JELEEL! talks music, movement, and the fitness routines that fuel his relentless energy.
The L.A. sky is a shade of too-good-to-be-true blue when JELEEL! picks up his phone and joins me over a video call. In signature JELEEL! fashion, the twenty-seven-year-old rapper is on the move: he’s just wrapped up an intense content creation session, the fruits of which will eventually reach his two million TikTok followers who can’t get enough of the “DIVE IN!” singer’s clips of larger-than-life gymnastics stunts. While the raw power of JELEEL!’s athletic feats is enough to draw any person into his orbit, there’s something bigger than the wow factor operating when it comes to JELEEL!. He’s not here to simply leave you jaw-dropped and staring at your phone. He’s here to motivate you. He’s here to pass his infectious energy on.
“I want people to feel like JELEEL!,” he says. But what, exactly, does it mean to feel like JELEEL!? Behind his personal brand built on energy that seems to spring forth from an eternal reservoir is a deep sense of intentionality. Each song, each stunt, and each statement is rooted in a commitment to helping others get in touch with their own energy and power— with whatever it is that lights them up.
“I want people to feel like they can do anything,” he says. “I want people to feel unstoppable. I want people to feel majestic. I want people to feel beautiful.”
A graduate of Loyola University, JELEEL! studied psychology as an undergraduate before moving to L.A. to pursue his creative dreams. (With humor, he recalls his earliest days in the city, when he would sometimes sneak into Equinox without a membership to workout.) The foundations of his education have stayed with him, and—as both a musician and athlete—puts JELEEL! in a unique position to explore the full extent of the mind-body connection.
“A strong body makes a strong mind,” JELEEL! tells me. “I know they say a strong mind makes a strong body, but, if your body’s not where you want it to be? You’re not going to be as confident.”
On stage or in the gym, confidence is everything. For JELEEL!, working out is a direct way that we can cultivate self-esteem and feel good about ourselves. Always known as the kid who was bouncing off the walls, JELEEL! has never lost that childlike energy. Instead, he has channeled it into countless sports, starting with soccer as a child and growing up to devote himself to everything from boxing, gymnastics, MMA— even hot yoga (which he says is “definitely the hardest” of all the sport’s he’s thrown himself into).
If one had never encountered JELEEL! the man and was only familiar with the voice they heard playing through the speakers, it still wouldn’t be hard to pick up on his devotion to athleticism and movement: It’s inextricably married to the music he makes.
Songs like “Stone Cold” speak of pushing yourself to the limits of lifting, while his latest album REAL RAW! is a casanova of vastly different musical influences—including everything from pop-punk to Afrobeat— that come together to create thirty minutes of music that basically demands that you get your body moving and have some fun in the process. For JELEEL!, inspiring this in others is always the point.
“When people listen to my music they feel like moving,” he says. He also knows that this movement might look different for everyone. “I want people to feel good in their own way, you know?”
JELEEL! Has launched his career by feeling good in his own way and sharing that experience with others. While the artist sees himself as a musician and athlete, he also sees himself as an ambassador of a mindset— the JELEEL! mindset. Embodying his mindset and energy doesn’t mean lifting until you too can shred the shirt right off your very back. (Though, power to you if you can.) Instead, it means being intentional about your goals and putting in the sweat, time, and enthusiasm to reach them. Whether his intention is set on music, sports, or content creation, this is how JELEEL! operates.
“You got to force your way in because they won't let you in the door,” he says. So you got to break it.”
From the outside looking in, it seems as if JELEEL! has busted open the door and thrown a party where it fell. Earlier this year, he performed at hip hop festival, Rolling Loud, and now he’s preparing for his REAL RAW! tour. However, the rapper insists he’s just getting started. There are always more goals to conquer— like doing WWE. He muses briefly on putting himself up to that challenge before returning back to what needs his attention here in the present moment: his music. And, of course, his fitness regime.
“I need to go harder in the workouts,” he adds, revealing his secret to becoming such an unstoppable force. Showing up. Going hard. Finding that little bit of space where you can push even harder. Every single time.