Pell

American singer and lyricist Pell layers his soul-inspired hip-hop with ambient trip-hop textures in a style influenced by jazz, indie rock, and the likes of Kanye West, A Tribe Called Quest, John Legend, the Delfonics, and more. Born and raised in New Orleans, Jared Pellerin was forced from the city to Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina hit. There, he became a beatmaker during his high-school years, later honing his singing and rapping abilities in order to tell his stories. In 2014 he issued his debut, Floating While Dreaming, which drew comparisons to Chance the Rapper, Kid Cudi, and Childish Gambino. He followed the next year with the Limbo EP, which was produced by Dave Sitek. Two years later he released another EP, Girasoul, which featured guests Saba (“throwback”) and Vérité (“golden”). ~ Neil Z. Yeung