Ja’afar Hassan (also spelled Jafar Hassan) was born in the town of Khanaqin, which is in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
He learned to play the oud (Google translator: “lute autonomous machine”) at a young age. He later studied violin, viola and voice at the Institute of Fine Arts in Baghdad, where he later became a professor and head of the Department of Music. He has also played in neighboring Kuwait and Syria, as well as Yemen where he is a member of the Federation of Yemeni artists.
From liner notes:
"Ja'afer Hassan is a progressive Iraqi singer who uses songs as a means to express people's joyness, victories and sadnesses...He sings for the toiling masses, thus giviing his songs a new spirit.. that is what we call political songs. He is considered to be one of the first young Iraqi singers who devoted their songs to serve the mentioned themes."