The Humanity in the Static - The Artistry of JURAKHAN

JURAKHAN, the experimental artist and composer bridging academic theory with raw emotion.

As a curator, my mission for the Gillsaw Stew playlist has always been to find the truly experimental - the artists who don’t just bend genre, but break it entirely. I love those who put immense care into their craft and create something that challenges + inspires. So when a submission from an “Experimental Rap Artist” named JURAKHAN landed in my inbox, I was excited. But then I pressed play. And excitement turned to pure thrill. Here was an artist creating a world of sound that was entirely his own. It wasn’t until later, after reaching out for this very feature, that I discovered he holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree. The paradox of the formally trained academic creating such raw, boundary-breaking sound only made me more intrigued.

More Than a Genre, It's an Emotion

When I listen to JURAKHAN’s music, I don’t try to find a genre. I hear art. I hear emotion. His soundscapes are so well thought out that you know nothing was left to chance. Every layer, every texture serves the larger vision. It’s in the small details that you feel the soul of the work, like the audible breath he takes before a line, a deliberate choice to infuse the track with raw, unfiltered humanity.

This sense of profound, collective identity is even embedded in his name. For him, it’s not just a moniker; it’s a mission. “While JURAKHAN is simply my last name,” he told me, “it holds a deeper significance. It honors my late grandfather… Stepping into JURAKHAN allows me to dissolve the individualized self and tap into the deepest well of creativity.”

This perspective, that art comes from a place beyond the self, is exactly what you hear in the music. He isn’t just making songs; he is crafting an experience. For JURAKHAN, this boundary-less approach is intentional, as he sees genre as a potentially "limiting" box. “I use ‘experimental’ because every project I make is an exploration,” he explains. “I am always stepping into the unknown… The unfamiliar is where inspiration lives.”

A Story That Demands Empathy

From the first moment I heard the spoken-word intro to “In My Bones,” I knew it was more than just a creative choice. You could hear the raw truth in the vocals, the weight of a lived experience being laid bare for the listener.

"In My Bones" From the album GITA
Stream it now on the Gillsaw Stew Playlist

Learning the reality behind it brought a level of depth that was staggering.

“Growing up as a brown boy in post-9/11 New York was dehumanizing,” JURAKHAN shares. “People called me a terrorist when I was seven years old. For years, I assimilated for safety… Eventually, that broke me. I realized that no matter how careful I was… some people would never see me as human. In My Bones is a reclamation—rage is the appropriate response to that lifelong erasure.”

His words deliver a stark, necessary truth. The track isn’t just a song; it’s a necessary declaration of identity and a testament to survival. It demands an empathetic response.

The Artist's Superpower

I’ve always believed that what separates a good musician from a true artist is their toolbox. An artist collects tools over a lifetime (skills, experiences, philosophies) and uses them to translate emotion into something that speaks to our very core. JURAKHAN embodies this. His journey took him from pre-med to a doctorate in music, and he views that deep academic knowledge as just another tool, on par with any raw impulse.

“For me, music education simply expands the toolkit,” he says. “Learning composition and theory is no different from discovering a new plug-in… There’s no hierarchy—the goal is always to create freely and let everything else solidify the vision.”

This mindset is his superpower. He is bridging the worlds of academic composition, cinematic scoring, and experimental rap into one singular vision. He is the conservatory scholar and the experimental beatmaker, the composer and the lyricist, all in one man.

The Final Word: Brace for the Journey

If I can leave you with one piece of advice before you dive into his work, it is this: do not search for genre. Go into listening with an open mind and open ears, and brace yourself for a journey. This isn’t background music. It is art that requires your attention, and it will reward you for it.

This is the type of music that expands your capacity for thinking and, perhaps more importantly, your capacity for empathy.