Koel D'vall

Koel D'Vall (a.k.a. Jhoi Solid), is a "Gen X" producer, singer, and song writer from Long Beach, CA. "I never considered myself a singer. When I was young, I sang in the church choir, and alongside my mom and siblings in a gospel group. However, I did not like to sing; it was my mother's passion. I took a loss early in my singing career, after being entered into a talent contest. I was young and shy but did my best. The performance went well, with a lot of crowd participation, and afterward, I felt I might win one of the three trophies being awarded. When I didn't receive second or third place, I relished the thought: 'Could I actually be first?' When the announcer announced the winner of first place... over half the audience said my name, however, they awarded it to a couple of girls who had done a Millie Vanilli-style performance of a popular R&B song. 'That stung!' There was an uproar over my loss, and I was given a consultation prize. I continued to sing in the choirs, but I shied away from singing 'lead'. Years later, I embraced rap and rapped for about fifteen years. Towards the end of my career, I decided to do a solo project. Along with rapping, I produced three semi-melodic tracks, which proved to be the album highlights. Sometime later, I sat in my car, moderately singing along with some music and realized that I was (actually) holding the notes and melodies. So, I've delayed retirement to produce some funky new hip-hop soul."