Jahri’s World creator reflects on why he makes music for neurodivergent kids

John Yang:

Finally tonight, a visit to Jahri's World, a place where quirky costumes and silly songs are designed to create a sensory oasis for neurodivergent children. His videos on TikTok have gone viral, racking up millions of views. Earlier, I spoke with the man behind the music, Jerry Turner. I asked him how Jari's World got started.

Jerry Turner, Children’s Music Entertainment:

So it was by accident. Just I got asked, hey, do you want to work at a school? And I'm just thinking it's just, you know, a public school. But come to find out, you know, it's working with children on the spectrum. So I had to learn quickly and adjust to a new world.

John Yang:

Jerry, I got to ask you, explain your costume.

Jerry Turner:

Okay, so I have a song called the Hot Jalapeno. I'm a hot jalapeno. And it was the first performing video I did that went viral on TikTok. And I needed something cool to look in. Like, even though it's not a jalapeno, it's close enough to.

So it was initially just for the video, but when I started performing at the schools, the children in the schools started getting excited about it. I go by Jahri's World, but the children understood, oh, it's the pepper guy, the jalapeno guy, the chili pepper guy. And the children kind of picked the costume out. They made it into the entity that it is today.

John Yang:

I noted on your website you say that the primary goal is to help children learn and retain basic academic and social skills. How do you do that?

Jerry Turner:

As a child, I really struggled academically, but I've always had an interest in music and entertaining while educating. For me, it's pretty basic. Comes pretty easy just finding a nice beat, nice cool melody and something that the children can get in touch with.

Because a lot of children, they grow up and they're just taught ABCs and counting shapes. So when you make a song with those concepts now they feel a part of the performance because we are making songs that are relevant to where they are.

John Yang:

How does it feel when you see a child who may have been quiet before, maybe seem withdrawn, sort of get in touch with the music and your singing?

Jerry Turner:

That's what I live for when those moments happen, especially in the neurodivergent community, when they may not be able to necessarily be one accord somewhere in the music, spiritually, there's an alignment. I believe that's what music was created for, to bring everybody together. And so to see that is something that wows me every day. It keeps it fun, spontaneous, and it keeps me humble and grateful.

John Yang:

And what sort of reaction do you get from parents?

Jerry Turner:

So after the shows and the interactions, you know, there's parents that I see smiles before they were coming in, kind of upset, mean, mugging, sad. But then at the end, a lot of comments is, I've never seen my child be able to interact this way with other children. I didn't know that they could sing. I didn't know that they could dance. I didn't know that they had these social skills.

John Yang:

Jerry Turner, also known as Jahri's World. Thank you very much.

Jerry Turner:

Thank you. Thank you for having me.