Bio

WWW.JIMMANUEL.COM 21 yr. old J. Immanuel (born Jonathan Immanuel Webb) is a Shreveport, Louisiana native. The multi-talented singer-songwriter-musician-entrepreneur and aspiring model/actor begin taking piano lessons at age 11. He started his own online eBay business at age 14, and composed his first piano and lyrical songs at age 15. But at the tender age of 16 years old a future that seemed so bright for this young man suddenly turned dark. Caught up in a bad decision with 3 adult co-defendants, he was arrested and charged as an adult for Armed Robbery. Later he was sentenced to a lengthy jail sentence equivalent to juvenile life. Being so young and full of dreams, yet in prison and unable to go after them, he felt like life was just all over. It was the lowest point of his short life. But in the midst of it all somehow he found hope and a future with an ink pen. During his incarceration J. Immanuel began to write everything that had wondered upon his young mind, writing over 300 original songs, several movies and books. He says "One day my dad wrote me and was like ‘Write down all your thoughts and ideas and call it The Vision.’ And that's exactly what I did. Everyone else was doing their time playing chest, checkers, cards, watching football, bragging on past things, drinking coffee, and burning cigarettes. I was burning up ink pens. Every time someone saw me I had a pen and notepad in my hand." He also took the time to begin to learn how to play the guitar, and further his education. He earned his G.E.D., took college courses, and studied books dealing with the music business, investing, and many more topics of his interest. After exactly 4 years, 3 months, and 18 days behind bars J. Immanuel walked out of prison on October 1, 2007 a free young black man with a positive mind set and a strong desire for success. Plus a powerful Vision that he is confident will blow the minds of everyone it reaches. Currently J. Immanuel is back in Shreveport, Louisiana and on a road to success: No Looking Back! Currently in the making is his own entertainment label/incorporation, music publishing company, and graphic/web design company. Also he has his hand into the popular fashion site, PimpMySwag.com. He is eagerly pursuing all of his dreams including his main dream: getting his Vision to the world. "I just envision myself visiting schools, juvenile facilities, and anywhere else young people are so I can get my story out. I am positive it will touch everyone who hears it." says J. Immanuel. A few of the big names who have been inspired by The J. Immanuel Story and his music and have made contact personally with J. Immanuel are St. Louis R&B artist P.Dub a.k.a Pretty Willie, Roderick Dunn -Actor (Great Debaters, Innocent's Way, Wonderful World, Year One, The Comeback, Soul Men, Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, Convict and Gambler), Terrell Carter (Los Angeles R&B artist and actor - Madea's Family Reunion The Movie, Dairy Of A Mad Black Woman The Movie, & numerous Tyler Perry stage plays), NBA superstar Doug Christie's daughter Chantel "Chani" Christie (Los Angeles, CA R&B artist who will do a single with J. Immanuel), and a mass of others from all over the nation. Alongside working on his studio album, J. Immanuel has wandered off into the movie industry. His most recent was doing backgrounds for 50 Cent's upcoming movie "Microwave Park". His next background part is for "W", an upcoming movie based on the life and times of George W. Bush. "Not nothing major yet, or even close, but it's a start. An exciting start for me.", says J. Immanuel smiling. "Real soon we're going to start the process of submitting my story to numerous magazines, newspapers, and television shows and just see how far we can take it. The newspaper thing was good, but I'm looking farther." With a powerful arsenal of written material J. Immanuel also has plans of submitting some of his music and movie scripts to record labels and movie producers. With Shreveport welcoming the film and media industry to our city this is a plus. He describes his songwriting as "deep, words full of meaning and emotion that captures the mind of the listener leaving him/her in a deep thought trance.” He adds “I refuse to release any music without meaning because words are so powerful." J. Immanuel recently overcame another storm of life. Two days before his prison release he was diagnosed with Leukemia. "Honestly, this was the scariest thing that ever happened to me. I am just now making this public because I didn't feel comfortable at first with everyone knowing this. But after releasing my first single and seeing how much the single and my prison story touched and inspired so many, I updated my bio with the full story. I began to realize that everything happens for a reason. And just like I used prison as a stepping stone to make myself better, this current situation will only make me and my story more powerful. Who knows who I could be a blessing to." After over 6 months of chemotherapy J. Immanuel recently finished his last treatment and is in complete remission. "I'm still standing and running full speed toward all of my dreams. Still, I have a dream! The only person who can stop you from reaching your dreams is you. I am a walking miracle and example that God is real and with Him anything is possible! Yes, times get hard sometimes and you may feel like giving up, but everything happens for a reason. You reach different chapters in your life, but you never give up and quit. The next chapter of your life gets better! But you have to keep your head up!" "Lovin' U" his debut internet single was released on MySpace Nov. 1st and quickly caught the hearts of thousands even with out a radio release. "This is just a little something just to set the internet scene on fire” he adds. "Lovin' U" is a song that expresses the way he loved a woman so much and so deeply that the love completely changed his whole life mentally and spiritually. He tells her how her love has healed, refreshed, blessed and completely changed the way he looks at love, life and at God's most precious creature, a woman. J. Immanuel is also working on his auto-biography "The New Beginning". He says "The concept behind my auto-biography is that no matter what your past is, no matter how big of and what mistakes you made in the past, and no matter how you much you stumbled and fell in the past, with God you have the hope of a brighter successful future and a new beginning. You may have your own plans for your life and that they are best for you, and then you come to a point where you realize God has a much better plan! In the midst of it all God has truly been blessing me. You may go through a tough trial in life but remember, all things work together for good when you love the Lord! That doesn’t mean that all things are good, but God will turn your test into a testimony. He can turn a bad situation and make good out of it. Just like He did with my prison situation, I was and still am so young! He turned my stumbling blocks into stepping stones. I am a living example that with God all things are possible! No matter what challenge you may be facing now, no matter what you’ve experienced in your past, if you’ll stay in faith, God will turn it around for your good! I just thank Him everyday for all the ideas, witty concepts, and blessings he has given me. I am a walking miracle! And I am living my dream and never looking back!" Make sure you keep your eyes and ears open for J. Immanuel in 2008. If you haven't heard of this Shreveport youngster you will soon! He's sure to be one of the next big names coming out of the fast growing Shreveport, Louisiana. The time had come!