Djazel (pronounced Giselle) is a Hip-Hop Recording Artist, Singer/Songwriter who was born and raised in Toronto and the surrounding GTA. Her passion for music was obvious from the very beginning – her first words were a lullaby. “I’ve loved music ever since I can remember,” says Djazel. “I was always listening to music, singing, playing an instrument, performing, or doing something creative like art or writing… I was involved in a lot of music at school too, like choir and band.” It seems she’s a natural-born performer as well. “Looking back, I realize I’ve also always loved to perform in front of an audience and entertain them. I was always involved in some kind of performance at school – gymnastics, Portuguese folk dance, choir, band, you name it,” Djazel says with a smile. “I even remember entertaining my parents while they finished up their meals at dinner. I would stand up and tell jokes or try to come up with one-liners to make them laugh. I loved getting a reaction. Watching them so entertained and hearing their laughter gave me ammo – I would feed off of their energy and just keep going.” But it wasn’t until recently that things began connecting. “I’d say everything really started coming together and making sense in the last year,” explains Djazel. “I went through quite a few different learning experiences, but looking back, I realize everything in my life has happened for a reason. In the last year, I was really able to get my sh*t together. 2015 was the year that something clicked for me, and I was just like ‘this is what I gotta do, this is how I gotta do it, and this is why’.” The result? A female Hip-Hop artist who writes, raps and sings to deliver powerful messages through her lyrical content with attitude and humour. “Yes, growing up I listened to Pop artists such as Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and Michael Jackson but I also listened to a lot of Rap and Hip-Hop. The third CD I ever got was Marshall Mather’s LP. I begged my parents to get me that CD because I was like ten years-old and couldn’t buy it myself, but I got it. From there, I started listening to Dre, Nas, Jay-Z and it just went on from there. I loved to sing, I loved to write, I loved to rap, rhyme and emcee, I was always influenced by Hip-Hop culture, and I was always about trying to make a difference by helping other people, either by entertaining them or enlightening them, so it all just made sense.” She spent the greater part of 2015 successfully putting together a concept, as well as a team who not only understood her vision, but also genuinely supported her and her projects. Djazel recruited The Weeknd’s original producer, Hollywood the Producer, as her very own and has been working with him ever since. “He produces it, I write it, I record it in-house at my place, we mix it together and then send it off for mastering,” she explains. Her in-your-face attitude makes Djazel hard to miss, but she does also have a soft side. “I've learned the hard way that I can really and truly only rely on myself as well as a handful of people that I work closely with and call part of my team. To me, that isn’t just my team though. They’re my friends. They’re my family. I love what I do and I love the people that I get to do it with. I feel blessed that we have each other to share this journey with. We’ve all worked so hard and just watching everything and everyone progress is really rewarding. I can’t wait to see what 2016 has in store for us, I know it’ll be filled with great things.”