Jasmine Thompson has continued to rise in the music scene with personally touching lyrics and a voice that shines on its own. She has built up a devoted fanbase having already achieved huge success as a featured artist, selling millions of singles and amassing billions of streams globally. This week, she released “happy for you,” written by Ingrid Andress and AJ Pruis. Growing up touring and fully immersed in the music scene, she took a break in 2017 to hone in on personal growth. “I was so ready for a comeback, then the pandemic hit and I was forced to stand still again.”
But not all went wrong for Jasmine, necessarily. In being locked down, she was able to focus on her craft and discover more about herself and her passion for music. Since the lockdowns occurred, Jasmine has been releasing music consistently this year, paired with music videos recorded during peak quarantine. For example, the “Funny” music video was filmed entirely in quarantine, with real screen recordings from Jasmine’s laptop and a cameo by Lewis Capaldi. The single, GRAMMY® award-winning artist/DJ/producer Zedd, a collaboration with has amassed over 170 million global streams.
“happy for you,” is Jasmine’s latest single, which in her words, “expressed love in such a beautiful way to me that I related to and connected with.” Hooking her in with the lyrics “don’t want to be a cage that keeps a bird from being free…” she related the words with personally gripping experiences.
In the same stanza of the track, I was reminded of Maya Angelou’s moving poem, “Caged Bird,” where it describes encounters between two birds: one bird is able to live in nature as it pleases, while the other bird, locked in a cage, suffers in captivity. Due to its profound suffering, the caged bird sings, both to cope with its circumstances and to express its own longing for freedom.
As Jasmine Thompson brings up her own experiences with the track, how she once felt the need to let someone go in order to keep them from suffering, Angelou’s poem stuck out all the more, in contrast to the single. Rather than letting them be stifled in her grasp, she lets them go to grow on their own to fulfill their utmost potential.
Watch our full interview to see what else we talked about, below!
Jasmine’s performance of “happy for you” is expressive, emotive, and raw. Paired with a stripped piano ballad, her vocals are put on full display and showcased in a beautiful way throughout the track.
Stream the new single, available now on all platforms:
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