Jelani Aryeh is a San Diego-based 20-year-old Filipino/African American singer and songwriter. His music blurs genre boundaries, blending indie rock, R&B, hip-hop, pop, and experimental sounds. In an age of memes and social media virality, Jelani brings substance and emotional depth belying his age.

Jelani’s musical career first took off in 2016. His first stop in the land of creation was set by YouTube instrumentals, early SoundCloud singles, and high school mumble rappers.

He eventually closed out of those YouTube tabs, bought himself a midi keyboard, and decided to sing rather than rap as he began formulating his sound around his aching desire to add substance to music and deviate from the clout-chasing mumble rappers he grew up around. The goal was to create music that was like his favorite hidden gems on SoundCloud but to make it his own.

Jelani Aryeh is an amazing performer; he was opening at a concert I was attending, and I got to listen to him sing live. Jelani Aryeh is full of charisma and he and his band work together magically.