Lord Jamar

Lord Jamar
Lord Jamar in 2020
Background information
Birth name	Lorenzo Dechalus
Born	(1968-09-17) September 17, 1968 (age 56) The Bronx, New York, U.S.
Origin	New Rochelle, New York, U.S.
Genres	Hip hop
Occupation(s)	Rapper, DJ, record producer, actor, podcaster
Instrument(s)	Vocals, sampler, keyboard, turntable
Years active	1989–present
Labels	Babygrande/Koch, Elektra, Loud
Member of	Brand Nubian

Lorenzo Dechalus (born September 17, 1968),^[1] known professionally as Lord Jamar, is an American rapper, DJ, record producer, actor and podcaster. He is a founding member of the hip hop group Brand Nubian, which was formed in 1989. In 1996, he discovered Dead Prez and got them signed to Loud Records.

Jamar was born in The Bronx, New York City, but was raised in New Rochelle, New York.^[2] Jamar has Afro-Guyanese heritage on his father's side, and he is the eldest of three brothers.^[2] He was introduced to hip hop music in the 1970s through a friend who lived in his neighborhood, and he would listen to tapes of The Cold Crush Brothers, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five and The Sugarhill Gang.^[2] DJ Daryll C of Crash Crew used to take Jamar to hip hop shows in New York City.^[2] Jamar sold crack cocaine during his teen years, but stopped after people he knew received sealed indictments.^[2] He dropped out of high school after failing ninth grade, and worked a few short-term jobs prior to signing a record deal.^[2]

Brand Nubian's debut studio album, One for All, was released in 1990 and is regarded by The Source as one of the all-time greatest hip hop albums.^[3]

Brand Nubian's third studio album, Everything is Everything was released in 1994. In 1996, he discovered Dead Prez and got them signed to Loud Records. As an actor, Jamar is best known for his role of Supreme Allah on the TV series Oz. He has appeared on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Third Watch, and The Sopranos. He has also worked as a producer for artists such as Dead Prez, Buckshot, Shaka Amazulu the 7th and Tom Browne. His group went on to release their fourth album Foundation in 1998, with Grand Puba and DJ Alamo making their return to appear on the album.

He released his debut solo album The 5% Album (an album dedicated to the Nation of Gods and Earths) on June 27, 2006. Like his onscreen character on Oz, Jamar is a member of the Nation of Gods and Earths.^{[citation needed]}

Jamar currently co-hosts a podcast, Yanadameen Godcast, with fellow rapper Rah Digga.

Jamar released a diss track directed at Kanye West on February 4, 2013, titled "Lift Up Your Skirt", and stated that "gay has no place in hip-hop"; the song's homophobic lyrics attracted attention.^[4][5]

In a September 2013 interview on VladTV, Jamar declared that white rappers were "guests in hip hop"; he criticized Macklemore's "Same Love" for its pro-LGBT message.^[6][7] Eminem responded to Jamar with the track "Fall" from his 2018 album Kamikaze.^[8] Jamar responded to Eminem on his podcast.^[9]

Jamar has criticized the Black Lives Matter movement, saying, "It's not our movement,"^[10] and that, in regard to the George Floyd protests, "most people looting are white; some riots are staged by paid agitators."^[11] In July 2020, Jamar denounced the Black Lives Matter movement, claiming it was "given to us by George Soros and his fucking boys because they saw how things were going and they didn't want it to go back to the 60s."^[12]

In a 2020 appearance with Nation of Islam social media influencer Rizza Islam, Jamar promoted Holocaust denial; he denied the death of six million Jews in the Holocaust, stating that at most 500,000 died, and claiming that six million Jews were not even present in Europe at the time.^[13] Islam also used an October 2020 appearance on Jamar's YouTube show to promote antisemitic conspiracy theories.^[14]

• The 5% Album (2006)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lord Jamar.

• Lord Jamar at AllMusic
• Lord Jamar at IMDb