Nah, nah, nah I aint talking about the telekinetic chick from the X-men I'm talking about one of the hottest rappers in the game, Jean Grae.
Jean Grae (who's birthname is Tsidi Ibrahim) was born on November 27th 1976 in Cape Town, South Africa and grew up in New York.
Music runs in Jean Grae's family, her father is Jazz pianist Abdullah Ibrahim and her mother is Jazz vocalist Sathima Bea Benjamin.
Jean Grae career started around 96 preforming under such names as Da Easter Bunny, What What? and Major Woody. Jean Grae was part of the hip-hop group Natural Resource. Not only di Jean Grae (then going by the stage name What? What?) rap but she was also a producer going by the name Run Run Shaw. During this time she also hooked up with the Brooklyn Academy crew.
In 1998 Natural Resource was depleted it was then when the rapper known as What? What? would change her name to Jean Grae and yes she did base her name on the Marvel Comic book character.
In 2002 J.Grae released the LP Attack of the Attacking Things. In 2003 JeanGrae joined the record label Babygrande released the Bootleg of the Bootleg Ep and in 2004 she released the LP This week.
In 2005 Jean Grae joined Talib Kweli record label Blacksmith Records. In 2007 Jean Grae released The Orchestral Files. In 2008 Jean Grae released an album she had been working on with 9th Wonder for years called Jeanius. That same year hip-hop producer duo Blue Sky Black Death made the album The Evil Jeanius which they sampled Jean's raps with beats they produced.
In 2008 Jean Grae also made news when she told people that she was going to retire form hip-hop and start a family. also that year Jean Grae put an ad on Craigslist stating that for $800 she would rap 16 bars
the add is reposted below
So, the economy sucks…. I apparently have another unauthorized album for sale dropping Sept 30th and I figure, if everyones gonna make money offa me, why not make it directly and directly to the people who really love this shit anyway.
Out the hands of big business, straight to you.
So.. you got beats?? cd’s?? envelopes?? yousendit?? protools?
Whatever you got I’ll try and find a way to work with it.
I work fast, so you’ll have em fast.
16’s for $800 (cause 8’s half of 16..ooh math! math yo!) and yeah..we can negotiate.
Maybe you want a hook.. or 8 bars. or an into.. or outro.. whatever.
Figured we’d take advantage of our online community, since some of us may not get the chance to meet in person.
Kinda stick it to the man too. Who doesn’t like that?
You send it to me.. You know you gotta pay me first.. lol … Trust me, if I don’t do it you can find me, right? And talk crappity crap about me, cause it’s the internet.. I like the honor system and was raised on it.
Sooo… lets have some fun with it.. for ONCE in a long time.
Once you got it, you got it. Not looking for any extra publishing or anything..
Like Half Baked, “Go! Sell Weed!”
Just decided to do this today, so we can do deposits or western union.
I like working with people who love doing this and dont get enough shine.. plus, I like money just coming to me.
I’ll put different songs up on my myspace everyday and change you guys to my top friends.
I’m sure I’ll find some producers/emcees I didn’t even know about and that would be awesome.
ok go!
EMAIL THE ADDRESS AND LETS GET GOING.
THIS IS REAL, IT’S ME.. I’M BLOGGING ABOUT IT NOW ON MY MYSPACE.
LOVE YA, HOPE TO HEAR FROM Y’ALL SOON.
LET’S KEEP THIS SHIT FUN AND CREATIVE AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE DIGITAL AGE.
JEAN
I don't know if the offer is still open.
In 2010 Jean Grae drop the album Cake or Death.
