The Visionaries Behind JOOLS TV: How Justin And Patrice Brim Are Transforming Children’s Entertainment – Essence
When Justin and Patrice Brim launched JOOLS TV in 2020, they had a simple yet profound mission: to provide engaging, diverse, and culturally rich content for children, particularly kids of color. Their journey into animation was deeply personal, inspired by their late son, JJ, and driven by the desire to fill a void in young entertainment. What started as an idea born out of love and necessity quickly became a game-changer by infusing learning with rhythm, creativity, and representation.
JOOLS TV stands out by blending traditional nursery rhymes with hip-hop culture, giving rise to their signature Trapery Rhymes—a genre that reimagines classic tunes with an urban twist. Their unique storytelling style has not only captivated young audiences but also gained widespread acclaim from cultural icons like Cardi B, Missy Elliott, and Michael B. Jordan. The Brims have made a lasting impact with over 100 million YouTube views and a dedicated following that continues to grow organically.
The channel’s foundation is rooted in family. The name is an acronym for Js of Our Lives, a tribute to their four sons: JJ, Jaxon, Jett, and Jhy. Each adventure on the platform reflects real-life experiences, adding humor, life lessons, and affirmations that promote self-confidence, curiosity, and ingenuity.
Through JOOLS TV, Justin and Patrice have turned grief into purpose, proving that diversity matters in children’s media. Their goal is to expand into books, live shows, and long-form animation, ensuring that their creation remains a staple for families everywhere. More than a channel, it’s a movement—one that is inspiring the next generation to dream big and see themselves reflected in the stories they love.
ESSENCE: Can you talk to me about the creation of JOOLS TV? What inspired it and what was the technical aspect of creating this particular channel.
Patrice Brim: Well, as far as the inspiration goes, we were inspired by our oldest son, JJ, who is no longer with us. He was our first child, so he inducted us into parenthood and along the journey we realized there were things that were accessible for kids to watch on television, but we saw a lack thereof in as far as diversity goes, something that he could really connect with. And so when we would be searching YouTube, we would see a couple channels that sparked his attention. But Justin and I, my husband and I would always remix the nursery rhymes or songs that we would hear, and we always thought we would say to each other like, “Hey, how dope would it be if we made our own channel for our kids?” And unfortunately after he passed, that kind of lit something under us where we were just like, “Hey, we really have to turn this into reality.” And so that really was the inspiration behind it.
Justin Brim: Also, we didn’t see a lot of diversity in the space and we wanted our sons to see and have some representation. Everything else that we saw out there. It was cool. I always say that a lot of the nursery rhymes have darker meanings that we kind of unraveled and they didn’t have enough seasoning on it. So we wanted to add a little seasoning to the nursery rhymes and give our kids more options in the space.
Did creating the channel help with the healing process and honoring your son’s legacy as well?
JB: Absolutely. Anyone who has gone through the loss of a child, you’re never fully healed, but you find ways to grieve even to improve the way you heal and grieve. So for us, we said, “you know what, man? We don’t want his life to be lived in vain.” We want to be an inspiration for other parents who may be going through this and give them the inspiration to know that after it happens, you can find beauty in the life that was lived. So we just want to keep inspiring people to get up because once you go through this, sometimes it’s hard to get up. We wanted to make sure that we were examples to other people going through this as well as for our children.
Justin, in your earlier answer, you spoke about putting the seasoning in your content, and I’m thinking about the trap rhymes that you guys incorporate into your songs. What inspired you to incorporate hip hop into that and how do you think that resonates with the children of today?
JB: I feel that hip-hop is a universal genre of music now, right? Because hip hop was made through passion and art. So I think that a lot of kids feel the frequencies of the beats, the percussion, that’s something we can’t even explain. It’s in our DNA. So if you even see our child, when he hears some of the records and the bounce that comes with it instantly it gets their attention. So we are like, “let’s use this.” It is so multilayered for me.
It’s like some kids are being exposed to music they probably shouldn’t be getting exposed to. I’m not here to judge any parent for what they listen to in front of their children, but we wanted to create a safe place where the kid could be learning and the parents can still feel like they have something they can tap their toes to as well. So I think that the parents have actually been the most receptive to the channel. And that’s kind of what we wanted to do. We wanted to make sure that we brought a nostalgic feeling to the nursery rhymes. That’s why we’ll throw in spins on popular records that we all grew up listening to and that we’ll switch the message and make it for the kids.
PB: And also along with the music, we’ve got some dances in there too. A lot of the parents that view our channel are millennial parents. And so we are all in the same boat and we understand the music that we used to listen to, the dances we used to do. So everything really just coincides and comes together. But really, like Justin said, the parents have been super receptive and have really supported us and tell us to keep on going because not only do their children love it, but they do as well.
Patrice, I think one of the most beautiful things about what you two are doing is it is a family endeavor. I think the representation of black and brown kids in the animation space is critical. Can you speak about how you ensure that JOOLS TV reflects the experiences of our culture and diverse families?
PB: I think we take a lot of what we do around the house, the topics that we talked to our kids about and that we went through going up. So it’s one of those things where, I don’t know if you see it on social media, sometimes you see things that people bring up and they’re like, “man, we all live the same life.” So it’s one of those things where it’s just understood. We understand that culturally we love music and dance and it’s just one of those things that we think is super important to showcase on the show.
JB: Even the “Breathe” record, right? I remember when I was writing the song and a couple people that I sent it to were like, “don’t you think it’s a little too mature for your audience?” And the only reason we think it’s too mature to talk about mental health to little kids, we didn’t learn about mental health until we were grown. Having those conversations early is very important. And even on the other side of it, I don’t know how deep you guys have gone into our channel, but we got a song called “Errands” that was one hundred percent a diss record to my wife.
It was about all the Target runs she goes on. So we laugh about it, but a lot of stuff we talk about are real life things. Obviously every parent wants their kids to learn their ABCs, or talk about the zoo. The “Breathe” record was a very important record because it introduced the importance of taking a step back, taking a deep breath. That’s something that we don’t talk about a lot is the effect of social media on the kids. So a lot of our topics are from real life experiences that we’re going through right now and that some parents are going through as well with us, or they will go through depending on the age of the children.
Now, I wanted to congratulate you two because you have amassed a really, really, really large following with the channel. What has been the most rewarding part of seeing your platform grow to this level?
PB: The rewarding part for me is seeing it organically grow. I can honestly say it’s been no bought followers, it’s been organic. So from the bottom of my heart, I’m just so grateful because I look at Justin sometimes and say, “man, you look at artists that you grew up with and you vibe to their music, but isn’t it cool that they’re vibing with us as well?” They actually like the stuff that we put out. So honestly, I think that’s the most rewarding part for me.
JB: Coming up with an idea and seeing it grow, that’s very rewarding to us. Letting our children see the importance of having an idea and following through. That’s something that’s deep rooted that we really want to make sure our children understand that there’s no ceiling to this thing. If you have a vision, you can achieve it if you are really actually going after it. The other one is when your mama calls you and tells you she’s proud. Stuff like that is important. I went to my class reunion a while ago and so many people were like, “yo, we love this. My kids watch it, my nephews watch it.” and just being able to see how many people you touch.
There were people that I went to high school with that didn’t even know that it was ours, which was even bigger for me. I remember the first time we had a person from another country DM us. People in Australia know JJ’s name. You know what I’m saying? That kind of stuff makes it real for us and it makes it like, “okay, we are reaching the masses.” And like she said, we know that the love we’re getting is a hundred percent genuine because we haven’t paid for the love, but no disrespect to the people who go that route.
The book JJ’s Affirmations, it has already made a really strong impact. I wanted to ask, what inspired you guys to expand from animation to children’s books?
PB: I think that kind of goes hand in hand. For instance, My 8-year-old is reading a book, a series of books right now, and they made a movie out of it. So I feel like it’s a way to exercise those skills of reading, but then you can always go follow up. And if you need to see it visually, then it just works and goes hand in hand. But I think it’s important. Yes, we are an animation channel, but at the same time we are very eager to promote old school reading. We think that’s super important. That’s something that we instill in our kids reading a book every day. It is just really important for the development of children.
JB: I agree. We want to expand as a brand as well. And we don’t want it to be the only time you interact with us is when you’re looking at a screen. So reading a book, I grew up on a series of books like the Berenstain Bears and those books my mom would make us read. And then we started falling in love with them and we want to do the same thing. So we’re eventually going to make sure that every kid is an author of a book, which is promoting young entrepreneurship.
Do you produce all of the content or are there other entities as well?
JB: We produce everything in-house. We’re not the sole animators, but our company animates everything. We produce all the music, we write all the music, we write all the storylines. It is one of those things that no one knows. We don’t physically go in and animate all the characters, but everything we do is in-house a production that we take pride in.
So that leads me to my next question, one that I think is really important. I think you guys have a beautiful family and a beautiful relationship too. How do you guys maintain that balance of having a healthy relationship and also a business partnership too, without the lines getting blurred?
JB: I’m going to start with that.
PB: Okay.
JB: I love that question because me and her backgrounds are so different. We were always taught to never mix business with pleasure, but I have to commend my wife because we can have a tough business meeting and then not spill over to us on the personal side. So for me, I think the growth in that was a major thing. And it’s not easy all the time, but for me, I’m like, it is just business. I come from, I’ve been an entrepreneur since I was 19 years old. So I’ve had really good relationships in business ones that you got to bark a little bit, but you still come to a common ground of, “hey, we want the success of the business and we want the success of our family.” So for us, I think the mission is always more important than whatever the topic is of the business.
I think that every day you try to learn your new balance, because if it was just me and her, it would be easier. But we got wild cards, we got four boys in the house that we always got to maintain our balance with them, make sure that we are doing things consistently because boys, just like any other kids, need consistency. So just finding that balance is something that we always are striving for. But for the most part, we have that figured out.
PB: The fact that we have an understanding, we have a commonality, and that’s our family. Our children. If you think about it, you’ll see me, the acronym, it stands for “J’s of our lives.” All the boys, their name starts with a letter J. Justin starts with a letter J. And it’s just one of those things where we kind have to gather ourselves and understand this is for the betterment of our family, and our children. Letting them know that there’s a place, if there is a lack of something, you are your own boss and you can create it. So I think since we have that understanding, it can be challenging at times because yes, I’m working with my best friend, my husband, but at the same time, when we reel it back in and come together, we understand what we’re doing and why we’re doing it.
Looking ahead, what are your long-term goals for JOOLS TV, and how do you see it expanding its reach in the children’s education space?
JB: We’ve got a lot of ideas. We have a lot of goals, short term and long term, and we want to create a safer place for more young artists to come out and make music. We want to do movies and Netflix and do longer episodes, which is something we will be releasing in the future. We’ll start releasing some of the episodes that we have, which is kind of like the Saturday morning cartoon vibes that we grew up with. We’re taking a lot of time to build up our merchandise line, and then we want to do live shows. We get so many people asking, “when are y’all going to do some live shows?” We want to make sure that when we do it, it is not going to stop. And that we want the vibes to be there. And another thing we said before, we want it to be such a great parent and child bonding moment, that people are going to be lined up across every city trying to get us to come to that city. So that’s what long term is for us. We want to expand the company and really carve out our spot in the kids and family genre.
