• Rap Release Dates: Chamillionaire, Ludacris, Canibus & More - HipHopDX

  Rap Release Dates: Chamillionaire, Ludacris, Canibus & More HipHopDX ... Guilty Simpson, Jean Grae, Kam Moye, Phonte of Little Brother, Royce Da 5'9?, and Zion I. Additional Releases: Apollo Brown (Reset), Bizzy Bone, ...

• Hip Hop Culture >> more Hip Hop Culture - Global Grind

  Hip Hop Culture >> more Hip Hop Culture Global Grind Jean Grae ft. Styles P & Talib Kweli "Rock In The Pocket (radio rip)": When I saw the title of this one, I KNEW they'd throw that sample in there. ...

• Joell Ortiz Marks March Release Date For 'Free Agency' - Sixshot.com

  Joell Ortiz Marks March Release Date For 'Free Agency' Sixshot.com ... Brother Ali, Bun B, Styles P, Sheek Louch, Raekwon, Novel, Smokey Robinson, MOP, Slaughterhouse, Maino, Jean Grae, Talib Kweli and Bobby Ray. ... and more »

• Hip-Hop Artist Cultural Exchange Program: A Historic Experience - AllHipHop

  Hip-Hop Artist Cultural Exchange Program: A Historic Experience AllHipHop Life for Jabba for the next two weeks would include performing alongside the likes of KRS-One, Jean Grae, Dead Prez, Talib Kweli, Grand Puba, and Pharoahe ...

• Pulse Report: Rick Ross Reveals Mafia Ties, The South Hates 50 Cent, Lil Wayne ... - SOHH

  SOHH	Pulse Report: Rick Ross Reveals Mafia Ties, The South Hates 50 Cent, Lil Wayne ... SOHH And while y'all wait for Eve, just remember we're still waiting for Kim, Foxy, Missy, Rah Digga, Jean Grae and a whole bunch of others. SMFH! ...

• Every Drop Counts Benefit Concert ? Haiti benefit in Chicago - Bloginity (blog)

  Bloginity (blog)

  Every Drop Counts Benefit Concert ? Haiti benefit in Chicago Bloginity (blog) Hosted by Aja Monet, Every Drop Counts Benefit Concert, will include performances by: Fred Hampton Jr., M1 [of Dead Prez], Jean Grae, Mystic, Rhyme Fest, ...

• Hip-hopping off to US - Times LIVE

  Times LIVE

  Hip-hopping off to US Times LIVE "I hear I will be performing alongside the likes of KRS 1, Dead Prez, Jean Grae, Pharaoh Monch and Grand Puba. It's a good time to be African indeed," he ...

• The Hip-Hop Herald 01.14.10: Ray J And Young Buck - Lovers Or Friends? - 411mania.com

  The Hip-Hop Herald 01.14.10: Ray J And Young Buck - Lovers Or Friends? 411mania.com Artists like Raekwon, Akon, Bun B., Smokey Robinson, Talib Kweli, Styles P., MOP and Jean Grae make appearances on the album, while producers like DJ ... and more »

• Nova Loops Releases The First Sample Sound Product In Their Celebrity Series - Online PR News (press release)

  Nova Loops Releases The First Sample Sound Product In Their Celebrity Series Online PR News (press release) ... '1,2 Theory' (Rawkus) Truth E No La, El Da Sensi, Jowell Ortiand, including Dj'ing for Musiq Soulchild, Talib Kweli, The Roots, Jean Grae and many more. ...

• Joell Ortiz se u? snad kone?n? do?kal... - BBaRáK

  Joell Ortiz se u? snad kone?n? do?kal... BBaRáK Dostatek je i t?ch, kte?í se blýsknou vokáln? - Akon, Brother Ali, Bun B, Styles P, Sheek Louch, Raekwon, Novel, Smokey Robinson, MOP, Maino, Jean Grae, ...

Jean Grae (real name Tsidi Ibrahim, also known as What? What? & Da Easter Bunny, born 1976)¹² is a hip hop artist from New York.

Biography

Early life

Born in Cape Town, South Africa on November 26, 1976, the daughter of South African jazz musicians (her father and mother are the celebrated musicians Sathima Bea Benjamin and Abdullah Ibrahim), she studied Vocal Performance at the LaGuardia School of Music & Art before majoring in Music Business at New York University.³¹ She also did some modeling during her teen years.

Early career (1996-1998)

Ibrahim initially worked under the names Major Woody & Da Easter Bunny because she thought it would be funny to hear those names announced at shows. After working with groups including Ground Zero, she joined a hip hop music group called Natural Resource in the mid-1990s,² along with rapper Ocean. In 1996 they released a pair of 12-inch singles called Negro League Baseball ³ b/w "Bum Deal" b/w "They Lied," and "Bum Deal(remix)" b/w "They Lied(remix)" b/w "I Love This World" on their own label Makin' Records.¹ She also appeared on singles by fellow Makin' Records artists Pumpkinhead and Bad Seed, and on the O.B.S. (Original Blunted Soldiers) double 12-inch single alongside crew members Pumpkinhead, Bad Seed, and Meat-pie, and produced much of the material released on the label under the pseudonym Run Run Shaw. During this period she established strong ties with the Brooklyn Academy crew, with which she would appear throughout her career.

Solo career (1998-2004)

Natural Resource dissolved in 1998, after which Ibrahim changed her stage name from What? What? to Jean Grae, a reference to the X-Men character Jean Grey.⁴ Under her new moniker, she released her first LP—Attack of the Attacking Things—in 2002, and followed it in 2004 with This Week.⁴ Throughout her career she has also recorded tracks with numerous major hip hop artists, Atmosphere, The Roots, Talib Kweli, The Herbaliser, Da Beatminerz, Phonte, Mr. Len, Masta Ace, Vordul Mega, C-Rayz Walz, Mos Def, and Immortal Technique among them.

Jean has recorded an unreleased album with celebrated North Carolina producer 9th Wonder, of Little Brother fame, entitled Jeanius. This unfinished record was leaked on the internet, and subsequently work was stopped on this album.⁵ However, at the release party for 9th Wonder's Dream Merchant Volume 2 album she stated that Jeanius was still going to be released. This album was eventually released first through Zune Live Marketplace two weeks before its disc release on July 8, 2008.⁶ The album features the track "My Story", about the abortion she had as a teenager.⁷ Her rapping on the album was described by Robert Christgau as "remarkable for its rapidity, clarity and idiomatic cadence. The writing has a good-humored polysyllabic literacy."⁸ Elsewhere, it's been reported that her proposed fourth album, provisionally titled Phoenix has gone into production. It has been reported by several camp insiders that 9th Wonder will handle the lion's share of the production duties with unknown UK producer Passion hifi and NY resident Clinikal providing a beat each.^{citation needed}

Blacksmith Music (2005-present)

Previously signed to Babygrande Records, she signed a deal in 2005 with Talib Kweli's Blacksmith Records. On 28 April 2008, Jean Grae posted a blog on her MySpace page saying goodbye to her fans. ⁹ She later cited disenchantment with the music industry and desire to start a family as the reasons behind the 'retirement' and said that she was working on new material and still wanted to continue in music: "You know what? I need that Grammy. I think I might be able to stop after that".¹⁰ In July 2008, Talib Kweli posted a blog explaining Grae's album, mentioning that she was not retiring. The blog ends encouraging fans to purchase the album, referring to Grae as "one of the last true MCs left." Grae returned to doing live performances later that year.¹¹

On September 18, 2008, Jean Grae posted a Craigslist ad offering her creative services for $800/16 bars.¹²¹³ On her MySpace blog entry, she states, "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."¹⁴

Discography

Albums

• Attack of the Attacking Things (2002)
• The Bootleg of the Bootleg EP (2003)
• This Week (2004)
• The Orchestral Files (2007)
• Jeanius with 9th Wonder (2008)
• The Evil Jeanius with Blue Sky Black Death (2008)
• Cake or Death (2010)

Other Songs

• Immortal Technique- The Illest (ft. Jean Grae and Pumpkinhead)
• Immortal Technique - You Never Know (ft. Jean Grae)
• Akir - Tropical Fantasy (ft. Jean Grae)

References

External links

• Jean Grae at MySpace
• Jean Grae Discography on Discogs