Today we’d like to introduce you to Kel Jaleno.
Hi Kel, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
First off, thanks for having me again! I was born in southwest Louisiana; I started writing poetry around 13 then it became an infatuation with writing songs, but I was playing little league baseball and basketball, so that would take up a lot of my time, and then at 16, that’s when I got approached about modeling so next thing you know I was doing my very first photoshoot. I was featured in a couple of local ad campaigns for local clothing stores like Abdallas, Brothers, and Gouchauxs! That was pretty cool, and it was different, being that I was a young kid from the hood, so I just embraced it and just soaked it in and made the most of it, but that entire time, I was still obsessed with writing music and that’s when I formed a couple of hip hop groups with some friends, and we started recording at my friend’s house, but after a couple of years that’s when I realized I would have to make a major move in order to accomplish my goals! So around 1998, I moved to Atlanta with one of my brothers and recorded my first real demo and shopped that for a while; then I started actually selling copies of that same project, and it made some noise, but what I quickly figured out is that my journey was gonna be different… to put it blunt I was always a gifted writer, and I always had a certain type of image so what I had to understand is that hip hop was very similar to the hood! I mean, think about it: it’s a crab in the bucket mentality, so it kind of taught me how to move accordingly even back then! So from about 98-02 I just recorded and released music around the Atlanta area and then in 03 got an opportunity to go to Hollywood with a friend for a couple of acting auditions and at the same time my music somehow got into the hands of a producer/label CEO out of Houston Tx and next thing ya know I was in Houston signing a deal with his Indie imprint Southern Vibe Records and by 04 I released my first ever real album called “Leader of the New South” and I actually got the opportunity to hit the road and open up for Lil Wayne and Mike Jones among a numerous amount of other major artists back then… the album did great, had a couple of songs that reached radio in the southern regions of the country but then in 05 my mom passed away and that was one of the most difficult times of my life but just a few months later my daughter was born so I’m sure you can imagine the emotions at that time so I just decided to take a step back and focus on being a young father because she actually became my second kid so I just did what I was supposed to do and married the mother of my 2 kids and just pretty much worked and lived a pretty laid back life with my 2 amazing kids! Just giving myself time to properly grieve the death of my mom and the joy of being a father. Fast forward to 07, I got back to writing and recording, and by 08, I had a new situation with another Indie label and actually got an offer to sign with a major, but the deal was incredibly disrespectful, lol, so I turned it down and took another break. Now, by 2010-2011, my friend(CEO of Southern Vibe Records) Tony had started a magazine(Heavy Rotation Magazine) and asked me to be a part of it. I agreed, and within a couple years we had relationships with Warner Bros Records and other major record labels and celebrity publicists, and I suddenly found myself interviewing everyone from Kirko Bangz to DJ Drama to attending Red Carpet events for the BET Awards, BET hip hop awards, Soul Train Awards, and interviewing everyone from Katt Williams to DJ Khalid to different reality tv stars etc. etc. And that just reintroduced me to my love for music so by 2015 I started bk recording and been releasing music ever since on our own imprint (Heavy Rotation Publishing). And within the last decade I got the opportunity to get back into modeling also… I modeled for brands like Sun x Stone, Diesel, and some indie brands also, not to mention a couple of different agencies, which has been an incredible journey and, may I add, pretty rewarding in many ways. I’ve also released an incredible album just last year called “I Kept My Word,” which been pretty successful and is still streaming on all platforms… So that brings me to this present day, I have my new album coming out later this summer “I Kept My Word 2” and I just got booked to model for a couple of different agencies and brands so all in all it’s been an amazing and incredible journey! I love to tell people to follow their dreams, but just make sure you’re built for the journey! I’m thankful for not only my success but just the overall experience itself!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Well, just to be real and truthful, losing my parents was the most devastating thing ever! That was a hell of a challenge, but once I embraced the reality of those losses, then I understood that I’ll be fine! Also, I didn’t really understand how the entertainment industry worked. I love to tell my story because it’s just so real… I just figured since I had a look and my music was really saying something I just assumed I could get a major record deal and sign a modeling contract or something LOL and have a ball, but this sh#t didn’t come that easy hahahaha, so basically, I just had to outsmart the haters and appreciate the setbacks… I figured out I was cut from a different cloth, so I just regrouped and just went around the obstacles and before I knew it, I was embracing success and celebrating life! Not only do I model, but I can drop music whenever I choose to and me and my partner became a major force within the realm of media and indie films! So, my advice is to never stop, just take a detour if you have to and you’ll reach your destination, trust me!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Well, I never like to put myself in a box, but I guess I’m an artist first… Like I said, I released an independent, classic album back in 05, and I feel like it was overlooked, so that gave me a new purpose to reintroduce myself artistically and been releasing singles since 2015 and dropped a super dope album last year called “I Kept My Word” available everywhere… gotta a few dope videos on YouTube, “famous for hate,” ” Still Come Thru” and a few more and my new album “I Kept My Word 2” coming this summer! Also, u can check me out on our YouTube/Magazine channel Heavy Rotation Magazine TV and click on our Red Carpet Bet Awards coverage and see me interviewing some of your favorite artists and celebs, which is pretty cool. Also, I’m still modeling, got some print work coming up with a couple of different agencies, booked for ATL fashion week this fall, which is pretty big, and got some ad campaigns coming up with some well-known brands later this summer and in talks to become brand ambassador for a couple of brands! I’m just fortunate and thankful! And I would say I’m most proud of being a father over everything else definitely! And what sets me apart from others, I would say me always knowing exactly who I am! There’s not a person in the world who can persuade me to lose my way or my purpose, and nowadays, I truly believe that is incredibly rare!
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
Growing up, I was born confident lol my mom used to say that she never had to give me a pep talk, haha… I was pretty shy up to about 15 I always had the girls getting at me so that made me pretty popular plus I played sports and like I said I modeled in high school, so I had a pretty cool and interesting childhood! Also, I went through a player phase and had other dudes wanting to fighting me, but I always seemed to avoid real confrontations because I didn’t mean any harm… sounds funny I’m sure, but I realized at a young age that’s a different kind of power when you know who u are and I just understood that! Also, I had a brother ended up in the penitentiary over a woman, so I just knew how to move at a young age, his situation taught me a lot about life!
Contact Info:
- Website: heavyrotationmagazine.com
- Instagram: Ivleagueforever2
- Youtube: Heavy Rotation Magazine Tv and Kel Jaleno youtube
Image Credits
Z3 Photography
Allison & Jennifer
