Jasmine V
Jasmine V
What She Believes
by Abigail Bekele
Twenty one year old recording artist Jasmine V (born Jasmine Villegas) has made her mark in the entertainment business in many different ways.
She has worked as an actress, previously making appearances on various Disney channel classic shows such as That’s So Raven and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. In addition to her acting, Villegas has modeled and had appeared in Justin Bieber’s music video for his hit song “Baby” before opening for him in 2010 on his forty city My World Tour.
In 2011, after completing the My World Tour, Villegas released a mixtape featuring songs “S(he) Be(lie)ve(d),” “Jealous,” “Werk” and “Just a Friend.” While honing her performing skills, she sang at many sporting events including an LA Clippers game singing the National Anthem and one of boxing champ Mayweather’s boxing matches.
Villegas was discovered at age eleven and has built herself a major social media following since then. She loves interacting with fans and has racked up more than 100 million views on YouTube and over a million followers on Twitter. Her fans are very supportive and her fan base continues to grow.
Her music is a priority and Villegas is currently working on her first full length album. She’s put out multiple singles such as “Walk Away,” “Serious,” “All These Boys,” “Didn’t Mean It” and “Paint A Smile.” She released an EP in 2014 called “That’s Me Right There” which features a track she did with hip hop artist Kendrick Lamar.
Being in the entertainment business often means living out of a suitcase, and Villegas has become a pro at it. She’s been traveling throughout the United States and overseas, recently touring with Fifth Harmony on their Reflection Tour and now opening for Jake Miller on his Dazed and Confused Tour.
Jasmine V
When Villegas took the stage for the Philadelphia stop of the Dazed and Confused Tour last week, her set exploded with a high energy that didn’t diminish throughout the entire performance. You could see her love and appreciation for her fans. She even hopped off stage to dance with a thrilled fan who was standing in the front row.
Villegas’s set list included a bunch of original songs as well as a beautiful cover of Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth’s hit song “See You Again,” accompanied by her brother. The energetic performance included singing and dancing to songs that many fans recognized and danced and sang along with as well. Her infection energy brought the crowd’s excitement levels through the roof, leaving us wanting to know more about the life and career of this young talent.
You recently toured with Fifth Harmony. What was it like touring with them?
It was a lot of fun. I feel like it was such a long time ago. It ended like a couple of months ago, but it was a really good experience. The girls are awesome so it was a lot of great energy.
Do you have any upcoming plans for new music or anything coming out soon?
After this tour I’m definitely going to get back into the studio. Start recording and finishing up the album. Do a couple more shows. It’s really just going to be me settling down and getting in the studio.
What’s your favorite song to perform live?
My favorite song to perform live would probably have to be between “That’s Me Right There” and the cover I do with my brother [“See You Again.”]
Jasmine V
You did a song with Kendrick Lamar. What was that experience like?
Oh, it was great. I’ve been a fan of Kendrick for a while. The fact that I was able to get him on my song seemed so surreal to me. When it all happened, once he got on the song nobody told me. They just surprised me and played it for me. I had no idea what was going on. Then when it finally registered. I was like oh my God this is really happening!
If you were to collab with any artist who would it be and why?
If it was a male it would have to be Nick Jonas, because he’s amazing and he’s cute. If it was a girl, it would probably have to be Alicia Keys or Rihanna.
Musically who is your inspiration and why?
I look up to Alicia Keys a lot. Before I was getting into the entertainment business, I would watch YouTube videos with my dad of Alicia Keys. “If I Ain’t Got You” is actually one of the first songs that I’d ever heard of hers. I would perform it when I did talents shows, whenever I would go and do little high school tours I would always sing a little bit of “If I Ain’t Got You” by Alicia Keys, so she’s always been my idol.
I know you’ve done some acting and modeling in the past. Would you like to do more of that in the future?
Yeah definitely. I would love to act more. I started off with acting and modeling first. Singing kind of took over a lot of that for me. After that, I think I do want to start acting again. Once the singing is going really, really great, I could go back into that.
Jasmine V
You have millions of followers on social media. Do you think it is important to connect with your fans in that way?
It is definitely important to connect with your fans through social media. It’s a lot easier because everything is connected with your Instagram, your Twitter and all that stuff. Through YouTube. Whenever you have a show you can tweet it out and you do all this stuff. Social media has it’s way of helping and sometimes not helping. But for the most part it’s really easy to be able to get in contact with your fans because of social media, which is great.
When did you realize that you wanted to be a performer?
I realized I wanted to become a performer when I was a little girl. Being half Filipino there were always family festivals. It was basically where parents could show off their kids. It was like a little competition thing, but I just loved being able to perform covers and songs. Go out there and dance and sing. That’s when I realized that I love to be in front of the crowd and I love to sing. I love to make people happy and sing along with me. I think that’s when it all started.
Jasmine V
What do you like to do in your down time?
In my down time when I’m not singing, I’m a homebody. I like to stay home and watch Netflix and chill. When I did have a cat that was a big part of my life. I was with my cat a lot. That sounds so typical, like a typical cat lady. (laughs) I just love to be home, I like to bring the fun to me. I’ll have my friends come over and hang out. We’ll chill and we’ll talk, we’ll go to the mall, we’ll go bowling, to the beach, to the movies. I don’t really like going out, maybe once in a while. I only went out once this whole entire tour. That’s probably all I’m gonna do.
Where do you see yourself in ten years?
Wow in ten years? That’s a really good question. I don’t know. Hopefully still making music. I’ll have plenty of albums coming out because I am still working on putting out my first. I’ll be able to hopefully do world tours and just be able to have a positive impact on a lot of people.
Jasmine V
Do you have a message for your fans/Jasminators?
My message would be to my fans, my Jasminators or just anybody: when it comes to doing what you love to do, always make sure you have fun and it doesn’t feel like a job. When it feels like a job, that’s when you don’t want to do it. If it feels like a chore, and it feels like you have to do it, it has to be fun to you. You have to be able to have the right people around you. A lot of people aren’t there to benefit you, they’re just there to stand right beside you because they love how it feels. You just have to have people that were there for you from the beginning. Your family. Just have fun and just keep your head up! There’s going to be a lot of negativity, but at the end of the day it causes a really great story.
Copyright ©2015 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: July 27, 2015.
Photos ©2015 Abigail Bekele and Ali Speiss. All rights reserved.
#WizKhalifa #JustaFriend #DidntMeanIt #fifthharmony #MyWorldTour #AliciaKeys #ThatsSoRaven #ReflectionTour #WalkAway #TheSuiteLifeofZackandCody #ThatsMeRightThere #KendrickLamar #justinbieber #SheBelieved #JasmineVillegas #Jasminators #IfIAintGotYou #JasmineV #NickJonas #JakeMiller #Rihanna #baby #singer #Serious #CharliePuth #AllTheseBoys #Werk #DazedandConfusedTour #AbigailBekele #Jealous #SeeYouAgain #PaintASmile
Comments