Interests? I'm interested in growing my business. I'm interested in the Portland Trail Blazers (particularly Brandon R-O-Y, Martell Webster, Travis Outlaw, and LaMarcus Aldridge). I'm interested in seeing social progressive liberal athiests find common ground with big-business, small-government conservative Christians. (But I'm not holding my breath on that one.) I'm interested in Barack Obama becoming President, not coincidentally.
Music
Here's a sampling...
Stevie Wonder, Israel Houghton, The Cross Movement (Ambassador and Phanatik, specifically), 4th Avenue Jones, Steely Dan, Virtue, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Salvador, Ayeisha Woods, TobyMac, Rachael Lampa, Deitrick Haddon, Take 6, Spyro Gyra, Soulive, Lettuce, Fred Hammond, Jeff Lorber, Scott Krippayne, J-Moss, Warryn "Baby Dubb" Campbell, Out of Eden, Joann Rosario.
Movies
The Matrix. (And its sequels.) The Shawshank Redemption. Do The Right Thing. Talladega Nights. National Treasure. Crash. House of Flying Daggers. Hitch.
Television
All the Sorkin series -- Sports Night, The West Wing, even Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (a moment of silence please). Also... 24, Everybody Hates Chris, and I'm just starting to get into Scrubs. Oh and also Friday Night Lights and Raines, the new series with Jeff Goldblum. God bless DVRs and syndication.
Books
The Audacity of Hope (Obama), The Celebration of Discipline (Foster), Roaring Lambs (Briner), The Future Present (McNeal), just about anything from Ted Dekker especially The Circle Trilogy [Black/Red/White], Word: For Everybody Who Thought Christianity Was For Suckas (Mitchell), Dominion (Alcorn), Integrity (Carter)... and much, much more.
Heroes
The Alpha and the Omega, Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace, the Son of Man... you know who I'm talkin' bout.
Jelani's Details
Status:
Married
Here for:
Networking, Friends
Orientation:
Straight
Hometown:
Portland
Body type:
6' 0" / Some extra baggage
Ethnicity:
Black / African descent
Religion:
Protestant
Zodiac Sign:
Virgo
Smoke / Drink:
No / No
Children:
Someday
Education:
College graduate
Jelani's Schools
North Park University
Chicago, IL
Graduated: 2004
Student status: Alumni
Degree: Bachelor's Degree
Major: Communications
Minor: Music Theory (unofficial)
Clubs: Too many to list here
I'm Jelani, also known as G*Natural, formerly known as The Chocolate Jell-O Man (I was in high school, whaddya expect). Holder of many many titles, past and present. Emcee. Producer. Musician. Worshiper. Blogger. Columnist. Baritone. Scholar. Dorito Aficianado. I'm a jumble of contradictions, a welcome respite from the ridiculous stereotypes that abound... I'm a Black man (yes, I prefer the term 'Black' since my ancestry is West Indian and not directly African) who, when most people were learning Spanish or French in high school, took Japanese. (Occasionally, I remember some of it.) I'm highly competitive and cerebral, yet only recently have a begun to foray into chess. I love to talk, but I can't stand small-talk. I love my hometown of Portland, but hate many of it's core qualities -- specifically, its abundance of gray skies, snarky liberal bumper stickers, and glaring absence of Black people. My biggest political hero is Barack Obama (yes, please, nitpick his faults... I'll still take him over the field) but I had yet to actually register to vote in the state of Oregon until today.
I'm just full of contradictions.
Speaking of which, I'm also a Christian emcee:
Who I'd like to meet: Whoever decided to take Sprite Remix off the market. I'd like to meet them, and then slap them. Seriously, what were they thinking?
Anyway...
In no particular order:
Quincy Jones, Steven L. Carter, Charles Barkley, Martell Webster, Michael Omartian, Michael Wilbon, Tony Kornheiser, Denyce Graves, Russ Bremeier, Larry Page & Sergey Brin, the Wachowski Brothers, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Kathleen Parker, Clarence Page, Dawn Turner Trice, Seth Stevenson, Sanaa Lathan, Bill Simmons, Chuck Klosterman.
The album is finally available at iTunes and Napster. My name is typed
wrong with a capitol "L" and I'm trying to get them to fix it but it is
available! I appreciate the support and for those that missed my
latest promo for the album release, here it is!
So now that I'm your fan on reverb nation, does that mean I get to download the new song for free? Then maybe I'd be able to find it on the computer...
Whats up Jelani!? Nice page and "about me" section. Very interesting outlook on life. My question is... "How many different perspectives can one look at any given topic?" Hmmmmmmmmmmmm...
Okay, fine, I'll join the parade and say it too... HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! I know it's a day late, and I'm like the two millionth person to mention it, so it's not as cool anymore, but oh well. Better than not, I guess:) Have a wonderful week. You rock! Keep reppin Christ! Stay blessed!!
