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Jean Grae
Jean Grae
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Although she was born in South Africa, Jean Grae (real name Tsidi Ibrahim) will always be a New Yorker by heart. The daughter of two jazz musicians, Jean learned an appreciation for all genres of music at an early age. She attended the High School of Performing Arts as a vocal major and was later accepted to New York University as a Music Business major. Disenchanted by the classroom settings, Jean decided early on that she was more of a hands-on learner. During high school she learned to read and arrange music as well as learn classical and choral arrangements, giving her a good foundation on becoming a hip-hop writer and producer.

Jean Grae (then known as What? What?) was recruited by a rapper named Ocean, who formed a group called Natural Resource in the mid-90s. In 1997, Natural Resource founded their own record label, Makin' Records, and released the 12" single, "Negro League Baseball", which became an underground hip-hop classic. They followed with several other 12"s including "I Love This World", "They Lied" and "Bum Deal". In addition to writing and producing with Natural Resource, Jean Grae also produced singles for Makin' Records artists Pumpkin Head, Don Scavone and The Bad Seed.

Natural Resource broke up in 1998 due to creative differences, but the exposure with the group worked towards Jean's benefit. Changing her name from What? What? to Jean Grae, she was asked to appear on a number of songs with artists such as Herbaliser, High & Mighty, the Mumia 911 Project, the Hip-Hop For Respect project, Mr. Len, Da Beatminerz and Masta Ace.

In the summer of 2002, Jean Grae released her debut album, Attack of the Attacking Things. The album featured the assistance of Da Beatminerz, Mr. Len, and Masta Ace. The album received much critical and fan acclaim as one of the best female hip-hop albums since Lauryn Hill's 1998 album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. This Week followed in 2004. ~ Quibian 'Q' Salazar-Moreno, All Music GuideMore

Official Profile

Jean Grae
Born into music and trying to rebirth it in her own way. Jean Grae (formerly known as Tsidi Ibrahim)...
Songs: 2, Videos: 0, Playlists: 1, Blog Posts: 0, Polls: 0, Battles: 0

Most Popular Music Videos (1)

Love Thirst (video)
(Duration: 4:42)
Oct 10th, 7:23am
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Fan Comments

May 5th, 10:33pm
THANK YOU. BEST LYRICIST WITH LAURYN HILL. THIS GIRL NEEDS MORE RECOGNITION!!! NOW!!!
Apr 29th, 1:49am
what up Jean? you are so like honey.
Apr 9th, 5:36pm
Jean you are one of my favorite lyricists... period. keepin true lyricism alive we need more mc's like you.
Apr 2nd, 6:10pm
Sounds good;)
Dec 1st, 8:06pm
Jean U Killed it Last Nite wit that Lame azz Crowd U know the BX always got Love for you, So see ya at the next Show.
Nov 24th, 9:35am
Advance Happy Birthday Miss Grae..
Nov 13th, 4:25pm
Aye Jean I need dat my story nd da billy killer
Nov 12th, 3:25pm
my new fav female emcee!
Nov 1st, 9:00am
Yo Jean I heard U was A MC for Halloween..........