Today we’d like to introduce you to Jaleel Ritchwood-Jordan.
Hi Jaleel, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I am Jaleel “JaRich” Ritchwood Jordan. I am 31 years of age and before all things else, a child of God. I am a Black male educator, an author with one book under my belt, Through my Eyes (which is available on Amazon in paperback and ebook forms). I am an actor/poet with credits to my name locally and abroad for my work (A Raisin in the Sun, Poetry Outloud). I am a singer (my first love) and an all-around entrepreneur. I have been a fan of the performing arts, particularly singing, since I can remember. My paternal grandmother, Barbara Ritchwood Hill, is where the love and gift trickled down from, and the church. My dad is one of ten siblings on his mother’s side. He’s number nine to be exact. All of my grandmother’s first eight children before my dad and my Uncle Tommy (who later went on to sing and chase a music career… RIP) she had singing and had formed a gospel group called The Ritchwood singers out of her children. They would sing all over New Jersey and in the Essex County area of New Jersey at many different churches. My grandmother was a well-known organist, so she had many relationships with churches so she would book or have her children accompany her on gigs, and they would tear the house down. They eventually recorded a record but eventually, everyone grew up and went down their own paths. A lot of it drug and substance abuse and continuous stints with the law, but I guess the giftings didn’t just stop with her children because then I come along. The grandson who can sing and actually wants to sing and has a passion to sing unlike some of my cousins who could sing, or my grandmother would try to convince to sing, but they wouldn’t; I became the student. I’ve been singing on stages and in front of audiences professionally since five years old. Born and raised in Newark, NJ, I have many accolades both professionally and educationally, including the Essex County Team Work Award presented by County Executive Joseph D. DiVincenzo for my active contributions to my community and city. I have also received citations and proclamations from the Newark Municipal Council, NJ Governor Phil Murphy, NJ Senator Cory Booker, and the NJ State Senate, along with President and First Lady Joe Biden. I debuted my very first single, a hit, “Blamin’ Me,” along with its concept video in 2017 to all digital music outlets under the stage moniker, JaRich. After that success, I released my debut full-length album on July 3, 2020, to all music digital platforms, and the first single from that release, What Would I Do (Jam’s Anthem), became a fan favorite. The album is R&B and Soul infused with elements of Gospel (as those are my roots). It tells a story from beginning to end of different seasons I had to go through and eventually get through or still making my way through. It’s an album that made me sit still, take accountability for self, understand, and make room for change to produce growth, and in order for me to have done that, I needed to reflect (hence the album’s title). In April of 2022, Jaleel was a guest on the Ellen DeGeneres show and interviewed by executive producer and guest host Stephen “Twitch” Boss (RIP), for my work as a Black male educator in the inner city and for my mentoring program, Boys to Men, which I co-founded and housed out of Marion P Thomas Charter High School. Since all of that in my great home city of Newark, I have relocated to Dallas, Texas to run a third-grade program with Cityscape Schools in East Dallas along with making some wonderful musical connections and gearing up for my first single release since leaving the East Coast entitled “F.O.B. (Feelin’ on ya Body)” which will be released on all digital streaming platforms on February 27, 2023.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
It has never been a smooth road. Life isn’t a smooth road! It comes with detours and many challenges, but it can be a beautiful journey if you allow yourself the space to grow and understand that life will throw you curve balls at different stages of your life, but how you overcome and if you overcome is a testament of your will. I’ve faced things in life I never could have imagined being a part of my journey, from being married very early, separated, and going through a divorce. A short jail stint as a result of that relationship and losing one of the most important people to me during the initial COVID-19 outbreak back in 2020. That person was my grandmother, Frances E. Washington. I thought I was tough when I faced all those previous challenges, and though they were tough in that moment, nothing could prepare me for March 27, 2020, when I lost her. I suffered greatly and almost lost my mind, but my faith kept me strong. It was all of who she was and what she taught me that sustained me. It was the need and want to still want to make her proud that drove me, and as a result, I got in the studio, and that birthed my debut album, Reflections, which is a melting pot of all of who I am. It’s not a specific genre of music. It’s simply just music and a voice. You get everything from Gospel to Reggae to R&B/Soul. All of that is who I am. I am music, and music is me. It’s the one thing outside of the personal connections I have with great people and influences in my life and God that has kept me afloat when life seemed to hit at every angle and all at once.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a music vocal artist who goes by the name of JaRich. I’m known to many as the singer who teaches because that is the nine-to-five job that I carry when I am not traveling or chasing my dreams as an entertainer. I am a teacher that hails from Newark. NJ, who took a teaching position here in Dallas with Cityscape Schools after being sought after, after my appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show in April 2022. I was interviewed on the show by guest host and executive producer Stephen “Twitch” Boss, who recently passed away, for being a Black male educator making a difference in the inner city, in a city where I grew up and still lived until I moved to Dallas. I am proud that because of my work, I have helped countless of children and families have a hot meal, coats during the winter season, scholarships and donations to go to school and to purchase books, receive toys and gifts for the holidays, and just have hope for a better tomorrow just because I saw them. Not for their circumstances, but I saw them. Their hearts and their desire to want better for themselves. I am proud that my work as both an artist and an educator as gotten me both local and national awards and citations from local and national government and that I continue to make a difference in just the life that I live in simply trying to be a good person who treats people fairly and respectfully and someone always striving to do the best that I can to be the best that I can. Whatever that may be.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
I’m also an author with one book out currently entitled “Through my Eyes” by Jaleel Ritchwood-Jordan. It’s a motivational book from the lenses of a young adult that takes different topics of things I’ve faced in life and helping the reader to take those negatives or things that can be seen as negative and make it positive. It is available on Amazon through Ebook and paperback formats. Also, my music can be found on all digital streaming platforms, including YouTube, under my stage name, JaRich.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jarichofficial/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jarichofficial?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@jarichofficial
Image Credits
Jazzmin N. Easley
Jaleel “JaRich” Ritchwood
Jordan Marques Ritchwood
