Jonathan Emile

Jonathan Emile
Jonathan Emile performing live at 'McGill University' in 2011 in Montréal, Québec, Canada.
Background information
Also known as	Jon E
Born	(1986-02-19) February 19, 1986
Origin	Montréal, Québec
Genres	Conscious hip hop Reggae R&B Spoken Word Hip hop soul
Occupation(s)	rapper/poet, singer/songwriter, producer
Years active	2009–present
Labels	Mindpeacelove, Bongobeat
Associated acts	Kendrick Lamar, KRS-One, Murs, Buckshot, Denis Brott, Kalmunity Vibe Collective, The Franco Proietti Morph-tet
Website	http://www.mindpeacelove.com, http://www.jonathanemile.com

Jonathan Emile (Jon E) (Born February 19, 1986) is a Jamaican Canadian singer, poet, musician and entrepreneur from Montreal, Quebec. He is the creator and the founder of Mindpeacelove Enterprises (a conscious art company and record label) and a cancer survivor.^[1] In 2011, he received Grammy nominations and appeared on the long-list in the 'Rap Album of The Year' category for his album "The Lover/Fighter Document EP". His upcoming independent album features collaborations with KRS-One, Kendrick Lamar, Murs and Naledge.^[2]

Biography

Early years

Jonathan attended high school at Selwyn House School in Westmount, QC. ^[3]

Cancer years

At the age of 18, Jonathan Emile was diagnosed with a rapidly growing cancerous tumor. The next two years of his life proved to be crippling as he battled with the disease. He struggled to pursue his passion for music. During this time, Jonathan Emile employed his philosophy of Mindpeacelove creating music, in the hospital and between his treatments that left him bed ridden. He finished treatment in December, 2005 and completed his remission in December, 2010.^[4] Jonathan Emile founded Mindpeacelove Enterprises in 2005 and has been composing and performing regularly since. In 2006 he release a CD entitled 'Agenda Reciprocity' with group Île City under the Mindpeacelove Records label. Still in the first years of remission, Jonathan pushed himself to come to terms with his illness creatively, which inspired the concept of "The Lover/Fighter Document".

2009-present

Emile released the first installment of "The Lover/Fighter Document" on 2009-11-06. He worked and toured with material from "The Lover/Fighter Document" while attending McGill University as a Philosophy & Political Science major.^[5][6]

In 2011, Emile received a Grammy Nomination and appeared on the long-list in the 'Rap Album of The Year' category for his album "The Lover/Fighter Document EP". In 2011, the Franco Proietti Morph-Tet received a Grammy nomination and appeared on the long-list in the 'Jazz Album of The Year' category with Jonathan Emile as the lead singer.^[7][8]

In February 2011, Jonathan Emile's Facebook page with 80,000 fans was removed from his possession by an unknown entity. After contacting Facebook on numerous occasions to retrieve his page, Emile found no success and was left without his page. Consequently, he began a media campaign involving Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, The Gazette, Montreal Mirror, and CJAD. The media campaign proved to be brief as Emile's page was returned to his possession at the height of his media campaign without an explanation from Facebook.^{[9][10][11][12][13][14]}

Composition & Performance

Style

Jonathan Emile composes and performs in the genres of Hip-Hop, Reggae, R&B and Electro-Pop.^[15][16][17] His vocal performance and recording style includes, singing, rapping, free-styling and scatting in English, French and Jamaican Patois. His lyrics focus on his philosophy of Mindpeacelove and a positive life approach.^[18] Emile is concerned largely with creating contemporary popular hip-hop and reggae fused with soul music that addresses social, spiritual and moral issues.^[19][20]

Collaborations

Emile's upcoming debut album features artists KRS-One, Kendrick Lamar, Murs, and Naledge rapping over his original production. Emile has also collaborated with rappers Big Pooh of Little Brother and Buckshot in preparation for an upcoming mixtape produced by Mindpeacelove artist Aphyliated.^[21]

Jonathan Emile works with cellist Denis Brott to combine chamber music with hip-hop, in order to expose youth to classical music. The two artists have also recorded songs that appear on both the EPs and LPs^[22] Emile is a member of the Montréal based live musical improvisation group 'Kalmunity Vibe Collective'. He is also a member of jazz group 'The Franco Proietti Morph-tet'.^[23][24] Currently Jonathan produces, composes and collaborates with local artists on the Mindpeacelove Records label and in the Kalmunity Vibe Collective.^{[25] [26]}

Releases

Jonathan Emile recorded and produced "The Lover/Fighter Document" a two-part Hip-Hop/R&B/Reggae concept album. His release "Jonathan Emile - The Lover/Fighter Document EP" is currently distributed in United States, Canada, England, Germany, Italy, Holland and worldwide digitally.

The second part of the project, "The Lover/Fighter Document LP", is under development, and will contain 20 original songs.^[27][28]

As lead the vocalist for The Franco Proietti Morph-tet, Jonathan Emile has released two albums with the group 'Grammy long-listed' live album "Live! A Weekend at Centre St. Ambroise" and studio album "Like the Shore is to the Ocean". Emile performs jazz-vocals, soul-vocals and poetry on both releases.^{[29][30][31][32]}

In 2011, Emile released various music & videos (unattached to full album releases). The songs are currently not available for sale and appear exclusively on his official YouTube page.^[33]

Acting

In 2013, Emile made his theatrical debut in the Montreal production of Broadway musical “Aint Misbehavin'”.^[34] His performance achieved broad critical acclaim from both English & French media for his performance of André De Shields original role and his notable interpretation of “The Viper's Drag”.^[35][36] Since 2011, Emile has played minor roles in television and film appearing in Look Again (2011), Being Human (2012) and The Horse Latitudes (2013).<^[37]

Activism & Philanthropy

Emile insists that there is a humanitarian motivation behind all of his work and frequently participates in raising funds for adolescent and paediatric oncology.^[38] He continues to share his experiences, ambition and music offering mentoring and giving workshops to urban youth. He participated in the Shared Vision concert in 2006, which benefited a variety of charities including a fund for the children of War in Darfur.^[39] In 2008 Emile performed for concert "One" organized by non-profit organization Africa Is Real alongside Miri Ben-Ari. Jonathan regularly performs in schools & community centers alongside cellist Denis Brott as a part of the Montreal Chamber Music Festival. Emile has worked closely with community group 'Head In Hands' providing mentorship and music production workshops for inner city youth.^[40][41] He also participates in events that support and create awareness around HIV/AIDS.^[42]

As a Jamaican Canadian and a member of the black community, Jonathan Emile performs and participates in Black History Month events raising awareness and sharing his conscious message.^[43][44][45]

Discography

References

External links

• Official website
• Jonathan Emile: Mindpeacelove Records Site
• Jonathan Emile's's channel on YouTube