Izreal was born and raised in Jamaica, Queens New York. Early in life he was influenced by the rhythms of Reggae music, which was introduced to him by his Jamaican immigrant parents. In the early 1980’s he fell in love with the music of the emerging culture known as hip-hop. His cousin, Alcides, first introduced him to the art of rhyming and emceeing at basement parties. Izreal’s early hip-hop influences were Run DMC, KRS-ONE and Rakim.
Izreal’s debut project, The Focus (released in 200...
Izreal was born and raised in Jamaica, Queens New York. Early in life he was influenced by the rhythms of Reggae music, which was introduced to him by his Jamaican immigrant parents. In the early 1980’s he fell in love with the music of the emerging culture known as hip-hop. His cousin, Alcides, first introduced him to the art of rhyming and emceeing at basement parties. Izreal’s early hip-hop influences were Run DMC, KRS-ONE and Rakim.
Izreal’s debut project, The Focus (released in 2002) received national and international airplay on college, public and mainstream radio stations. The single “Make It Happen” debuted at #19 on the national Holy Hip Hop charts and eventually rose to the #3 spot. WTW Magazine voted the single “Not a Game” Single of the Year and during that same year, Izreal was the only west coast artist selected to perform at Rapfest 2002 in Bronx, New York. Most impressively, the title track, “The Focus” was selected for EMI Gospel’s Holy Hip Hop: Taking the Gospel to the Street, vol. 1 which was nominated for a 2005 Grammy Award. Also of note, in 2005, the Sacramento Black Chamber of Commerce voted Izreal as the Holy Hip Hop Performer of the Year.
His Two subsequent releases, “The Standard, 2006” and “Izreality TV” 2007, have been acclaimed critically nationwide.
In 2008 Izreal returned to his Hip-Hop roots, performing in venues such as Capitol Garage, Blue Lamp, The Distillery and Java Cafe. He remains one of the few Christian artists who represents his calling while performing along side some of the areas most respected emcees.
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