Born Tsidi Ibrahim, Jean Grae spent the first three months of her life in her native South Africa. She told the Jive Magazine website, "It’s not an impact of living there, but the impact of not living there, I think has changed my life in a way I’m sure I couldn’t even possibly fathom." Grae's family moved to New York when Grae was three months old, and she would spend the remainder of her childhood there. The daughter of jazz singer Sathima Bea Benjamin and jazz pianist Abdullah Ibrahim, the youngster quickly developed an appreciation for the arts, training as a dancer and opera singer before beginning her career as an emcee. She was constantly encouraged to locate her artistic voice and pursue her musical aspirations. Grae attended the Fiorello LaGuardia School of the Arts and Performing Arts, where she excelled as a vocal major. After graduation she was accepted for admission to New York University's music business program. She quickly decided, however, to forego her formal higher education in order to devote more time to her rap career.

Grae began her rap career in the mid-1990s on the underground circuit, performing under the name What? What?. In 1997 she was recruited by rapper Ocean to help form the group Natural Resource. The group, which founded its own label in 1997, released the underground classic "Negro League Baseball," as well as several other 12-inch singles. While performing with the group, Grae also began to produce records for other label artists, including Pumpkin Head, Don Scavone, and The Bad Seed. Although Natural Resource broke up in 1998 due to personal and creative differences, Grae's reputation continued to spread throughout the rap world. She changed her name from What? What? to Jean Grae, named after the telekinetic heroine from the X-Men comic book series. Grae began making guest appearances on numerous projects, including Herbaliser, High & Mighty, Da Beatminerz, and the Mumia 911 Project.

In 2002 Grae released her first album, Attack of the Attacking Things, which featured Da Beatminerz, Mr. Len, and Masta Ace. The album received consistently high praise from critics and fans, who appreciated the album's dark, honest feel and content. In a review of the album, Harry Allen of the Village Voice described Attack of the Attacking Things as "Jean Grae, after dozens of similar cameos over several years of underground records, finally battling demons on her own turf, trading on both her unaltered gift for lyrical delicacy, and her distinctive, deliberately understated vocal style."

Born Tsidi Ibrahim on November 1, 1976, in Cape Town, South Africa; moved to New York, NY, 1977; daughter Sathima Bea Benjamin (a jazz singer) and Abdullah Ibrahim (a jazz pianist).

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