As the daughter of Asia’s primo power couple Donnie Yen and former beauty queen and model Cissy Wang, it may be easy to dismiss Jasmine Yen as a “nepo baby”—but that would reduce a hard‐working woman with prodigious talent to a shallow Hollywood label. “I get mixed feelings whenever I see people commenting about children with famous parents,” Yen says with a laugh. “While I do agree with the comments and see where people are coming from, I also feel the pain of being on the receiving end. But it all motivates me to work even harder.”
Trust us when we say that the “nepo baby” label definitely does not apply to Yen. Having set her sights on the prestigious Berklee College of Music since she was 14, she put in the requisite years of hard work, refining her skills in singing, songwriting and composing, ultimately landing herself a scholarship in 2022.
Now, she is on a year‐long break to pursue her lifelong dream of singing on stage and getting the word out on her debut album, tbh—her first project as an artiste after landing a record deal with Sony Music Entertainment’s RCA Records Greater China, one of the biggest record companies in China. The eight‐track album epitomises the growing pains of girlhood and the spectrum of emotions that comes with it, couched in a unique blend of pop and R&B. The tracklist is also authentically her own, she shares, having written all the songs either in part or fully.
“This album represents a 19‐year‐old’s perspective, with different genres to portray the ups and downs of being so young,” she explains. “I’ve always been rather shy, and I still struggle with finding the right words to say, so music has always been a creative outlet for me to express myself.”
Album aside, Yen has chalked up another first: she recently performed for a public crowd for the first time at Singapore’s Majulah Music Night 2023—a giant step up from performing in front of just friends and family. “I’ve always sung for people, but this time was so different because I was singing for people who didn’t know who I was,” she says. “I become a completely different person when I’m on stage. It felt unreal having the crowd cheer my name.”
It is strikingly clear that Yen is destined to be a musician. Mapping out a timeline of her musical milestones, they all point a clear path into industry. According to her mum, even before Yen could hold a note at two years old, she knew all the lyrics to Disney songs. At seven, she wrote her first song and at nine, she performed in front of a 2,000‐strong audience at her aunt’s wedding, bravely belting out Adele’s Rolling in the Deep.
That moment made an impression on Andrew Chan, CEO of Sony Music Entertainment, Greater China, who has kept his eye on her since. “My first memory of Jasmine’s performance was in 2013. At age nine, she showed no fear on a big stage while coolly belting out Rolling in the Deep by Adele,” he says. “From that moment, I knew she was destined to be a star.”
Juggling her education and her budding career, Yen cites her family as her greatest strength. “My family was always willing to listen to me as a child, and validate my thoughts, feelings and perspectives,” she says. “It’s so important to surround yourself with positive people who will mentally and spiritually support you. I’m only 19; there’s so much out there that I’ve yet to learn and experience. So whenever I feel fear or anxiety, my mum is the person I turn to.
“I’m a perfectionist when it comes to my work and I’m very hard on myself, so my parents are always telling me to just relax a little and be myself,” she shares with a smile. “At the end of the day, I just want to make music that people will enjoy.”
Starting a new chapter as a young woman trying to make it as a singer is not always smooth sailing, and Yen fully understands that life is going to present her with all sorts of twists and turns. For now, she is just doing her best and seeing where the spirit takes her, but you best believe she is going to pull all the stops while she is at it.
PHOTOGRAPHY REUBEN FOONG
STYLING GREGORY WOO
HAIR JUNZ LOKE, USING KEUNE HAIRCOSMETICS
MAKEUP WEE MING, USING CHANEL BEAUTY
PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANTS AMOS LEE AND JOSEPH KOH
STYLING ASSISTANT YULIA SEE