Minneapolis’ own Jesirae is a fiend for music and on her way to become rap’s newest sensation.
Minneapolis, Minnesota, is often associated with its most famous author, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and its most famous musician, Prince, and his studio home, Paisley Park. But waiting in the wings eager to bring her brand of hometown music to the forefront, is a 28-year-old emcee named Jesirae. Blessed with the proper mix of lyrical ability and soulful passion, her music reflects all of her influences growing up as a child.
Early Years
Jesirae spent her time growing up in both the suburbs and inner city, bouncing between Richfield, Minnesota, and South Minneapolis where her grandmother’s side of the family lived.
“The neighborhoods where the George Floyd murder took place is where I grew up. The store he was killed outside of we used to eat there as a kid and so I have seen both sides.”
Her grandmother served as an early influence for Jesirae, rearing her in the Baptist church tradition and exposing her to the sounds of the gospel. Richfield’s location allowed her to spend time in nature which added to her world outlook and in turn her musical lens. Artists like Lauryn Hill, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Luther Vandross, Yolanda Adams and more served as muses for Jesirae, who came of age during the transformative era of music in the early 2000s.
High school was when Jessica began taking music seriously. A star student, she excelled academically, juggling AP classes in addition to sports including track, dance, and tennis. She created her rap name Jesirae after combining her first name and middle name and then set out on her mission to increase her rap name. Her first headlining show took place in 2019 at Minneapolis’ First Avenue dance bar.
“First Avenue is a big concert venue back home. It was always my goal to perform there because Prince is the largest artist from the city and I wanted to be at this place after hearing back at it so much.”
Although she was an unsigned artist who was new to music, her persistence paid off when the promoters reached out to her after hearing her music and allowed her a spot that September.
“That made me see my music could be taken seriously by people. If I could do that, I could keep going and move to New York. It inspired me to keep going.”
College Years and Recording Career
Viewing the East Coast as a path to music success, she graduated high school in 2013 and went to Boston College until 2017. College brought Jesirae out of her shell and it was here that she began to wrestle with her limiting beliefs regarding her musical career. Unwilling to play the background, she began rapping in her senior year and “got the confidence to start rapping and doing poetry.” Two of her college friends who heard her rap brought her to their home studio, and after hearing her voice, decided to record music.
Her first project, Bli$$, released in 2017, showed her early promise. One of her singles, “Get Away”, garnered over 10,000 streams without major promotion which confirmed her belief in her talent. At the time, she was working as a legal assistant with a law firm putting her major to use, but the monotony of her job compared to the bliss she felt with her music pushed her over the edge. In 2018, she released her follow-up, Ready or Not, on SoundCloud.
“Deep inside I knew that that was not what I wanted to do. I was suppressing my gifts. I was putting out videos getting great support and I thought about New York’s infrastructure to support music.”
New York 2019 to the Present
After working hard and saving up her funds, she moved to New York in October 2019. Here Jesirae found a tribe of creatives who were willing and able to add to her brand, including her videographer Adam Hans.
Over the last five years, Jessica’s star has risen significantly which has led to a partnership with Roc Nation’s Equity Distribution music platform for independent musicians as well as endorsements for some of rap’s most notable journalists like Still Crew’s Beware. Her 2020 album, The Sun Will Come Out, represented her artistic maturation from an emcee proving her talent to making meaningful music.
Critical acclaim aside, Jessica’s real goal is to use music as a vehicle to get out her dreams and in the process inspire others to do the same. In 2024, she plans to release more singles and visuals for fans, teasing an EP as well. When asked how it felt to have a company like Roc Nation reach out to help support her music, she simply said,
“My mom flew to Minnesota to be here and it was another moment like the First Avenue show that showed me it was bigger than me. People want to see me grow and get there. I would tell anybody to keep going and rely on community. Me coming from a small town and small state to this I would have never seen in my future.”
Wright World 