Detroit, MI · alt-R&B

JMSN

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Self-made silk — Detroit R&B auteur with a devoted following, self-released and sounding more expensive than most majors.

Christian Berishaj was born in Dallas and grew up in Eastpointe, a Detroit suburb, the son of an Albanian father. In high school he started a band called Snowhite that became Love Arcade, which signed to Atlantic Records in 2005 and put out one album before splitting. Between 2009 and 2011 he recorded under the pseudonym Christian TV, placing songs on the Girlfriend Pop compilation and the Fired Up! soundtrack.

He launched his own label, White Room Records, and adopted the JMSN name for his 2012 debut Priscilla, a moodier turn from the pop-rock of his earlier projects. The Guardian likened its spaced-out, melancholic production to The Weeknd, and Usher told NME that year that JMSN was his favorite new act.

He went on to release Pllaje in 2013, collaborating with J. Cole and The Game and touring more than twenty North American cities, followed by The Blue Album in 2014 and It Is in 2016. Alongside his own records he produced the track "Nibiru" for Ab-Soul and worked toward a joint album with the rapper, Unit 6, which was shelved over business disputes.

In 2016 he also revealed himself as the artist behind the alias Pearl, having quietly released an album, Closer, under that name. Across all of it he remains a self-contained operation, writing, playing, recording and mixing his own material, and performing live with a band while he handles vocals and guitar.

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alt-R&B