JAMIL GS is dubbed the Godfather of the Ghetto Fabulous look, blending street style and attitude with high fashion to flawless effect in his photographs and film work. For more than two decades, the Danish-American artist has played a pivotal role in shaping the look of Hip-Hop music and culture, creating works that have been exhibited alongside the likes of Irving Penn and Richard Avedon.

Born in Copenhagen in 1971 to Sahib Shihab, one of the founding members of Bebop and Hard Bop Jazz and Maiken Gulmann, Jamil’s multicultural heritage imbued him with a profound sensitivity to the extraordinary complexity of human existence. Adroit at code switching, Jamil studied fine art and wrote graffiti until a bust at age 16 ended his writing career. He turned to photography, discovering the ways in which he could represent his generation coming of age, through the medium.

Captivated by the jazz album covers in his father’s collection and the Blue Note photography of Francis Wolff, Jamil consciously began to bring those elements to his work. After his father passed in 1989, Jamil decided to move to New York, his father’s hometown, where Shihab made his name as a musician, studying at Julliard, and playing with Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Miles Davis and Quincy Jones.