919 Spotlight: JELEEL!

NOVEMBER 29, 2022

Originally from Nigeria, JELEEL! Born Abdul Jeleel Yussuf is a singer, rapper and record producer who gained traction after his single Dive In! blew up on social media. Jeleel spent majority of his life in the United States and began his musical journey in 2018 after downloading an app called Rapchat. He would freestyle over Kid Cudis “Day ‘n’ Nite” and decided to continue nurturing the potential he saw in himself. After some studio sessions he realized this was the path for him. His first show was at an art gallery in Baltimore and a year later before graduating he opened for Sean Paul in Baltimore for Loyalapalooza. Two weeks later Jeleel was in LA, he didn’t have a plan but just knew he was going to be discovered. He worked hard and built an online presence and gained a following through his youthful exuberance, music and gymnastics. 

Debut album Angels from Heaven, 2019 and Generation Z EP, 2020 were released before his breakthrough moment came in 2021 with Dive In! “JELEEL, YEAH!” was an undeniable hit and this led to him signing with 10K. By this time he was living in Los Angeles planning to pursue music full time. It wasn’t easy though, he was homeless for some time after moving to LA but always believed he was capable of changing this world. His uniqueness and soft spoken cadence and the ease with which he switches from soft angelic vocals to rockstar. This is no gimmick, we got the chance to sit with Jeleel in Season 1 Episode 2 of our Men of Influence Series on YouTube to talk about his story and how there’s more to him than what meets the eye. If there’s one thing the audience should take away from Jeleel it’s his authenticity and optimism. Jeleel performed at Rolling Loud Miami 2022 and we can’t wait to see what next he has in store for us!