *''Jean Grae's CHRISTMAKWHANNUVUSWALIYEARS'' (2015) *''MERRYPOCALYPSE'' (with

) (2016) *''Sevvin'' (2016)

Mixtapes

*''The Official Bootleg'' (2003) *''The Grae Files'' (2004) *''The Grae Mixtape'' (2004) *''Hurricane Jean The Mixtape'' (2005) *''Hurricane Jean: The Jeanius Strikes Again'' (2005) *''Cookies or Comas'' (2011)

Other song appearances

– "The Illest" (ft. Jean Grae and Pumpkinhead) * Immortal Technique – "You Never Know" (ft. Jean Grae) * Akir – "Tropical Fantasy" (ft. Jean Grae) *

The High & Mighty The High & Mighty is an American hip hop duo from Philadelphia, composed of rapper Mr. Eon ("The High", b. Erik Meltzer in February 16, 1972) and producer DJ Mighty Mi ("The Mighty", b. Milo Berger in September 1, 1972). Career Their comme ...

– "Hands On Experience" (ft. What?What?, Kool Keith and Bobbito) * Tek 9 – "Keep It Hot" (ft. What?What?) * Tek 9 – "Bruklon" (ft. What?What?) * Mr. Lif – "Post Mortem" *

– "Insomnia 411" (ft. Roosevelt Franklin and Jean Grae) * The Herbaliser – " Blow Your Headphones" – "The Blend" * The Herbaliser – "Blow Your Headphones" – "New + Improved" * The Herbaliser – "Blow Your Headphones" – Bring It" * The Herbaliser – " Very Mercenary" – "Mission Improbable" * The Herbaliser – "Very Mercenary" – "Let It Go" * The Herbaliser – " Take London" – "Nah' Mean, Nah'm Sayin'" * The Herbaliser – "Take London" – "Generals" * The Herbaliser – "Take London" – "Close Your Eyes" * The Herbaliser – "Take London" – "Twice Around" * The Herbaliser – "Take London" (second edition's bonus disc) – "More Tea, More Beer" * The Herbaliser – "Take London" (second edition's bonus disc) – "How To Keep A Girlfriend" * The Herbaliser – " Same As It Never Was" – "Street Karma (A Cautionary Tale)" * Masta Ace – "Disposable Arts" – "Hold U" (ft. Jean Grae) * Masta Ace – "Soda and Soap" (ft. Jean Grae) *

– " Being You Is Great, I Wish I Could Be You More Often" – "The Prestige" (ft. Jean Grae) * Talib Kweli – "New York Shit" (ft. Jean Grae) * Talib Kweli – "Say Something" * Talib Kweli – "Where You Gonna Run" (ft. Jean Grae) * Talib Kweli – "Uh Oh" (ft. Jean Grae) * Talib Kweli – "Black Girl Pain" (ft. Jean Grae) * Cannibal Ox – "Swing Blades" (ft. Jean Grae) * Soul Daddy – "No Drank" (ft. Jean Grae) *

Ski Beatz David Anthony Willis, known professionally as Ski Beatz, is an American record producer from Greensboro, North Carolina, mainly working in hip hop. Biography Discovered by DJ Clark Kent, Ski was originally known as "MC Will-Ski" in the late 1 ...

– "Prowler 2" (ft. Jean Grae, Jay Electronica, Joell Ortiz & Mos Def) * Wale – "Goodbye" (ft. Jean Grae) * Diverse – "Under the hammer" (ft. Jean Grae) * Joell Ortiz – "So Wrong" (ft. Talib Kweli, Brother Ali & Jean Grae) * Lil B – "Base 4 Ya Face" (ft. Jean Grae & Phonte) *

DJ Jazzy Jeff Jeffrey Allen Townes (born January 22, 1965), known professionally as DJ Jazzy Jeff (or simply Jazz), is an American DJ and producer. He was one half of the hip-hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, along with Will Smith. He is credited, ...

– "Supa Jean" (ft. Jean Grae) * Pharoahe Monch – "Assassins" (ft. Jean Grae & Royce Da 5'9") * Sharkey – " Sharkey's Machine" – "Summer in the City (Lovin' It)" * Rosco P. Coldchain – "It's Our World (Tryin' Times)" (ft. D.P. & Jean Grae) * Maurice "Mobetta" Brown – "Back At The Ranch" (ft. Jean Grae) * The Roots – "Somebody's Gotta Do It" (ft. Jean Grae) *

MC Frontalot Damian Alexander Hess (born December 3, 1973), better known by his stage name MC Frontalot, is an American rapper and web designer. He is widely credited as a pioneer of the nerdcore hip hop genre, blending elements of hip hop with themes from ne ...

- "Gold Locks" * Rapsody - "Blankin Out Remix" (ft. Jean Grae) * Sammus - "1080p" (feat. Jean Grae) * Flying Pupa - "Can It"

References

External links

Jean Grae Discography on Discogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grae, Jean 1976 births Living people 21st-century American musicians 21st-century American rappers African-American rappers African-American songwriters American hip-hop record producers American non-binary musicians American people of South African descent American rappers American record producers Cape Coloureds Crooklyn Dodgers members East Coast hip-hop musicians Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School alumni Hip-hop record producers Non-binary singers Progressive rappers Record producers from New York (state) Songwriters from New York (state) South African record producers South African songwriters Underground rappers