A Note From Willy

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Were you always around music growing up?

Yeah, my parents listened to a lot of African music, I was always around Afrobeats growing up. I feel like I always had those melodies in my head.

Was there a song or album that made you fall in love with music?

50 Cent’s Get Rich or Die Trying. I love Lil Uzi Vert vs The World and Playboi Carti, the self-titled project.

Jacket DIESEL, pants RTA, necklace MARTINE ALI, earring VIVIENNE WESTWOOD.

When I saw you the other week you were fasting for Ramadan. Has Islam always been a big part of your life?

It’s always been a part of me. I want people to listen to my music and be like, “okay, he's actually doing something different. He's preaching positivity.” I don't want to mislead people. So, at the end of the day, I just try to make sure it's positive.

Do you feel like it has an influence on your music and your creativity?

Of course. I feel like every time I create, I'm being influenced. Every time I create, I'm finding more about me. I'm learning more about Jeleel when I create. So, everything is flow. Everything is having fun with it. You don't got to sell out.

Has your faith ever proved to be a challenge in the music industry?

Honestly, it is sometimes a challenge because I'm not the example of a Muslim. I'm a Muslim, but I'm not the most devout. But I'm trying my best and Allah sees that. But of course there's challenges but you have to stick to your guns. You got to stick to yourself and know yourself. I know myself, I know what I want to do. I know who I am. I don't need to sell out or act like somebody else. I know my faith and I know Allah has a plan for me. And his plan is the best plan. And Jeleel loves everybody. All walks of earth, all religions, all people.

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Nick mentioned that the ‘Jeleeeeel! Yeah.’ you sing on most, if not all, tracks comes from your mom yelling at you or something. Can you tell me more about that?

Yeah, I feel like I always heard melodies as a kid. Even when people were talking, my mom would be like, "Jeleeeeeel" and I could hear the melody in that. I don't know how. I don't know if I have synesthesia. I doubt it, but I could always hear melodies when people talk.

It was always stuck in my head 'cause my mom used to yell at me all the time, "Jeleeeeel go wash the dishes." And I would be like, ‘Okay mama.’ And it always stuck with me. So that's how it started. So, she be like, "Jeleel." I be like, ‘Yeah.’ Then, “Jeleel! Yeah.” You get it?

I've seen you doing some crazy flips on stage. Where did that come from? Is that something you've always been able to do?

Yeah, I always loved WWE, Jeff Hardy. And I loved how he was always doing crazy shit. I wanted to be that guy, too. I love Jeff. He's a G.O.A.T., but I love doing the flips. It was fun. I've always been like that. Jumping off the walls.

It definitely brings something else to performance. It gets the crowd going, for sure.

Yeah, definitely. But I really be performing though. I be really showing people, I'm really performing my heart out.

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Going into this album, had your approach changed when it comes to creating music?

Yeah. Because I'm more than just a rage artist, I'm an artist and I want to show people that I can do this shit. ‘Cause people don't know. But I just can't wait. I just need to show people, Jeleel's an artiste, he can do this music shit.

What do you think sets this album apart from your previous work?

This album is more of a high energy album, and I am a high energy person, but my first album Angel from Heaven was more chill. But this album definitely shows more of a different side of Jeleel, too.

It's funny you say you're high energy because you are, but you also have this contrasting calmness to you.

Yeah, I'm calm too, bro. Everything's a balance. It's fun.

Was there a message you wanted to convey with this project?

With this project, I just want to show people Jeleel real and raw. It's unfiltered. I'm giving y'all my heart. There's no veil, there's no covering. Real, raw energy. It's Jeleel and he's not stopping it. I'm letting y'all know how I feel about songs, how I feel in the songs. I'm letting y'all know who I am as an artist. So yeah, I'm just showing everybody who Jeleel is.

There are some cool features on it, Ty Dolla $ign, Chow Lee, Denzel Curry. How did those features come about and what was it like to work with those artists?

Ty hit me up randomly, so I went to the studio. I didn't know what we were going to make, but he had a dude that had sent him beats and he was playing beats and I said, ‘Ooh, that one's hard.’ And we just cooked it up, (singing) ‘rollin' up in a fast car’. So yeah, that happened that way. He was just showing love.

Chow Lee, he's a homie. He's from New York, he's about to blow up. He'd been making more of the sexy drill sound, and I felt like he was the right person for ‘Confetti’. So, I just hit him up asking him to lay a verse on it.’ And he did that shit quick, the next day.

Denzel Curry's my homie. He been showing love. He's just like me. And I was like, ‘yo bro, I got to get you on this song.’

How do you hope your music will impact listeners?

I just hope people really listen. Because people think I'm a rage artist. You know what people think? They think, oh, Jeleel, that dude, he's a meme. He blew up on TikTok. He doesn’t make real music. So, I really hope people listen and be like, actually he's an actual artist. I'm doing different genres, but I'm happy because I want people to think I suck at music. I want people to think I'm trash because it's just going to prove them wrong.