JNelle

Jahnelle Leiba, known professionally as JNelle, is a Maryland based writer, singer, and rapper who was born in Jamaica and relocated to the U.S. 2 weeks from her 10th birthday. For the first 6 years of her life, JNelle was surrounded by the voice of Michael Jackson, her favorite artist of all time. This caused JNelle to fall in love with music as her mother would often play Soul, R&B and Pop music throughout the house.

At age 13, JNelle experienced trauma that would forever reshape her young mind. As a result, she rediscovered music as her only refuge or healthy distraction. Having identify with the passion of his words and the intensity of his delivery, 2Pac became JNelle's favorite rapper and the whole reason she fell in love with Hip Hop music with her favorite female rapper being Lauryn Hill.

JNelle had already started writing poetry at age 13 but with her new found love, that was now short lived. JNelle stopped writing poetry and started writing raps to capture those moments in her life that she kept to herself. In 2007, JNelle was listening to Lil Wayne heavily and his influence greatly inspired her current style of writing. At that time, JNelle had no idea what 16 bars were until another female rapper that went to her high school gave her a Hip Hop DVD titled "16 Bars". At the same time, she was also routinely listening to Eminem, Rihanna and Chris Brown. JNelle was so deeply inspired by these artists and they helped to shape her style.

When writing rap verses, JNelle frequently uses multi-syllable rhymes while often switching the flow and melody of the verse. She learned to better write hooks, R&B, Pop, and Rock songs by listening to Michael Jackson, Rihanna, Chris Brown and Drake. JNelle would often be seen walking around the apartment complex where she lived with a notebook and a pencil. At 15 she started listening to Meek Mill who also greatly influenced her rap style and by the age of 16, she was great at writing rap verses. By the time JNelle was 18, she became a monster at putting together well written Hip Hop, R&B, Pop & Rock songs. Michael Jackson made a lot of songs that were heavy on the electric guitar and that caused JNelle to start listening to rock music. JNelle's favorite rock bands are Paramore, Fall Out Boys, Panic at the disco, Linkin Park, Green Day and 30 seconds to Mars.

JNelle frequently pays homage to her favorite R&B artists are Michael Jackson, Chris Brown, Usher, Lauryn Hill and Drake. JNelle's favorite Pop artists are Michael Jackson, Chris Brown, Rihanna, The Weekend and Taylor Swift. JNelle's favorite Hip Hop artists are 2pac, Eminem, Lil Wayne, Lauryn Hill and Meek Mill. In Hip Hop a rapper had to write their own lyrics and JNelle took that rule with her when she started writing songs in different genres.