Who is Yasmina?

“I love where I come from, but there are certain things that I can’t shy away from talking about.”

-   Yasmina (singer/songwriter)

Systemic racism is like a mushy, rotten, browning region on the crispy, bright red apple of the African American experience. Some people can eat around the black mothers wailing on the news stations and the indisputable violence and injustice towards protestors. Others, like Yasmina, begin to carve away at the mush with the knife they are given. Her new single “No Love 4 Tha Ville” is an elegant and astute musical depiction of relatable emotions regarding racism in one’s city.

Yasmina is an artist from New York City who is more recently getting her feet wet in releasing her own original music. Listening to her sing feels a lot like putting on a velvet robe at a five-star hotel and her voice creates complimentary melodies to old and new school blended instrumentals. I stumbled upon her talents via TikTok with no outright intentions of searching for new music that day. The next thing you know I was marveling at a one-minute bathroom routine posted by a random user, but not because I found a new face wash I wanted to try. It was Yasmina’s song playing in the background that captured my attention. Her social media profiles are filled with videos of her singing about things that are important to her, duetting other artists, covering songs, etc. Aside from that, other posts she makes allow her personality to show through keenly as she dances to her music on Triller or poses with her dog, Appa, on Instagram.

  “I will never forget the first time my mom played ‘The Girl Is Mine’ by Michael Jackson for me. I instantly fell in love and forced her to play it every road trip so I could learn the words… That song made me fall in love with music and singing,” Yasmina tells me. She mentioned to me that she started writing music at a very young age, recording little jingles on her family computer. The songs started out as fun and games and often didn’t make sense but over time they evolved into musical reflections of the things that held value in her life. Writing music became an outlet for her.

“No Love 4 Tha Ville” starts off with soft drumming, saxophone cries, and a jazzy beat. The lyrics “I don’t care about her, he don’t care about me Every day you learn, there’s no remedy” highlight the lack of empathy expressed between strangers in Yasmina’s city, something I am sure many of us can relate to and wish was different at times. The track’s message is weighty because it taps into the subdued reality that you can mourn the death of those you don’t know personally, even if it’s subconscious. It also targets feelings of becoming numb to senseless deaths after they continue: the fluctuating motivation towards actively hoping change will come and deciding that it won’t anytime soon. She tells me, “I hate the fact that my peers/people that look like me are dying. This is what the song addresses. When I say I have no love for my town, I am saying I have no love for the racism that goes on within my community.”

I have played this track on late night drives through my city. I’ve played it while moving things around in my room, and while sitting around talking amongst friends. Aside from all of its meaning, the song is an easygoing and cool vibe and I haven’t got tired of hearing it. As for Yasmina, the “Big Apple” native is bound to leave us with more tastemakers in the future.  Check her out!

Listen Now:

https://open.spotify.com/album/4SvYpCWrmNQMP5okykRxH9?si=6t-zs4lgRCK31S_8DHd1og

https://music.apple.com/us/album/no-luv-4-tha-ville/1519645266?i=1519645267