Born in Liberia during the Civil war to a Liberian single mother, Jels Quiah also known as J. Quiah was 5yrs old when he moved to the USA in 1999.
“Another remarkable situation I experienced in my life, was the second Liberian Civil war in 1999 that claimed over Three hundred thousand lives.” Jels said. “My Mother took me to a refugee camp where we stayed with thousands of other people for protection, we saw hardship and hunger. We lived in fear not knowing what each new day would bring. After living in the refugee camp for a while, we relocated to the US.” “We were among the few lucky ones handpicked for a Refugee Resettlement program for better life in the United States by The Lutheran Children and Family Services.”
When Jels and his mother came to the U.S. their first stop was Philadelphia, until November of 2002 and then eventually moved to California in 2019 where the reinvention of Jels Quiah the Afro Beat artist began. The singer and song writer who started making music at the young age of 14, wants to use his music to make a positive impact in Africa and the world as a whole. He wants to use music as a medium of hope to thousands of people out there facing one challenge or the other especially those in war torn countries and regions being a victim of war himself.
“I want to heal the world and give people joy with my music and show them that anything is possible.” He said. My goal in life after experiencing the effects of war and conflict is to make it possible for my mother to live her life stress-free, enjoy financial freedom, be happy and live without fear. I want to be able to help and give back to as many people as possible and provide jobs for people.”
Jels started recording at the age of 14, and formed a dance/party group, OSB when he was 16. In 2016, he released a song titled “On a Monday” that got about 100,000 views on VEVO, and made its rounds around some of the top blogs.
