JREILLAH P

HIP-HOP/SPOKEN WORD ARTIST

Jreillah P (born Joanna Rebekah Millan Padua) was born and raised in the Bay Area by her mother, father, two siblings, and a great amount of aunts, uncles and cousins. This full blooded Filipina was the youngest in her family for ten years and fell into her art at different points of her life. Jreillah, with a passion to become an attorney since the 6th grade, began singing as a little girl. She had always had a love for R&B and she would fall asleep to late nights on 106 KMEL, however she discovered a new love for H.E.R during her 9th grade year: Hip Hop. With a growing mix from Aaliyah and Nas to Ashanti, Common and Felt, her passions began to intertwine into her high school years.

This triple threat came across her love for spoken word during her Junior year of high school when her Social Justice Academy teachers assigned a project that enabled her to recite Faces in the Hall by Gym Class Heroes and asked her to free write about her upbringing. The silence that came from listening ears gave her a glimpse of the power behind story telling, the appreciation behind free flowing words and the respect given only to those who are willing to come from the heart. She competed in a few Youth Speaks competitions and was Co-Captain of the San Leandro High team that won the First Youth Speaks’ Unified District Poetry Slam. 

Putting her art on the back burner, she eventually graduated from UC Berkeley with a Major in Legal Studies and a Minor in Ethnic Studies. Several months after graduation, she came across a Hip-Hop concert through Eventbrite and upon seeing Son the Gifted and OD the Wordsmith of Lyrical Opposition's performance and then realizing they were performing under God’s anointing, she approached them afterwards. Soon enough, she became inducted into Lyrical Opposition. Although dabbling a bit in it prior to this encounter, Jreillah truly found her talent in rap through Lyrical Opposition. 

Jreillah P, who is still aspiring to become a criminal defense attorney, continues to speak and perform with Lyrical Opposition under God’s will and only He knows what’s in store for her next."