The bio on Jinari Kemet’s Facebook page reads, "I started rapping for fun, but now I wanna use it to share my stories.”
Though he’s been performing on stages throughout the region for the last few years, the rapper and multi-instrumentalist is gearing up for his most ambitious chapter yet.
Kemet makes his Brite Winter debut this month, hitting the stage at the outdoor music festival with his band the Black Jackets at 8:30 p.m. on the East Bank of the Flats.
Last January, Kemet released his first full-length album with a sold-out release show at the Beachland Ballroom, marking a major milestone for the artist.
“It was fully hip-hop too,” Kemet said. “It was me, Zupp, Marcus Smith, and AKA and Company. The four of us … four rappers that all have live bands, all in one show. Never been done before as far as I know,” he said.
Kemet credits that night as the launchpad for the opportunities that followed, including playing with bands like Apostle Jones and collaborating with artists like Messmaker.
“That kind of set the precedent for this past year and a lot of the opportunities I got,” he said.
‘The Othercide’ and the art of breaking expectations
The first thing audiences may notice about Kemet when he performs is his style. A headband is always part of the ensemble, often accompanied by kimonos or capes.
“One day I was just like, ‘You know what? I'm gonna just start dressing like a samurai,’" he said. "Feels like I'm putting on my armor, my costume or something.”
This aesthetic isn’t just for show. Kemet is a lifelong fan of Japanese culture, particularly anime, and even competes in martial arts events using padded swords and other weapons.
His love for anime finds its way into his music as well, with references sprinkled throughout his lyrics.
“A lot of people my age, a lot of just kids in the Black community, there is an amount of love for anime that cannot be described,” Kemet said. “I think a lot of this is related to the fact that we had to discover it on our own — our parents didn't show that to us. I feel like when you discover something like that, it makes you care about it a lot more.”
Kemet said “The Othercide” was loosely inspired by the anime series “Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood” but evolved into something more personal.
The album began as a single song before evolving into a larger conceptual piece. Kemet describes its themes as cyclical, reminiscent of a dragon or snake eating its own tail.
“I was struggling to find my purpose, so a lot of the songs and topics are things that I've already gone through,” he said. “But I tried to write it in a way where maybe someone else can identify with this journey and see themselves in it, maybe take something away from it.”
Kemet said the concept of the ouroboros — a snake eating its own tail — became thematic in his songwriting.
“That’s one of my favorite things about albums — just telling stories. I wanted to make an album that had a story from start to finish,” he said.
He even built an Easter egg into the album’s structure.
“If you’re listening to the full album and have it set to start over again, it doesn’t end — the album just continues going, like, you know, the ouroboros,” he said.
Around the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kemet set a personal goal: Write just one song. That single song sparked an outpouring of creativity, culminating in “The Othercide.”
“That’s how we got to the other side,” he said.
Becoming Jinari Kemet
Kemet Ojo is his real name, and he crafted the persona of Jinari as a way to fully embrace his musical identity, adding his first name as his last.
“Jinari was gonna be the name of my first kid,” he said. “This will be poetic in a sense, because I'm rediscovering my love for music, and now this is my passion. This is like my baby. And so that's why I chose the name Jinari.”
That rediscovery happened in 2020. Before then, he struggled with writer’s block and was on the verge of giving up on music and settling down and having a family. Then the pandemic hit.
“I woke up, made some coffee, sat down and I wrote an entire album. I finally did it, like I'm past it. And it was like the floodgates opened up,” he said.
Since then, Kemet has embraced the full range of his musical skills, blending rap with a diverse set of influences.
“I like kind of having that Super Bowl energy to my shows, where there's just surprise guests and interesting musical cues."Jinari Kemet
He’s not just an emcee — he’s a blues bass player, a drummer and a guitarist with a love for metal riffs.
His music is a fusion of all these elements, and performances with his band are theatrical and unexpected.
“There is a moment where we go into a metal breakdown, like kind of complete left-field turn, and like no one's expecting it,” he said. “It's always really funny to me when I see people make like the ‘O’ face when I do it. I live for that reaction. Just subverting people's expectations of me is really fun.”
A musical chameleon
Kemet’s ability to move seamlessly between genres has made him a sought-after collaborator in Northeast Ohio’s rap and rock scenes.
He credited this musical adaptability to his early training in blues guitar at Tri-C Metropolitan Campus, where he took classes at 17.
“This is going to sound funny ... I'm playing blues with a bunch of like old white college professors from Tri-C,” he said.
From there, he branched into heavy metal, picked up drums and even filled in as an instrumentalist for his Garfield High School show choir.
“After I graduated, they hired me to come back and play, pretty much fill in whatever they couldn't with the students,” he said, “So, if they needed a bassist or a guitar player or a drummer, I would just kind of do that.”
His genre-spanning abilities have allowed him to surprise audiences who might not normally gravitate toward hip-hop.
“People will say, ‘I don't even like rap,’ and I'm like, ‘Maybe you do like rap, you just didn't know it. You haven't heard the rap that you like yet,’” he said.
Kemet said he and the Black Jackets are promising an unforgettable show at Brite Winter on Feb. 22.
“I like kind of having that Super Bowl energy to my shows, where there's just surprise guests and interesting musical cues,” Kemet said, “So, I'm really hiking up the stage gimmicks to 11 on this one.”
Kemet plans to not only show audiences his range of musical talents but also his karate skills.
“I just bought a set of boards to break on stage,” he said. “I'm gonna show you the versatility of what hip-hop can do.”
