By day, Jamael Dean blends piano-led jazz with Yoruba storytelling. By night, he’s Jasik, rapping over self-produced instrumentals. His new hip-hop album Ibowo is out now – a collection of 16 tracks recorded as an emotional outlet during a frustrating time – when “screaming into a mic” felt like the only way through.
Stream: Jasik – Ibowo
Jamael Dean grew up in L.A.’s historic Leimert Park and was born into a musical family – his grandfather is revered drummer Donald Dean. Jamael leads the Afronauts collective and has participated in the Pan Afrikan People’s Arkestra. Yoruba storytelling has long been a feature of Dean’s music – his last album Primordial Waters (2021) told the story of the creation of the Yoruba people while Ibowo‘s track titles are in the Yoruba language.
Ibowo was written in 2021 and produced under his Jira >< producer handle. Each track samples the jazz music that Jamael is known for, but the album finds him melding all of his influences as rapping, creating beats, and his talent as a jazz musician all meld together in catharsis.
