Mark Kiessling Biography
Jumex, real name Mark Kiessling, is an American rapper born on February 14, 2000 in Chicago, Illinois. His rap songs with a punk and rock influence are well known.
Jumex’s family, youth, and early schooling are all unknown, with the exception of the fact that he is known to have attended Lyon Township High School. His drug usage, melancholy, and other personal concerns that led to his dropping out of school have now come to light, though.
Growing up in Brookfield, Kiessling was heavily influenced by the local rap scene. He also developed an interest in rock and metal music, becoming a fan of artists such as David Bowie, Black Flag and the Summer Set.
Although music has always been his main interest, Kiessling has also become a fan of Japanese anime culture. His favorite work of this genre is “Tokyo Ghoul”, based on the famous manga (visual novel) by Ishida Sui – the story takes place in a world where eaters of human flesh – described as ghouls – live among humans normal, hiding their true nature.
It’s no wonder that teenage Mark was so enthralled by the series, since the work is characterized by its dark but interesting horror theme, like CBR’s Guillermo Kurten summed it up: ‘is a visual feast in its own style.’ (…) ‘Art takes on its full meaning when it depicts scenes of horror. This is emphasized both in the expressiveness of the characters and in the action.
Another aspect, albeit minimal, is the style in which the cover of each volume is drawn with Ishida’s style and use of color.
Although Kiessling may have been influenced by “Tokyo Ghoul” when it comes to the visual aspects of his work, anime in general has also inspired his music, confirmed by him in an interview with AltPress in 2019: “Definitely inspired by the image and music because anime theme songs have crazy breaks, I really like how they all of a sudden pile up so fast. That’s what I try to put in my music.
First steps
Kiessling began his musical career in high school, when he became a member of the band No Signal. Although the band is known to have a punk style, there is no information on musical releases or other members.
After leaving high school and the band, Kiessling moved to Los Angeles in search of new opportunities.
In February 2018 and under the name Lil Jumex, he released his first EP entitled “Luvburnz”, which contains four tracks, and was followed by “Screwed” in March of the same year.
Although these albums were not commercially successful, they attracted the interest of Odd Future’s Taco Bennett, who took on the task of helping Kiessling co-write and produce his single “Trapped”, released as the name Jumex, and based on his own experiences: ‘(It) goes hand in hand with being mentally stuck in Chicago when I was 17, stuck in school trying to make music. I felt trapped in a system, basically. Bennet also produced the music video for the song, which caught the attention of media and fans due to its outstanding aesthetics and production. To date, the video has over eight million views on YouTube.
Shawn Jackson from Drilling, praised Jumex for the song: “It’s something else, a special breed; a mix between little Peep and Scarlxrd for those of the rap scene; as his shouto vocals could be compared to those of the ultimate king of the emo genre, the one and only Bring Me The Horizon singer Oly Sikes.
However, on sites such as AlbumOfTheYear.org and RateYourMusic.com, the song did not attract positive reviews, being heavily criticized by users of both websites.
2019: lonely, in love and on tour
Jumex’s “Loner” EP was released in June 2019, featuring the title track and songs such as “Trapped”, “Alive in My Coffin”, and “Billie Eilish”. The latter was not only dedicated to the singer of the same name, but was also promoted as an individual single and was praised for its aesthetically pleasing video.
This album was special for Jumex, because he drew on his own past experiences to create the songs: “Loner” was about my past life in Chicago before I came to LA, so it’s like escaping the mentality (of) being trapped in Chicago with drugs, and it’s never good to be around drugs”.
Although the title track racked up a massive number of views on YouTube, the EP failed to receive praise from pundits or online music communities. It scored 15 out of 100 on AlbumOfTheYear.com, and negative reviews towards the album were also abundant on other sites.
Despite the negative reviews, Jumex embarked on their first overseas tour in June 2019, during which they visited various cities in Japan as opening for hardcore band Crossfaith.
Round was particularly exciting for Jumex, because it was one of his dreams to visit the Asian country: “It’s exactly what I expected. Everything is so cool and unique. But it’s also crazy how calm everyone is and how cold everything is.
Finding himself welcomed by the Japanese public, Jumex was inspired to pursue his musical career: “Seeing the public connect and sing my lyrics is really cool. It’s so high. It’s just going to get better from here.
Jumex released their upcoming EP titled “Lover” in November 2019, which featured a collaboration with famed drummer Travis Barker for the song “Spraypaint.” However, the EP was not praised musically by pundits, despite receiving less negative feedback than its predecessor.
In September 2019, Jumex opened for Yungblud’s concert in Los Angeles, which was followed by a show in November at the “Day N’ Vegas Festival”.
recent projects
After the music video for “Spraypaint” was released in October 2019, Jumex continued to promote their music until the end of the year.
In February 2020, Jumex released “XOXO” in collaboration with fellow rapper Lil Xan. The event was celebrated with a live concert in Chicago.
Under the name Goodnightm4rk, Jumex released in March 2020 the EP entitled “Nightmares”.
Details about Jumex’s personal life including romance, hobbies and friends are unknown.
Jumex has an estimated net worth of over $100,000 as a result of his work as a rapper.
Jumex is easily recognizable for his outrageous green hair color, punk-oriented fashion sense, and face tattoo with the phrase “XOXO.” Details about his height and weight are unknown.
Jumex apparently chose their stage name after a Mexican juice company.
jumex said Billboard he feels he’s giving his generation a way to express how they feel through his songs: “I feel like I’m a voice for them because I don’t really talk about flexible things like women or money”. I’m talking about emotional issues and what people go through, you know, like high school relationships.
In 2019, he told AltPress he had “400 unreleased songs”.
Malicious internet commentators have described it as an “industrial factory”.
Credit: The Nuherald.
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