Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jasmine Charleston. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Jasmine, thanks for joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

Internally, I feel as though I’ve always known that I wanted to pursue this creative route. I remember as a kid writing the name of my production company and drawing the logo for the company in a notebook – which I still have at my mother’s house today. At a very young age my mom purchased a karaoke for me which I used as a song recorder ( I was able to record my voice over the cassette tape ) as well as a piano later on which I used to write songs to the stock instrumentals and play my own tunes. In elementary school I played a cello for the first time ( I wasn’t there for long ) and when I moved on to middle school they didn’t have any music classes ( it was a charter school ) so I asked my mother repeatedly to transfer me to a different school that had a band. I ended up at what would be my school until graduating for college, West Gadsden High School. While there I joined the band. I played the Saxophone from 8th – 11th grade and in 12th grade I played the trombone ( I wanted to learn another band instrument from a different clef before I left for college ). During this time ( from middle school to high school ) I was also creating my own beats and marketing them for sell, writing music for my artists and recording and mixing their music, and also making and editing the videos for their music. I had 5 artists before going to college and started to expand my artist list once in college. At that time I was earning my AA at Tallahassee Community College and I met a guy who allowed me and my artists to record in the Studio at FAMU. I was doing what felt right to me at the time and I loved the whole process. However, I believe my passion was the full process of making the music, so soon I discontinued my work with most of these artists and focused more on music production and bettering my skills in that area. This lead me to Atlanta Ga, where I joined an apprenticeship which allowed me to work in a real live recording studio and learn the ropes of becoming a mixing/recording engineer hands on. While at this studio I learned to mix my music efficiently and effectively which helped me excel tremendously with my music. I took those skills along with everything else I’d learned and used them to help me navigate my way to making music for tv and film. I had always loved making “scary/suspenseful” beats and people had always told me, “your beats sound like something that should be behind a scary movie”, so I took those signs and started my journey of making music for tv. As I look back, I feel music has always been there as my creative outlet.

Jasmine, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I was born and raised in Florida. Since a kid, I’d always been into music so there were many choice I’d made that led me to where I am now. My biggest one was following the signs/intuition and spending time on my craft. Early on, I’d spend my school mornings waking up an hour or two early to make beats. I’d spend time learning my daw ( cubase at the time ) and finding ways to improve my skills, for example watching Youtube videos on the subject and joining beat battle websites ( this helped me a lot!) While on this site I’d met so many people and a large percentage of the people I’d made deeper connections with would say things to me like ” I could see your beats on tv” or ” I could see this beat behind a scary movie” so I’ve had signs early on that my route as a composer for tv and film was the route to go. However, I also got a lot of feedback such as “your beats are dope but, the mix needs a lot of work” these were the things that helped me realize the areas I needed to pay more attention to. So I joined an apprenticeship in Atlanta, Ga where I learned how to record and mix music properly. Which put me in a much better position to start making quality music for tv and film. When I felt I was ready, I did tons and tons of research on how to structure my music for tv, what was required, who to contact, how much music to submit when contacting, and also the business side such as what are the contracts like, what types of royalties can I collect, do I need to have my own publishing account, registering music correctly, etc. This is when I found out that submitting 10 tracks or more at a time was better than just submitting 1-2 tracks. ( So I focused on making 10-12 track albums) That was the easy part for me ha. The more challenging part at the time was keeping the faith while submitting my music and waiting. I’d had sooooo many no’s that there was a point in my life where I thought it must not be for me, because if it were – then it would be, right? Even thought I had that moment of doubt I still pushed through and submitted to a few more companies and I actually got a response back from “Discovery Channel” the weren’t accepting submissions at the moment but told me to resubmit in the new year. This lifted my spirits so high that I started attracting even more responses. I’d gotten accepted by a company called “Beat Chamber” with my beats and vocals which felt amazing! But it wasn’t until I got an email back from a company called “Scoutmusic” that would be the email that ultimately changed my life. This email is the one that led me to my very first placement within a few months of connecting and it was for an Ad. I was super stoked because wow, I’d really done it! I’d gotten my music placed on a commercial and it was for “Famous Footwear”! I was over the moon and felt like everything I’d been doing was working and I was on the right path. It was only a few months after that when I got my second placement and it’s been a snowball effect ever since. So now, I’ve been continuing the same manner, consistently creating song and instrumental albums, collaborating with other creatives, working on music with sync agents and pitching my music to other companies.

As far as the services I provide, I compose custom music for all media forms, write, sing and rap as well. I also have a Sync licensing Directory on my website, along with some drum/loop kits for sell.

I’ve always made it a point to put my best foot forward for every project I work on. I think what makes me different from others is my perspective and how easily I can adopt another’s point of view. It allows me to see what could be from the viewers side, the directors side, the side of the actors, as well as my own point of view, which can ultimately help bring out the emotion of any given scene. I think my versatility is also an amazing separation because I don’t necessarily put myself in a specific box. I can compose the music, I could also write the song for the composition and also sing it, I could also mix that song and master it as well as make the album cover for it and register it and so much more. I feel that music is another form of communication and the more I understand it the better I communicate.

I’m most proud of the fact that I continue to follow my intuition and keep a strong faith in what I’m doing and what I love. This leads me to making connections that are in my best interest! I want potential clients, followers, and fans to know that with ever step I take, I always put my best foot forward.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is doing exactly what it is I love! Waking up every morning excited about jumping on my Maschine Plus and making music, or recording a new song, or even just jotting down ideas for a new song. It’s amazing to be able to do what you love for a living! I even find joy in doing the business side of things, which to me seems about 80% of it all. But I absolutely enjoy it!

I had 1 real job in my life and that was working at Publix, which lasted 3 months, Yes I quit lol and although I excelled in that position as well it was not for me. I enjoy being creative and learning new things every day and expanding on that new knowledge. It’s also important to me to have my own freedom. Whether that be in health, wealth, or time I want that freedom to say this is what I want so this is what I’m going to do and then have that ability to do it at the very moment I feel it’s most beneficial to do so.

So I’d say the most rewarding aspect is the freedom to do what I love! When, Where, and how I want to.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

The book that changed my life completely was an audio book by Neville Goddard: The Complete Reader on Audible. Which basically talks about your mindset and how you can be and have whatever it is you desire by just looking within, knowing who you are, and using your imagination to shape your future. After reading this book a few times for better understanding, putting his suggestions to practice, my workload, income, life experiences drastically changed for the better.

Let’s use this small example BEFORE reading this book and technically speaking “chasing money” : Let’s say I was making 10 songs with a demo fee of $200 per song, that would be $2,000 for all 10 songs. (This was seen in my eyes as amazing at the time and it was! I was totally grateful)

Let’s use this small example AFTER reading this book and technically “attracting money”: Let’s say I did one song and put all my focus into that. No demo fee ( because I collaborated with an artist ) but almost instantly gets synced and the sync fee is $100,000. ( This actually happened and it blew my mind )

Technically speaking I did less for a bigger reward. But the point of all of this isn’t the money, the point is the switch in my mindset about things such as money, traveling, experiences and life.

So I feel this book has significantly impacted my life!

Contact Info:

• Website: janaeemusic.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janaeenimsaj
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/janaeemusic/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jana%C3%A9-enimsaj-b07839192/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@janaeenimsaj
• Other: Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@janaeenimsaj