• What's going on Sunday?

  brooklynvegan - Found Nov. 22, 2009 Hall of Williamsburg * Performa: Scratch the Grand Finale @ (Le) Poisson Rouge * Talib Kweli, Jean Grae, Mickey Factz, Skyzoo @ Brooklyn...

• upcoming hip hop includes Talib Kweli in Idle Warship & his label's ...

  brooklynvegan - Found Nov. 12, 2009 "The Night Before The Night Before Christmas" at Highline Ballroom on 12/23 will feature Jean Grae , Strong Arm Steady , and Soul...

• This Weekend! Devo, Sonic Youth, Talib Kweli, and Devendra Banhart ...

  Village Voice - Found Nov. 22, 2009 Sunday Talib Kweli and noted Michael Jackson fan Jean Grae are at Brooklyn Bowl, and why the hell not;

• Concert Roundup: Brian Setzer, Phish, Sloan and more

  Star Ledger - Found 2 hours ago 28, 7 p.m.: Lucy Kaplansky, New YorkNov. 28, 11:30 p.m.: Jean Grae, New YorkNov. 28, 7 p.m.: Mike Doughty, New YorkNov.

• Nicki Minaj Killed Your Fave Rapper

  All Hip Hop - Found Nov. 6, 2009 That n*gga is one of the greatest rappers ever and here you are co-signing some chick that Jean Grae would sh*t on in 4 seconds.

• FESTIVAL/CRUISE: 2009 St. Louis International Film Festival to ...

  All About Jazz - Found Nov. 2, 2009 The film features interviews and musical performances from Remy Ma, Rah Digga, Jean Grae, Erykah Badu and Estelle, as well as pioneers MC Lyte... Vijay Iyer highlights the abundance of young talent in contemporary ... - Chicago Tribune At Festival Miami, sweet sound of jazz fills the air - Miami Herald PERFORMANCE/TOUR: Jazz Standard Warms up the Holiday Season with Hot ... - All About Jazz Bliss With A Twist: International Vocalist Lua Hadar Heads To San ... - Express Press Release Explore All

• TOP 5 DEAD OR ALIVE: 9th Wonde...

  All Hip Hop - Found Oct. 9, 2009 If he’s not keeping it super real producing for Jean Grae, Skyzoo or Buckshot, he is getting commercial props with beats for Jay-Z or... Q-Tip, Life Is Better Featuring Norah Jones - Video - Contactmusic Jay-Z Says MTV Hottest MC's List Lacks Credibility - Examiner.com Hip-Hop Rumors: Chris Brown=Attempted Murder? Ray-J Havin? A Bay ... - HiphopRnbSoul.com New York hip hop scene gets strange, Strange Music that is! - Examiner.com Explore All

• Someone Answers Gladys Knight?s Bash to Hip Hop? Dare We Agree

  Bossip - Found Oct. 2, 2009 Professor Patrick Douthit, aka 9th Wonder, who has made music with Jay-Z, Beyonce, Jean Grae, Torae and others, has responded in this...

• New music: Trina - "Ain't Shhh" feat. Shonie

  Notes from a Different Kitchen - Found Oct. 6, 2009 Maybe not.... Eternia - "R.I.P. to FEMALE EMCEES" feat. MC Lyte & Jean Grae . [YouTube video]

Jean Grae
Background information
Birth name	Tsidi Ibrahim
Also known as	What? What?, Da Easter Bunny
Born	November 27, 1976 (1976-11-27) (age 32)citation needed
Origin	Cape Town, South Africa
Genres	Hip hop
Occupations	Rapper, Producer
Years active	1996-present
Labels	Third Earth Music (2002-2003) Babygrande Records (2003-2005) Blacksmith Records / Warner Bros. Records (2005-Present)
Associated acts	Sathima Bea Benjamin, Abdullah Ibrahim, Talib Kweli, Atmosphere, 9th Wonder
Website	Official Site

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. And 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, and 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 As of July 2008, Talib Kweli posted a blog explaining things about the album and includes the fact that she is not retiring, and encourages fans to purchase the album by "one of the last true MCs left". Grae returned to live performance later that year.¹¹

On September 18, 2008, Jean Grae posted a Craigslist 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)

References

External links

• Jean Grae at MySpace
• Jean Grae Discography on Discogs