Jelani Jeffries – 4U: A Love Story @JelaniJeffries

Jelani Jeffries’ “4U: A Luv Story” is a romantic tale composed of vivid emotions as a man faces his fear of vulnerability. However, in the process, he realizes that there’s strength in expressing love for someone special in his life. Despite having hidden his deepest feelings throughout the course of their tumultuous, yet fulfilling relationship, he finds the courage to reveal everything he’s felt for “her”, while also conquering the internal battle within — to let the love he’s always had for “her” finally have its chance.

Jelani Jeffries is an ingenious rapper, writer, producer and actor aspiring to elevate in the entertainment industry. A New York suburban native, he continuously strives to make his artistic impact in the Big Apple and beyond.

As early as four years old, Jelani was known by family members for his distinct recitations of scenes from commonly known Walt Disney movies. At the age of 10, Jelani received his first commercial audition for Chuck E. Cheese’s, which resulted in his first booking for a principal acting role.

Consequently, Jelani’s acting career inclined. He booked numerous voiceover, commercial, film and television roles. Such bookings included McDonalds, Southwest Airlines, Pillsbury, Above the Influence, Dominos, Sesame Street, Law and Order: SVU, The Chappelle Show, ABC’s What Would You Do, The Best Thief in the World and Preaching to the Choir.

Moreover, Jelani always admired instrumental sounds. He played the drums throughout his elementary, middle and high school career. As a result, Jelani ventured into the music industry as a hip hop lyricist and producer during his college years. His comprehensive style consists of an infusion of Golden Age hip-hop and trap with delivery and content that resonates with all hip-hop admirers.

His first EP, Microphone Check One, received recognition by the AXE White Label Collective and 10 time Grammy Award winning musician, John Legend. Such an acknowledgment allowed Jelani to participate in the 2015 South by Southwest (SXSW) Music Festival under the tutelage of Mr. Legend, who hand picked Jelani personally to be a contributing artist.

His more recent EP, Scribble, featured a trap inspired upbeat summer anthem entitled “No Favors”. Highly favored among fans, the music video for “No Favors” received over 10,000 plays on Facebook. The single was also selected by MajorStage, a New York City based music company, for their Best of 2017 Emerging Hip Hop Playlist. Additionally, Scribble was featured on STR8OUTDADEN, a hip-hop blog for underground artists.

Ok-Tho, another blog platform for underground hip-hop artists featured “Second 2 None” a single and music video that Jelani released in 2016 — a boom-bap inspired track filmed in his hometown, Rockland County, NY.

Jelani’s latest EP entitled 4U: A Luv Story, reveals the suburban rapper’s emotional side as he stylistically and creatively expresses his love with a perfect balance of emotional vulnerability and masculinity. Released for Valentine’s Day, Jelani created a short film entitled 4U, a cinematic introduction/teaser for the eight track romantic narrative.

While music continues to be Jelani’s focus, he humbly considers himself to be a jack of all trades. As a young adult, he became inspired to tell stories through film as a freelance videographer, producer and director for commercials, music videos, shows and short films. His works have even been honored at the Urbanworld Film Festival in New York City.

Although Jelani holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree from SUNY Empire in Business Management and Economics, he still plans to aggressively pursue his career as a professional artist, while also cultivating his filmmaking and acting capabilities.

Jelani hopes that his talents will be a pivotal and influential part of 21st century culture. Furthermore, he remains faithful to his artistic commandments — to bring about creativity, inspiration, and change.