J. "Jakari" Rush, from Two Egg-Bascom, Florida, is an American pianist and composer. A naturally gifted pianist, he discovered his love for the instrument at a very early age and his pianistic abilities at age 5.

Rush discovered a love for musical composition early in life after his mom gave him a cassette disk of piano classics. His first piano composition, Prelude in C, was premiered in 2002 in a recital. Considering composition as a serious path did not come until after being inspired by a memorable 2007 All-State Chorus concert that involved the performance of James Q. Mulholland’s If Love Should Count You Worthy with Charles Buffy as conductor. From that inspiration came his first serious choral work, A Hymn, with text by Black American poet Paul Laurence Dunbar.

A millennial, with a somewhat old soul, Rush is a composer whose music matches his personality in many ways. His music embraces many influences such as Romanticism, Impressionism, contemporary, jazz, gospel, and hymnody to name a few. Being an admirer of music of the tonal language, Rush’s music carves a niche of its own while still staying relevant to the musical "zeitgeist." He has collaborated and premiered music with the Georgia Symphony Orchestra, New England Conservatory, Georgia Spiritual Ensemble, renown bass-baritone Oral L. Moses and others. His talents can also be seen in the Netflix series "Raising Dion."

Rush holds a B.A. in Music Composition from Kennesaw State University’s Bobbie Bailey School of Music and also holds a M.M. in Piano Performance from Georgia State University.