Jasmine V on Working with Kendrick Lamar for "That's Me Right There"
You may only now be hearing about pop singer Jasmine V—she just released her first EP That’s Me Right There, whose title track features Kendrick Lamar—but you’ve almost definitely seen her before. After all, she played the love interest in Justin Bieber’s 2010 “Baby” video (and was once his love interest in real life), which helped her build up nearly 1.7 million Twitter followers. Jasmine, who turns 21 next month, was first signed at the age of 12, but due to the vicissitudes of the music business, won’t be releasing her debut album until next year. Here’s what he up-and-coming star (full name: Jasmine Villegas) had to say about it all.
Your new single “That’s Me Right There” features Kendrick Lamar. How did that collaboration come about, and what was it like working with one of the top rappers in the game?
I sat down with my manager, and being on the same label as Kendrick, that idea came up. I didn’t know if it was gonna happen because at the time he was really M.I.A. working on his own music. But it ended up happening, and I got to actually sit down with him before he recorded it. He asked me how to approach the record, and I told him, “Listen, you’re Kendrick Lamar, everything you do is amazing….” It’s still a shocker to me that my first single is with Kendrick Lamar.
What else can people expect from the new EP?
One of the songs is called “Walk Away,” and I’ve never really sang or recorded a song like that—the song is kind of like a dance record, and I never really do dance records. It was a little bit of a struggle, but I think I ended up getting it.
Earlier this year you performed at A Night of Comedy sponsored by the National Council of La Raza and Fuse’s sister network NUVOtv. What was it like performing your music on a bill with all those funny people?
It was awesome. I had my dancers with me that day, and I got to see a lot of great people there. Anjelah Johnson, who’s really funny, went on right before me. I was kind of in shock because I used to watch her YouTube videos all the time.
You’ve had small parts on TV and ads before. Do you think you’d make a good standup comedian?
I feel like I’m funny, but I don’t know if I could stand on stage and entertain people for an hour. I don’t really tell jokes. Me and my friends will chill or hang out and roast each other, back and forth, but nobody else really gets our humor.
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