For Jamel Griot and Lovey, a Family Bond Became a Musical Movement

Jamel Griot’s 2025 track “Coping Mechanism” sounds like a page from his diary. Over a soft piano loop and the crackle of a record player, the Oakland-raised rapper gets vulnerable about struggling to face himself as he navigates money problems, romantic entanglements and chasing his dreams. The warm, angelic voice of Lovey cuts in like his conscience speaking: “But you know that you should take some time alone / You say you will but you won’t / ’Cause lust is your way to cope.”

The two close collaborators are cousins, and they’re performing together with a live band on Nov. 8 at Studio X in Oakland at a launch party for Griot’s record label, Remain Family Oriented, a new hub for alternative hip-hop artists.

Lovey and Griot’s family bond is strong, but, surprisingly, the two only met as adults, and neither one could have predicted how they would help each other grow. It all started at a Christmas party six years ago. Lovey had just moved from her hometown of St. Louis to Oakland, where she reconnected with a branch of the extended family who’d been thriving in the Bay since their grandmother moved here during the Great Migration.

She noticed that Griot was wearing a crystal necklace, which sparked a conversation about their shared interest in spirituality, a thread that runs through both of their music.

Lovey describes the overlap in their approach this way: “It’s going through trauma, experiencing life, and then seeing it in a different light, seeing it in a way of like, ‘OK, what did I learn from that? What was the deeper meaning behind it?’”

Griot introduced Lovey to the hip-hop scene in her new city, and his tight-knit family gave her a sense of belonging she needed since losing her mom at just four years old. When Griot lost his own mom last year, Lovey became part of his support system as he navigated grief.

“Both of our mothers represented that glue to the family,” Griot reflects, “and with them both being absent, it’s to a point where we’re putting this on the forefront to not only be a glue in our communities, but to also to our family.”

That’s where Remain Family Oriented comes in. The two cousins are inspired by Bay Area artists like LaRussell, who built a venue in his Vallejo backyard, and attracted a national following and cosigns from big-name artists like Lil Jon while remaining rooted in his hometown. Lovey herself already runs a group called Black Renaissance Project, which offers mental-health workshops, open mics and a support group for artists.

Now, Griot wants to do his part to create more spaces for intentional camaraderie and honest storytelling. The Remain Family Oriented launch party on Nov. 8 is the first step.

“There’s so many other different representations of the Bay Area that you don’t see,” he says. “And so many different music sounds and identities that isn’t represented. So with that being said, I feel like we’re literally just being another vessel of creating that industry for the unseen.”

Jamel Griot and Lovey perform at Studio X (829 27th Avenue, Oakland) on Nov. 8.