Abdul Jeleel Yussuf (born October 14, 1995), known professionally as Jeleel (stylized as JELEEL!), is an American rapper, singer, and record producer from

Providence, RI Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

. He is known for his single "Dive In!" which received traction on social media.

Early life and education

Jeleel was born and raised in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

. He is of

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

descent. He attended

La Salle Academy } La Salle Academy is an American private, Catholic all-boys' high school in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York. The school is run by the Eastern North American District of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools. ...

in Providence and graduated from

Loyola University Maryland Loyola University Maryland is a private Jesuit university in Baltimore, Maryland. Established as Loyola College in Maryland by John Early and eight other members of the Society of Jesus in 1852, it is the ninth-oldest Jesuit college in the ...

Career

2018-2020: Beginnings

Jeleel released his first song, ''Play Me'', while attending university, though it has since been deleted from all platforms. Jeleel released the project ''Angel From Heaven'' in 2019. In 2020, he released the

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

''Generation Z''. In 2021, Jeleel released the song "Dive In!", which received traction on

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

and other social media sites, and garnered over 50 million streams on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

, and resulted in him signing a partnership with the record label

10K Projects 10K Projects (also known as ''Ten Thousand Projects'') is an American independent record label founded in 2016. Distribution is handled by Virgin Music Label & Artist Services, a division of Universal Music Group. History 10K Projects was fou ...

2021-present: Debut studio album

In April 2022, Jeleel released a single titled "Rain On You!". In June 2022, he released a collaboration with rapper Mike Dimes titled ''Clubhouse!''. In July 2022, he released a single titled "Uncivilized! (Go!)". In August 2022, he released a single titled "Stone Cold!". In September 2022, he performed at the Made in America Festival. Also in September 2022, he released a single titled "Deliver!". In January 2023, Jeleel released a single titled “Ride The Wave!” and shot the music video in

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. He released his debut studio album titled Real Raw! on May 5th, 2023.

Musical style

'' XXL'''s Kemet High described Jeleel's sound as "rap, punk and R&B". Alexander Cole of ''

HotNewHipHop ''HotNewHipHop (HNHH)'' is an online publication that covers daily news about hip hop and pop culture, including streetwear, sports, and sneakers. In addition to its editorial content, HotNewHipHop also produces the video serieses; ''How to Roll ...

'' describes Jeleel's style as "an energetic vocal delivery, some loud rock-inspired production, and a catchy hook that will be in your head all day".

Discography

Studio albums

Mixtapes

Extended plays

Singles

References

External links

* {{Authority control Living people 21st-century American rappers 1995 births Alternative R&B musicians African-American male rappers American male rappers People from Rhode Island African-American Muslims Muslims from Rhode Island