JYellowL announces a brand new single ‘Doesn’t Feel Like’, due out on Wednesday 22nd July 2020. This will be the second single taken from his upcoming debut album ‘2020 D|vision’, due out 4th December 2020.
JYellowL’s first singe ‘Jewels’ garnered huge radio support in Ireland as well as placement on multiple Spotify playlists including New Music Friday, We Move, Breathe of Fresh Eire and New Eire. Apple Music also supported the track by adding the track to ‘New Dublin and ‘Summer Waves’.
JYellowL speaks about how ‘Doesn’t Feel Like’ is very personal to him:
“This song is about my experience as an African immigrant in the western world. I came to Ireland when I was in my early teens and it was the first time I was made conscious of my racial and cultural difference. The first time I experienced racism, covert and blatantly overt. The first time I met people who hated me because of my race and wanted to cause me bodily harm as a result. The first time I met people who truly believed they were my superior because of my skin colour. The first time that my character was judged based on the actions of groups of people, whom I shared nothing in common with but complexion, and faced the physical consequences in some instances. Those experiences I faced coupled with the historic injustice faced by other black people all over the western world, made me feel like I didn’t belong here. They say home is where the heart is, but I found it very difficult to place my heart somewhere that I was regularly reminded was not my “actual” home.”
JYellowL learned from his Jamaican grandmother how to be himself in a world that wants to force you down a particular path. Born of Jamaican and Nigerian parents and raised in Ireland, the Dublin-based rapper has drawn on all three origins to create a distinctly powerful sound that is radically individual.
A leading voice emerging out of the fierce juggernaut that is Ireland’s rap scene, this debut follows two groundbreaking EP’s and a string of headline performances, both in Ireland and internationally. His standout track ‘Ozone’ has surpassed 1.5 million views on Spotify and the single ‘Oh Lawd’, featured on the soundtrack of the ‘Normal People’ TV series, has already surpassed 1 million views. A self-driven artist and entrepreneur, his newly established JYellowL Records Ltd quickly landed a distribution deal with the international distribution company IDOL.
The lyricism JYellowL delivers cuts to the heart of issues that are at once deeply personal and urgent on a global scale, driving political change right now. With a degree in politics from UCD University in Dublin, he explores the social problems that both intrigue and disturb him, from international conflict to economic inequality, unafraid to tackle subjects like racism in his music early on. In 2020, as protests erupted across the world, he spoke to a crowd of thousands at a Black Lives Matter in Dublin, envisioning a future Ireland that is radically inclusive and anti-racist.
As far back as 2017, his track ‘Cold In The Summer’ addressed the international crisis of racial injustice and the legacy of slavery, while voicing a defiant demand for change. VICE Magazine profiled him as a leading voice of Irish rap in their 2017 Music Issue, ‘on the crest of a wave of young artists in Ireland with an increasingly political bent’.
It didn’t take long cutting his teeth in Dublin’s burgeoning rap scene to make his rise. By 2018, JyellowL had released his groundbreaking debut EP ‘Bulletproof’ and was supporting Rap superstar NELLY on a 3-date Irish tour that November, followed by a sold out Dublin show with “Money Trees” hitmaker Jay Rock.
In 2019, his highly acclaimed ‘Me N Me 2’ EP followed, coming out at the same time as he took on a headline Irish tour, his first headline show in London, and performed a headline international concert at Steck Poppodium in The Netherlands.
Named as one of RTE’s 2FM Rising acts for 2019, he released two singles – the catchy ‘Ozone’ and hard hitting ‘Tek Time’, the latter of which featured on Spotify’s influential Who We Be playlist. Endorsements from Spotify solidified his position as one of Ireland’s most influential young artists, featuring on a plethora of editorial playlists.
JyellowL made his stamp on the Irish festival scene that summer with a series of knockout performances including Longitude, KnockanStockan, Body & Soul, Band On The Strand Festival, Red Bull Gaf Party, and an international headline slot at Delft Jazz Festival in Holland. He ended that summer on a high with a coveted headline slot at the ‘3 Made By Music Stage’ on the Saturday night of a sold-out Electric Picnic, one of the pinnacles of the Irish festival circuit.
This game-changing performance led to the next and most exciting part of 2019, with JyellowL’s single ‘Ozone’ selected to feature on the in-game soundtrack for the mammoth EA Sports FIFA 20. The curated playlist placed his track on the same level as hits by Anderson Paak, Major Lazer, Hot Chip and Skepta to name but a few. The success of 2019 peaked with a live performance and broadcast of ‘Ozone’ on Ireland’s biggest broadcast event of the year, RTÉ’s NYE party.
The new decade kicked off with JYellowL performing in the church at Other Voices Ballina, a unique space that artists travel to Ireland from around the world to perform.
His hard-hitting 2020 anthem ‘On The Estate’ released is another bold step forward in developing his sound while a string of wide-ranging collaborations have showcased the versatility of JYellowL’s sound and craftsmanship. He has worked with long-time collaborator Aaron Unknown on ‘Asylum’, American based wordsmith Mac Irv on ‘No Rivals’, as well as Irish RnB artist Aik J and Ari Noir on ‘Last Flight’ remix and ‘Alone’. He also made the soothing ballad ‘Blue Skies’ with electro pop duo Siights and a thumping club banger ‘shock Em’ with Irish hip hop artists Evan’s Junior and Jordan Adetunji.
‘Doesn’t Feel Like’ is the second single taken from his upcoming debut album ‘2020 D|vision’ (due out 4th December 2020. This year is gearing up to be the most exciting year yet for Dublin rapper JYellowL.
