The Rise and Rise of Jizzle, Gambian Music’s ‘Man of the Moment’

At 25, Jizzle is now one of the biggest names in Gambian music, filling venues like Penchami Hall, Independence stadium and walking out of the Whasahalat Music Awards with the most wins of the night, including artist of the year award.

Born and raised in Bakau, Jerreh Jallow dreamed of becoming Gambia’s Ronaldo, “Music was not my passion, it was soccer”, he told The Chronicle. Like most young men he spent most of his time on the soccer field. His older brother, Essa, known in the music industry as “Breaker”, was an aspiring artist at the time and Jizzle became curious about his work.

Jizzle’s interest peaked as he watched his brother write and produce music around the home.

In 2009 he decided to try his hand at the art and realized he “had a gift and talent for it”. He adopted the name Jizzle because he wanted something that started with a J like his given name and it sounded “Bad man” to him. That same year he released his first single ‘Going Hard’. “It’s funny when I listen to that song now, but it reminds me of where I started and how far I’ve come in the industry”.

Jizzle was influenced by artist like Lil Wayne, Drake and the like. He started his career doing Hip-Hop, but the Afro Hip/Hop sound was too enticing for the young rising star to resist. As he grew as an artist he changed his sound to be more like the African artists he admired like Wizkid, Mr. Eazi and Davido. He also pulled inspiration from Gambian artists like T-Smalls and Mighty Joe.

Jizzle’s achievements did not begin with the Wahsahalat Awards, one of his proudest accomplishments thus far was in 2017, when he was nominated at the All Africa Music Awards for the Best African Hip/Hop Artist with his 2017 hit song ‘Man Of The Year’ ft Atenola. He travelled to Nigeria for the occasion and met some of the biggest names in West African music. “It gave me a chance to see another part of Africa and network with a lot of big name artist that I admire.”

Number 1’ aspires to be the first Gambian artist to be nominated and win a BET Award. He wants to be remembered in Gambian music for generations to come as the first artist to win international awards in the industry.