Jhameel categorizes himself as a “pop-orchestra” musician who, before writing songs that “revolve around such topics as Middle Eastern womanhood, homosexuality, and urban prostitution, giving voice to the silent margins of society.” He also plays every instrument on his records, graduated summa cum laude from UC Berkeley with a degree in Arabic within two years, and produces all his own music. So, we’re certainly talking about an underachiever here.
He’s been releasing a new track every Tuesday for the past few weeks – today’s song is “Wicked.” He’s currently producing songs to follow his recently released Dance EP. “Wicked,” like many of his tracks, has a Michael Jackson feel with a harder, distorted funk a la Jamiroquai mixed with George Thurgood. I’m predicting great things.
And you know what I think I like most about this guy, besides of course his funky fresh beats? Witness:
Jhameel was once set on the path to officer-ship in the United States Army. Although his linguistic skills in Arabic, Spanish, Korean, and Russian would have been highly rewarded in the military, Jhameel quit the program before signing an irrevocable contract due to personal beliefs about U.S. presence in the Middle East.
Here’s the four tracks thus far put out from his Tuesday releases:
And a couple other past treats:
Eyes Wide in Slumber (live) by jhameel
And, probably my favorite:
