Today we’d like to introduce you to Jasmine Spencer.
Hi Jasmine, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up in Columbia, Mississippi in a small town of about 5,000 people and out of all of them, I truly believe I was born into the best family. Music surrounded me from the beginning. My mom was a seasoned musician who played multiple instruments including piano, clarinet, and flute. My dad was a traveling producer and rap artist, signed to Universal Records.
As a child, I got used to the quietness of living in the country there weren’t many things to do other than the occasional cookout, gettytown, or a trip to our local movie theater but for the most part church was my weekly outing. My family owned a church, called new Hope Baptist, and every week would hold choir practice with my mom being the pianist, I wasn’t big enough to stand in the church choir however, my mom always brought me with her, and I would sit in the pews listening to them sing. I believe it was my first interaction with hearing sound produced in that way, and because of it I started to develop a dream of becoming a superstar however, even as a child I understood that a dream like that very rarely ever makes it out of Mississippi.
However, everything changed when my dad called one day and told us he had an opportunity in Atlanta. A month later, my mom and I boarded the midnight train to Georgia to start a new life.
Adapting to a new city was a process, but with family nearby (including my aunts who also moved to Georgia) it quickly started to feel like home. We had traditions like Halloween parties and Thanksgiving dinners, and I would always perform for everyone afterward. One night, while my mom was looking for songs on her BlackBerry, she came across Adele’s “Someone Like You.” I remember just bursting into song, and my dad (impressed) suggested I start a YouTube channel. That’s how Jazz It Up was born, and it became my first real creative outlet.
As the videos gained traction, my parents enrolled me in vocal and dance lessons. I studied voice at Sing Like a Star Studios under Elaine Little who is still the only vocal coach I trust and took hip-hop, jazz, and contemporary at Becky Jones Dance Academy. To this day, I don’t know how we drove 30 minutes each day after school for my lessons. But my parents being supportive and ambitious wanted to do anything to aid in my success. Before that, I thought I understood my voice, but Elaine helped unlock a whole new level of control and expression. That pair with my dance training was the beginning of my career as an artist.
Each semester ended in a showcase, which led to more opportunities and introduced me to a community of talented singers. Through them, I was able to really get a scope of how many opportunities awaited in the world of performance. I ended up transitioning to homeschooling to better balance my education and creative training. And went all in.
Through connections I made, I joined AWP (shoutout to Don and Lyn Stallings) and performed in the 2019 Tower of Talent, a televised benefit for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. The year prior, I had participated as a background dancer with some lead vocals, but this time, I was a headliner. I even got to meet Angelica Hale, who coincidentally, also attended sing like a star. That moment felt like everything I’d worked for was finally coming full circle.
As middle school ended, my mom encouraged me to return to traditional schooling for a year so I could audition for Pebblebrook High School’s performing arts program. Getting in was the final win in what had already been an amazing year.
At Pebblebrook, I spent two years as a vocal major, surrounded by peers who were just as driven as I was many of them already working in the industry. I connected with incredible people like Mona Swain (now playing Tina Turner on Broadway), Leila Brown one of my besties who is the triple threat under AGI entertainment, Grace Conrad who is an actor, singer and dancer, and has appeared on mini Disney and nickelodeon shows , Selah Harvard veritas alum, and Juliana Brinkley who is Spectacular digital artist and performer. It was the first time I truly felt challenged—and inspired.
After Pebblebrook, I transferred to North Cobb High School. The transition was scary at first I was in chorus but, i usually kept to myself. But one day my chorus teacher, Ms. Botella, asked me to perform for Spotlight Friday. That one performance opened up so many doors from district lit meets to college productions and KSU intensive days. It also introduced me to one of my best friends and favorite duet partner, Destiny Elliott who suggested I try to enter Theatre.
Theater became my way of reconnecting with people and showing my peers who I was. Eventually, Ms. Botella nominated me for the Governor’s Honors Program (GHP). I went through four intense rounds of auditions—ironically starting at my old school, Pebblebrook. I was auditioning with several people from my school and was super excited. You can imagine my surprise when I got the news from my teacher that I was the only person who would be moving on to the final round from my chorus class. it was held in Savannah, and would be my last audition closing a year-long effort. My mom and I woke up at 5 a.m. and drove several hours for the big day. On the way there, I reflected on everything that led me to that moment the training, the hours of headache inducing Music theory classes, the small wins. I was determined to walk into that room with confidence, no matter the outcome.
Despite feeling underprepared compared to other students carrying binders full of repertoire, I stayed focused. I sang, read music, and handed in my résumé. The adjudicator smiled and told me to move on to the next room, where I was interviewed by Logan who, in a beautiful twist of fate, would become my RA during the program. It was another full-circle moment.
Looking back, I’m proud of how far I’ve come. From a small town in Mississippi to performing in packed auditoriums and representing my state at GHP, every step of the journey has shaped me into the artist I am today.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I feel like the biggest obstacle, I’ve faced as a performer has been my mind the saying goes. We are our our own worst enemy. And sometimes I believe that to be true there’s still moments I lay in bed wondering if I’m good enough. singing and performing are very spiritual things and what I’ve come to realize is in order to get back to loving performing you have to get back to yourself.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
After high school, I had time to indulge in other creative mediums (Music being my favorite one). I also have taken up knitting, cinematography, and photography and am currently running youtube,instagram, and tik tok pages in my nickname @jazypika. I have an online web show called Calculator corner, where I talk about my experiences being an artist, and anything else I feel compelled to speak about. It’s been a great way for me to Connect with other online creators and it makes me very happy when I get feedback, saying that my art makes people want to create again.
In the past year, I’ve also visited Cairo Egypt and got to intern at the Cairo American college as an art student. It was my first time, leaving the country and a trip I’ll never forget.
currently i’m also working on a project that will be released later this year called GHP for change a page where GHP and non-GHP students can educate themselves on real world issues and give back to their community I understand the power and influence a lot of governor honor students have and I believe it would be a great way to build community and create change in our neighborhoods and inevitably around the world.
I believe my urgency is what sets me apart from others. If I want to do something I’m going to put my mind towards it and make it a point to get good at it.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
prioritize and honor every creative thought, and idea if you care about it, you will invest in it, and when you invest in it you will become consistent. It’s the story of the tortoise, and the hare, the tortoise really won the race because he did not stop.
Another one that I think it’s really important is to engage in everyone on your way up I used to be an artist who had no connections, no friends in the industry no mentors, but one thing I applaud myself for doing is engaging with every single person I met positively. In the long run, it put me at an advantage because now it doesn’t matter what I want to pursue. I know I have someone that I have built good faith with that can help me get there. Which leads me to my last lesson never think that you can do some thing alone. Some of the greatest people I know, became great with the help of the people/community around them.
Contact Info:
- Website https://linktr.ee/jazypika
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jazypika
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@jazyareuthere
- Other: https://www.depop.com/jazypika
