EQUATE Premiere: Jazmine Flowers

Alt-R&B rising singer, songwriter, producer and instrumentalist, JAZMINE FLOWERS, today releases the video for her debut single ‘awkward’. The 20-year-old Brixton-born artist built a huge following and fanbase on TikTok with her acoustic sessions, demonstrating her sultry yet innocent voice. She brings us a colourful and humorous music video that sees Jazmine in her naturally ‘awkward’ and relatable self.

On the video, Jazmine stated: “I wanted this video to make people smile. The lyrics touch on some serious subjects, but the overall vibe is fun. The day we wrote it was fun so I had to show that in the visuals. I feel so lucky to have been able to shoot this with a school friend of mine and a really great small team, so the shoot day was super fun especially that “lick” scene… endless innuendos! The song to me is orange, the word awkward in my head looks orange so when we were coming up with the concept, I knew I wanted to make sure that was the colour of focus throughout. We had originally planned a bunch of ‘awkward’ moments we wanted to film, but the final cut actually used none of them; every shot in there of me doing something stupid just happened naturally on set.”

Interview by Danielle Temeng

Watch the video for ‘awkward’, and read the feature below…

YouTube/JazmineFlowersVEVO
EQ: Hi Jazmine, welcome to EQUATE! Where does your love for music stem from? Would you say you grew up in a musical household?

JF: Thank you! 100% of my love for music came from my parents, I had music playing everywhere as a kid, in the house, whenever we were in the car. And every night I would listen to my mum singing and playing piano while she wrote songs, so I definitely grew up in a musical household.

EQ: Your genre of music is described as “alt-RnB”, can you explain to us a little about what that is and how you developed your artistry?

JF: I mean genres aren’t really relevant much these days, I think every artist is a blend of two or more styles and we ALL say, “I don’t want to be put in a box”. But to me ‘alt-RnB” suits the music I make, I see it as electronic-sounding music with its harmonic roots stemming from RnB and soul music. I like really synthetic sounds playing colourful, tasty chords and that comes from listening to Michael Jackson, BANKS Ms. Lauryn Hill. I feel the only way you can develop yourself as an artist is kind of by trial and error. I think I’ll never be a fully developed artist, and I have totally acknowledged that already, so day to day I work on my musicianship so that I can basically facilitate making the best art I can. I’m a human, I change a lot so it’s something that’s going to be fluctuating my whole life. So, bear with me while I work my shit out [laughs].

EQ: Your new single and visuals to ‘awkward’ are out today – congratulations! You speak about your own journey with awkwardness, and in other tracks have discussed the topic of mental health too, which I know a lot of people can relate to. Do you ever struggle to put such personal music out into the world?

JF: Thank you, I really appreciate you guys premiering it! Yeah, I hope people can relate to it! And that’s kind of what makes putting something so personal out in the world easier… knowing it might help someone even if it’s just hearing someone else talk (sing) about something similar to what they’ve experienced.

“I feel the only way you can develop yourself as an artist is kind of by trial and error…I’m a human, I change a lot so it’s something that’s going to be fluctuating my whole life.”

EQ:…and what do you hope sharing your vulnerabilities through the medium of music will do for your fans and listeners?

JF: For listeners who don’t know me, I hope my music gives a little insight into my mind; both the relatable parts and the weird completely unexplainable parts too [laughs]! And I mean all the artists I look up to most, more than anything, just inspire me to make cool music and art so… to the artists who listen to me, I hope I can do that for them too!

EQ: On the word ‘awkward’, you mentioned that in your minds-eye you saw it as the colour orange (as we see in the video this is a staple colour), what colour would you attribute to yourself and why? What feelings/colours do you feel you give off?

JF: Oooooh that’s tough. cause I think I go through phases and the colour changes. Right now, I’d say green, I’ve been feeling super calm lately and I’ve been back home in the countryside surrounded by plants and space so…green!

EQ: Finally, what are you looking forward to doing once outside reopens? And what else should we look out for from you the remainder of the year, anything else exciting in the works?

I keep hearing everyone say they can’t wait to get to clubs and restaurants, but I really don’t like drinking so definitely not that. I will be hidden inside my room the day they open. But I do need new socks and you can’t tell how soft they are from online shopping so I will be going to buy some underwear when the shops open! I also can’t wait for live music. I’m getting some shows lined up, praying they can happen! I’ll be releasing another couple more singles leading up to those shows and then I’ll be working on the album!

Stream ‘awkward’ HERE

Follow Jazmine on socials:

Instagram: @jazmineflowers_

TikTok:@jazmineflowers_

Twitter: @jazmineflowers_