Omar Jarel Gilyard, known by his stage name Jneiro Jarel, is an American recording artist,

music producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

, and DJ. Recognized for his versatile, abstract, and often experimental style, he is also known for his beat-making alias Dr. Who Dat? and his groups Willie Isz, JJ Doom, and Shape of Broad Minds. He has collaborated with artists such as

Damon Albarn Damon Albarn (, ; born 23 March 1968) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the frontman, main vocalist, and lyricist of the rock band Blur (band), Blur and the co-creator and primary musical con ...

Count Bass D Dwight Conroy Farrell (born August 25, 1973), better known by his stage name Count Bass D, is an American rapper, record producer and multi-instrumentalist who resides in Millheim, Pennsylvania. His production style is characterised by layers ...

Massive Attack Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol, England, by Robert Del Naja, Robert "3D" Del Naja, Daddy G, Grant "Daddy G" Marshall, Tricky (musician), Adrian "Tricky" Thaws and Andrew Vowles, Andrew "Mushroom" ...

TV on the Radio TV on the Radio (TVOTR) is an American rock music, rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2001. The band consists of Tunde Adebimpe (vocals, loops), Dave Sitek (guitars, keyboards, loops), Kyp Malone (vocals, guitars, bass, loops), and ...

, and

Kimbra Kimbra Lee Johnson (born 27 March 1990), known Mononymous person, mononymously as Kimbra, is a New Zealand singer and songwriter. Known for mixing pop with R&B, jazz and rock musical elements, her accolades include four ARIA Music Awards, two 2 ...

History

Jarel was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. He spent several years of his life living in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

and

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, before eventually moving back to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. It was in New York that he started his own label, Orienj Recordings (now Label Who?), and released his first EP as a solo artist. In 2003 he signed to indie record label Kindred Spirits, and was the sole representative from New York to participate in and perform at

Red Bull Music Academy The Red Bull Music Academy (RBMA) is a world-traveling series of music workshops and festivals that was founded in 1998 by Red Bull GmbH. The main five-week event is held in a different city each year. The public portion of its program is a festiv ...

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 South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. In 2004 Jneiro moved to

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

and, through his success in the indie music scene, was able to work with some of the city's most influential artists

King Britt King Britt (born 1968) is an American record producer, composer, performer, educator, and DJ and record producer from Philadelphia. Britt is known for his eclectic mix of electronic, house, disco, techno, rave, experimental music, and other gen ...

and Rich Medina. He signed a multi-album record deal with Lex Records in 2006.

Career

2000–2005: Early career

Following the 2000 release of his ''Section A'' EP, Jneiro also released his first full-length album, ''Timeless Volume 1'' in 2004, via Label Who? Over the next year he made a number of guest appearances and contributions on various projects, and release several promo singles and

DJ mix A DJ mix or DJ mixset is a sequence of musical tracks typically beatmixing, mixed together by a Disc jockey, DJ to appear as one continuous track. DJ mixes are usually performed using a DJ mixer and multiple sounds sources, such as Phonograph, tur ...

es, before jointly releasing his ''Three Piece Puzzle'' LP on, both, Kindred Spirits and Ropeadope Records in 2005. The album was universally met with positive reception.

2006–2011: Lex Records and mainstream recognition

2006 marked the beginning of Jarel's relationship with Lex Records, and saw the release of his critically acclaimed instrumental project, ''Beat Journey'', under his Dr. Who Dat? alias. The album cover art was designed by the UK based graphic artists collective, and frequent Lex Records collaborators, Ehquestionmark, best known for their previous work on

The Mouse and the Mask ''The Mouse and the Mask'' (stylized as ''THE MOUSE & THE MASK'') is the only studio album by Danger Doom, a collaboration between the hip hop artists Danger Mouse and MF Doom. It was released in Europe on October 10, 2005, and on October 11, ...

and Ghetto Pop Life. The aesthetic approach featured in ''Beat Journey''s art design would become a staple in Jneiro's future releases. He followed up ''Beat Journey'' with his 2007 Lex release, '' Craft of the Lost Art'', under the group name Shape of Broad Minds. Like many of his previous works, ''Craft of the Lost Art'' saw Jarel incorporating several of his aliases on to the album, although this was the first time they would all converge in one place. In addition to fellow group member and emcee Jawwaad Taylor, the project also included a number of features from MF Doom,

, Stacy Epps and John Robinson. ''Craft of the Lost Art'' widely received positive reviews, and saw Jneiro teaming with Ehquestionmark once more, for an artwork design that included a limited edition, glow-in-the-dark LP, as well as an EP, single and

mixtape In the modern music industry, a mixtape is a musical project, typically with looser constraints than that of an album or extended play. Unlike the traditional album or extended play, mixtapes are labeled as laid-back projects that allow artists mo ...

download. In early 2009 he revisited his Dr. Who Dat? alter ego for the digital-only release of ''Beyond 2morrow''. This instrumental EP would showcase the more experimental approach to production that was previously, but briefly, explored in some of Jneiro's earlier work. Having been fully realized and embraced on this project, it would also help in solidifying his place among a growing musical genre that would later become popular in the Low End Theory and L.A. beat scene. That same year Jneiro teamed with Goodie Mob's

Khujo Goodie Willie Edward Knighton Jr. (born March 13, 1972), better known as Khujo, is an American rapper. He is one-fourth of Goodie Mob (along with T-Mo, Cee-Lo, and Big Gipp), and one-half of The Lumberjacks (with T-Mo). Life and career Khujo was b ...

to form the group Willie Isz. They released their debut project '' Georgiavania'' on June 15, 2009, via Lex Records. The album features backing vocals from Tunde Adebimpe of

, and continued the string of positive reception Jarel's work had come to know. It would also set the stage for a number of collaborations between Jarel and TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek. In 2010, Jarel signed a digital distribution deal with Alpha Pup Records, which resulted in the release of his ''Android Love Mayhem- EP'' and the reissue of ''Beyond 2morrow'', as Jneiro Jarel. Artwork for both EP's was handled by painter and muralist, and ''Three Piece Puzzle'' album cover designer, Joshua Mays. Jneiro also joined forces with Kindred Spirits again and released the Brazilian themed album ''Fauna''. All three projects had heavy electronic overtones in their production, and continued to show Jarel's willingness to move away from more traditional sample based music, and explore beyond the rigid boundaries set in place by many musical genres. In 2011 Jneiro was handpicked by

to be a part of the, newly established, musical collective DRC Music (

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

Music) group. Working in conjunction with

Oxfam Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent non-governmental organizations (NGOs), focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. It began as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief ...

, the project's intention was to bring awareness to Oxfam's relief work in Congo, as well as give exposure to over fifty local Congolese musicians. Albarn assembled a team of ten producers, composed of Jarel,

Dan the Automator Daniel M. Nakamura (born August 29, 1966), better known by his stage name Dan the Automator, is an American record producer. He is the founder of the publishing company Sharkman Music and the record label 75 Ark. Early life Daniel M. Nakamura wa ...

, XL Recordings managers Richard Russell and Rodaidh McDonald, Kwes,

Actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Marc Antoine, Alwest, and Remi Kabaka Jr. to work alongside local musicians in

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ), formerly named Léopoldville from 1881–1966 (), is the Capital city, capital and Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa is one of the world's fastest-grow ...

. The result was '' Kinshasa One Two''; an album recorded in five days, with all of its proceeds going towards Oxfam. It was released on

Warp Records Warp Records is a British independent record label that specialises in Electronic music, electronic, indie rock and experimental music. It was founded in Sheffield in 1989 by Steve Beckett, Robert Mitchell and Robert Gordon. It has released recor ...

October 3, 2011.

2012–present: JJ Doom and Label Who

On December 16, 2011, a Dave Sitek remix of a JJ Doom track, titled "Rhymin' Slang", was posted on

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

. JJ Doom was revealed to be the pairing of Jneiro Jarel and Lex label mate MF Doom, which drew speculation at the time that the two were working on an album together. This suspicion was confirmed when Pitchfork later ran an article on February 16, 2012, detailing the album's title, '' Key to the Kuffs'', and leaked one of its tracks "Banished". A third track from the album, "Guv'nor", was posted on Pitchfork July 27, 2012. ''Key to the Kuffs'' was released August 20, 2012 on Lex Records. Debuting at number 124 on the ''Billboard'' 200, ''Key to the Kuffs'' received notable positive praise, eventually charting a total of six ''Billboard'' charts and landing on several "Best Albums of 2012" lists. It had a number of high-profile guest appearances, from previous Jneiro Jarel collaborators Damon Albarn and Khujo Goodie, to Beth Gibbons of Portishead. A video for the song "Guv'nor" premiered August 23, 2012. Directed by Ninian Doff and presented by RizLab, the video garnered attention for its use of an

optical illusion In visual perception, an optical illusion (also called a visual illusion) is an illusion caused by the visual system and characterized by a visual perception, percept that arguably appears to differ from reality. Illusions come in a wide varie ...

/ split-screen visual effect. Later a video for the "Rhymin' Slang (JJ Tron Remix)" would be released, as an extension of the JJ Doom/RizLab project. The album artwork for ''Key to the Kuffs'' was designed by American

graffiti Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elabor ...

artist Stephen "ESPO" Powers. Powers would also later direct the music video for JJ Doom's "Bookhead". The video premiered June 19, 2013 and the track was featured on the expanded, deluxe edition of ''Key to the Kuffs'', titled ''Key to the Kuffs (Butter Edition)'', released August 20, 2013. The "Butter Edition" also included the Dave Sitek "Rhymin' Slang" remix, as well as the previously released, alternative version of "Retarded Fren" by

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon-on-Thames, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band members are Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Gre ...

Thom Yorke Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician who is the vocalist and main songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. He plays guitar, bass, keyboards and other instruments, and is noted for his falsetto. ''Rolling Stone'' desc ...

and

Jonny Greenwood Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood (born 5 November 1971) is an English musician. He is the lead guitarist and keyboardist of the rock band Radiohead, and has composed numerous film scores. He has been named one of the greatest guitarists by numer ...

. It also featured a number of guest contributions in the form of remixes, features and alternative versions from

Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970), known mononymously as Beck, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi mus ...

BadBadNotGood BadBadNotGood (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian instrumental band and Hip hop production, production team from Toronto, Canada. The group was founded in 2010 by bassist Chester Hansen, keyboardist Matthew Tavares, and drummer Alexander Sowinsk ...

Del the Funky Homosapien Teren Delvon Jones (born August 12, 1972), better known by his stage name Del the Funky Homosapien (sometimes stylized as Del tha Funkee Homosapien) or Sir DZL, is an American rapper. Music career 1988–1997: Early life and beginnings Born in O ...

and Clams Casino. In August 2013, Jneiro Jarel announced (via Okayplayer) the official launch of his own record label, Label Who, with Ropeadope Records serving as digital distributor.

Personal life

Jarel is married to

Indigo InterGlobe Aviation Limited (d/b/a IndiGo), is an India, Indian airline headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana, India. It is the largest List of airlines of India, airline in India by passengers carried and fleet size, with a 64.1% domestic market ...

Discography

Jneiro Jarel

*''Section A'' (2000) *''Timeless Vol. 1'' (2004) *''Three Piece Puzzle'' (2005) *"Big Bounce Theory" b/w "Quantum Leap" (2005) *''Fauna'' (2010) *''Android Love Mayhem EP'' (2010) *"Amazonica" b/w "See Them Cry" (2010) *''Beyond 2morrow'' reissue (2010) *''Flora'' (2014) *''After A Thousand Years'' (2020)

Dr. Who Dat?

*''Beat Journey'' (2006) *''Rhyme Cycle EP'' (2006) *''Beyond 2morrow'' (2009)

Shape of Broad Minds

*''Blue Experience EP'' (2007) *'' Craft of the Lost Art'' (2007) *''Raiders Of The Lost Mix'' (2007) *"OPR8R" (2008)

Willie Isz

*'' Georgiavania'' (2009)

Capital Peoples

*''Amazonica (1999-2004)'' (2009)

DRC Music

*'' Kinshasa One Two'' (2011)

JJ Doom

*'' Key to the Kuffs'' (2012) *''Rhymin Slang (JJ Tron Remix) EP'' Very limited exclusive blue 12' vinyl. (2012) *''Rhymin Slang (JJ Tron Remix) flexi-disc 7 Exclusive single face flexi-disc vinyl sold with #24 Wax Poetics Japan. (2012) *''Key to the Kuffs (Butter Version)'' (2013) *''Bookhead EP'' (2014)

Productions

*"Choklit Ninja" by Rich Medina on ''Connecting The Dots'' (2005) *"Rhyme Cycle" by Stacy Epps on ''Ruff Draft'' (2007) *"The Experiment" "Vocal Overload" by John Robinson on ''I Am Not For Sale'' (2008)

Remixes

*"Yellow Daisies (Jneiro Jarel Remix)" by Fertile Ground on ''Remixes 01'' (2005) *"Holdin' On (Dr. Who Dat? Remix)" by Champion Souls on ''Holdin' On EP Two'' (2005) *"Vibes From THe Tribe (Jneiro Jarel Remix)" by Build An Ark on ''Remixes'' (2005) *"Dust (Rocque Wun Mix)" by Recloose on ''Dust (Remixes)'' (2005) *"My Affection" by Vassy on ''My Affection'' (2005) *"My Juvenile (Jneiro Jarel's Minimal Animal Remix)" by

Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct voice, three-octave vocal range, and eccentric public per ...

(2009) *"Pretty Wings (Jneiro Jarel's Willie Isz Remix)" by

Maxwell Maxwell may refer to: People * Maxwell (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name ** James Clerk Maxwell, mathematician and physicist * Justice Maxwell (disambiguation) * Maxwell baronets, in the Baronetage of N ...

(2009) *"Gazzilion Ear (Dr. Who Dat? Remix)" by DOOM on '' Gazzillion Ear EP'' (2009) *"Gazzilion Ear (Jneiro Jarel feat. Dave Sitek Remix)" by DOOM on '' Gazzillion Ear EP'' (2009) *"Harmony Korine (David A. Sitek and Jneiro Jarel Magnetized Nebula Mix)" by

Steven Wilson Steven John Wilson (born 3 November 1967) is an English musician. He is the founder, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter of the rock band Porcupine Tree, as well as being a member of several other bands, including Blackfield, Storm Corrosi ...

(2009) *"Shout Me Out Remix" by

on ''Crying'' (2009) *"Balada 45 (Like A Brazilian Girl Remix)" by Arthur Verocai (2010) *"Electric Love (Jneiro Jarel Remix)" by Vikter Duplaix on ''Electric Love-EP'' (2010) *"Atlas Air (Jneiro Jarel's Lavender Jungle Remix)" by

on ''Atlas Air EP'' (2010) *"Groove Me (Jneiro Jarel Remix feat. Theophilus London)" by Maximum Balloon on '' Maximum Balloon'' (2010) *"Messin' (Jneiro Jarel Remix)" by Amatus (2014) *" 90s Music (Jneiro Jarel Remix)" by

on ''90s Music EP'' (2014)

Mixes

*"Mindgames (Sneaky Pete Edit)" by Rich Medina (2004)

DJ Mixes

*''Houston We Have A Solution'' (2005) *''Andrew Meza's BTS Radio Mix'' (2007) *''Return of The Shoegaze'' (2008) *''Jneiro Jarel aka Dr. Who Dat's BBC Radio 1 Mary Anne Hobbs Mix'' (2009) *''BBC Radio 1 Rob Da Bank JJ DOOM Mix'' (2012) *''Exclusive JJ DOOM Mixtape for Dazed Digital'' (2012) *''Traptronic Dreams Mixtape'' (2012) *''Jneiro Jarel x Bonafide Beats Mix #50'' (2014) *''Echoes In Viberia (Kimbra Mixtape) By Jneiro Jarel'' (2014)

Guest appearances

*"Lookin' At Me" by Kid Sublime on ''Basement Soul'' (2005) *"Not Tomorrow But" "No Game" by Breakthrough on ''Breakthrough'' (2005) *"Choklit Ninja" "Blues Baby" "Weight" by Rich Medina on ''Connecting The Dots'' (2005) *"Chea Chea" by

on ''Jazzmental'' (2005) *"Eyes And Ears" by Ohmega Watts on '' Watts Happening'' (2007) *"Evil Child" by Cilla K. on ''Evil Child'' (2010)

Compilation appearances

*"Sun Walkers" "Eeee Love" "Do You Thang" on ''Soul Purpose Is To Move You: Kindred Spirits Collection'' (2004) *"Sun Walkers" "Doinis!!" on ''Witness Future Vintage (Vol. 1)'' (2004) *"Doinis!!" on ''Undercover Cuts 21'' (2005) *"Soul Starr" "Big Bounce Theory" "Get Yuh Own" on ''Rush Hour Mixed Series Vol.01'' (2005) *"Lookin' At Me" on ''Habitat Collection: Fireside'' (2005) *"Lookin' At Me" on ''Jimmy Woo One'' (2006) *"Big Bounce Theory Part 2" on ''Witness Future Vintage (Vol. 2)'' (2007) *"Picante" on ''Basement Soul'' (2007) *"Rhymin' Slang (Dave Sitek Remix)" "Viberian Twilight Part 2" on ''Complex Vol. 1'' (2012)

References

External links

* *
Jneiro Jarel
on Lex Records
Jneiro Jarel
on Alpha Pup Records {{DEFAULTSORT:Jarel, Jneiro American hip-hop record producers American hip-hop DJs Living people Rappers from Brooklyn Rappers from Philadelphia 1975 births 21st-century American rappers Record producers from New York (state) Record producers from Pennsylvania Lex Records artists Ropeadope Records artists