Jneiro Jarel

Born in Brooklyn under the name Omar Jarel Gilyard, the future producer and MC Jneiro Jarel relocated repeatedly throughout his early years because his mother served in the U.S. Army, until the family established roots in Houston, Texas, during 1985. There he launched his performing career both alone and alongside the group Slam Kids, which he formed in 1994. Four years later he relocated once more, this time to New York, where he formally adopted the name Jneiro Jarel and began attracting notice as an MC. That exposure drew the interest of Public Enemy producer Hank Shocklee, who booked him as an opener for Julie Dexter and Lord Finesse. Dissatisfied with the pace of his work alongside Shocklee and intent on releasing original recordings, Jarel turned instead to independent outlets, issuing the album Section A in 2000 through Orienj Recordings. He shifted to Philadelphia in 2004, where he collaborated with locally prominent hip-hop figures Rich Medina and King Britt while expanding his production skills through partnerships with Jazzanova and Count Bass D, among others. During 2005 he put out three projects: Three Piece Puzzle on Kindred Spirits, Beat Journey under the alias Dr. Who Dat?, and the DJ mix Houston We Got a Solution, the latter two appearing on his own Label Who?, which also handled a U.S. reissue of Three Piece Puzzle in tandem with Rope-a-Dope. London-based Lex Records later reissued Beat Journey in summer 2006.