The Tao of Jasmine Solano

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One of the things you notice about Jasmine Solano is the energy that she somehow maintains while simultaneously giving off this Sensei/Zenmaster vibe. Maybe it was the Bikram yoga, or the 4-day trip to Western Mass, but when I sat down with Jasmine at The House of Yes, right before she turned it into a bashment party and melted her Seratos, she waxed philosophic about her passion, the fam, and the future.

This summer, or really all of 2009, Jazzy’s been everywhere, opening shows for ?uestlove and NiNa Sky, and bodying turntables from Downtown to Miami to Denver and back again. It’s pretty hard to catch her not on her grind. On Christmas Day 2008, she stepped out from behind the tables, to drop her anthem “That’s Not It,“ and later “Coco Puff,“ her ode to Electric Punnany, the Roxy Cottontail hosted monthly Reggae v. Electro dance party at Sway, that she DJs with Melo-X. Jazzy’s been on the scene for a while, establishing herself as a force on the wheels, spinning everything from Hip Hop and B-More to Soul and Reggae. When asked why she’s got so much love for Reggae, she sighs, “The same reason why people smoke cigarettes—it’s so addictive. Roots, Dancehall, Calypso…there’s something about my chemical makeup and the way that Reggae is produced—it’s my drug of choice.“

Ever rocking a side ponytail, Jazzy’s swagger and cadence echo the anthems of every Femcee of yore, from Queen Latifah to Monie Love and MC Lyte to Salt n’ Pepa, whose influence is laced throughout the hook of “That’s Not It,“ an open letter to all the guys that try to get ladies by trying to pretend to be bigger, better, and flossier than they actually are. There’s not a stage left downtown that she hasn’t owned, with a pack of ladies right there chanting “That’s. Not. It.“ Always humble, Jasmine’s quick to thank those who supported from before there was a beginning, she shouts out the ladies streetwear label Princess of the Posse and online photo/video magazine The New Pop, in “That’s Not It” and “Coco Puff,“ respectively. “I believe in loyalty. I believe in rising together. And I just believe in having a strong foundation, in terms of the people that support you, and the people that you support. I take everything very seriously, all of my relationships, they’re kind of everything to me.“

In the world of Hip Hop and DJing, where much of the industry is dominated by men, more often than not the ladies have to go out a little bit harder for cred, which doesn’t seem to phase Jazzy, “I guess it’s hard, but I’ve never looked at it like that.“ She had a chance to rep for the ladies at Budweiser’s Battle for the Crown, a ten emcee battle hosted by Ed Lover, that had the winner opening the summer Hip Hop festival Rock the Bells, at Jones Beach Amphitheater. Jazzy was the only female. After everyone took the stage, she found herself in a 3-way tie for first, having to fight it out for the crown…on a freestyle. And she won. “The night I won the Battle for the Crown was a really big night, I had to prove that I wasn’t just some chick that wrote some cute song, and wears tight pants.“  Tight pants or not, it’s safe to say she proved her chops, and she won a chance of a lifetime, “It was like having every memory of my childhood and adolescence flash before my eyes. Thinking about concerts like that that I used to go to when I was younger, and being like ‘What the fuck am I doing here now? This shit is a blessing, and I’m gonna to milk it and enjoy every second.’“

A crazy summer coming to an end, it doesn’t look like she’s slowing down, she’s closer to her pink Jazzy Jet with all gold interior, but that’s not necessarily the goal, “I’m trying to do exactly what I love, and see where it goes. It’s not like I have to be signed in four months, or I have to do this—I’m trying to follow the passion. Do it the way I wanna do it, have it take on a life of it’s own.“  This fall, she’ll be opening up for Sean Kingston, in NYC, and for Rakim, at the A3C Festival in Atlanta, followed by a few stops in London and Paris. Not to mention two much anticipated projects: her EP, that she promises will be a different look into the mind of the Philly-bred Indo-Russian, “Hippie Hip-Hopster,“ and a DJ mixtape called “Proof in the Pudding, full of all her favorite 90s R&B. “In terms of spinning music, writing music, performing it—I’m so about expressing what I think about life and bullshit and love and experiences,“ she pauses, “I’m just trying to reach as many people [sic] to hopefully do to their lives what certain artists have done to mine.“ Her influences range from Wilson Pickett to M.I.A. to Bahamadia to Nikka Costa, and it shows in the music that she spins and creates. “I’m excited for the moment when people are listening to [my music] alone. When they’re by themselves, going through whatever, and they’re like ‘Wow, somebody out there knows how the fuck I’m feeling!‘“

In the end, it’s all about the passion, the art, and reaching for something beyond yesterday, “I’m passionate about the possibilities that are in store. I’ve always believed that anything is possible. And not on some cliché, cheesy shit…like on some universal shit, you know? I really believe in people reaching their full potential. I believe in music as the most powerful tool in the world, because it doesn’t need language, it can bring all different kinds of people together. ...it just helps to feel connected to somebody.“

(Photo credit: Laurel Golio)

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