Jesse Abraham was born in Manhattan as the first child to two public school teachers. He grew up in Tribeca, raised on the city’s hip-hop culture and the eight-track tapes his parents introduced him to as a youngster. At five years old, Jesse was writing and, by the time he was nine, rapping as a youngster. The authenticity of his music reflects his growing up in New York in the ‘80s, right alongside the groundbreaking hip-hop of Run-D.M.C. and the Beastie Boys. He quickly developed an affinity for rhyming, wordplay and rhythm, creating parodies of his favorite songs, walking the halls of his Hebrew school reciting lyrics by KRS-1 or A Tribe Called Quest.
Between the ages of 10-14 Jesse lost his father, an uncle and two of his best friends in unrelated incidents, turning towards writing to cope with the tragedies. "I didn’t try to avoid it," he recalls. "In terms of experiencing and confronting those feelings, it was a very difficult yet constructively valuable time for me." A published poet at the age of 15, Jesse suddenly realized his true passion was for hip-hop, inspired by such artists as The Fugees, Kool G. Rap and OutKast. However, it wasn’t until he went to college at Atlanta’s Emory University as a philosophy major that he began to realize that he wasn’t just writing lyrics, he was composing songs.
While at school, Jesse formed the group BTU with a pair of friends. They recorded a demo that resulted in a series of performances, including opening for Public Enemy at B.B. King’s in Times Square. After transferring to Emerson College in Boston, Jesse joined Preacherfunk, an improvisational hip-hop band with a following throughout the New England area. At this time, he also developed a reputation as a relatively successful stand-up comic and performance artist, elements still noticeable in his music.
"My sense of levity and humor is vital to everything I do in life, especially my art," he says. "I want my music to be uplifting and inspiring, a true reflection of what I feel."
Upon graduating and moving to Brooklyn, Jesse founded a tutoring company of which he is still the managing director. He has since tutored over 200 students and has played a vital roll in the development of countless children’s lives, all while pursuing his music career. By the summer of 2009, Jesse Abraham began to attract considerable attention on the open-mic circuit and in the online world of hip-hop, winning numerous freestyle competitions and establishing his rep alongside underground acts such as Homeboy Sandman and Ill Spokinn at Sin Sin Freestyle Mondays, where the city's elite crop of emcees called home. Mixtapes he released such as the critically acclaimed "Alphabutter" (Jan. '10) and "XS" (Feb. '10) were testaments to the growth of Jesse Abraham's artistry. After garnering some recognition from the single 'Yoga', he released "Bars & NoBull" in Oct. '10, which continued to increase the buzz. All the while he was recording his debut EP, "The One", splitting his studio time between NYC and Orlando. Recently completed, the project will be released on January 11, 2011.
"I put my work ethic and passion into everything I do," explains Jesse, who has performed at dozens of venues such as Knitting Factory, Sullivan Hall and Joe’s Pub, has made dozens of radio appearances and most notably performed at 2010's South By Southwest Festival as well as the CMJ Festival. He continues to reinvent the responsibilities a hip-hop artist holds, and his potential is only surpassed by his passion for the genuine essence of his genre. But if you ask him, he simply aspires to inspire.