Jasmine Villegas on new EP, Kendrick Lamar and the future
Ask Jasmine Villegas about her musical inspirations and you'll receive no shortage of answers.
"My idol is Alicia Keys," Villegas, 21, said during a recent visit to CBS News. "I've always admired her."
Villegas says that while growing up she would dress like Keys and proceed to dance and sing around her parent's house.
"When I was younger I would get the outfits and the canes and the hats and I used to copy her dance routine. My dad showed me who she was, so I've always loved her," said Villegas.
She also looks up to R&B/pop superstar Beyonce.
"Beyonce is such a hard act to follow so I just admire from such a far, far distance," said Villegas. "I hope one day I can even just do half of what she does because she's so talented and it's really hard to really just mirror her because she's just so amazing. But I'm always just been so intrigued how she can just do everything. It's like it's not human, to be totally honest with you."
To her credit, Villegas has accomplished a lot so far during her budding career. After getting discovered at age 11 it wasn't too long before a young Villegas could be heard singing the national anthem at a Los Angeles Clippers game.
Villegas didn't necessarily have any rigid singing lessons. She learned by hanging out in the studio with different singers "and picking up things and watching people." By 2011, she released a mixtape and opened for Justin Bieber on tour. She also starred as the love interest Bieber's "Baby" video (currently the second most-watched video on YouTube, behind Psy's "Gangnam Style").
In 2012, TweetGrader.com listed Villegas as the No. 3 most powerful woman on Twitter. Villegas' fans (a.k.a. The Jasminators) continue to grow, too. She has nearly 2 million Twitter followers.
"You can just talk about anything and it's just accepted, " she said about Twitter. "It's so relatable and my fans are so engaging in it...They know me so well."
Villegas spent some time this fall connecting with her fans about her newly released EP, "That's Me Right There." Released on Interscope, the five-track set finds Villegas singing about relationships, love and confidence. She hit the studio with writers and producers earlier this year to work on songs, which she says, really tap into what's going on in her life and everything around her.
"All the songs really do mean something to me when it comes to the concept, what it's about....Really putting in things that I've gone through and what I've seen people around me go through - and being able to put that into song," she said.
The EP's lead single, "That's Me Right There," features rapper Kendrick Lamar.
"It was crazy how all that went together -- from being in the studio and being really sick when I was recording. I was so sick," said the San Jose, California, native. "I had no voice. I had to really fight to record the song," she said. "You would think it's about 'Don't touch my boyfriend. Like that's my man.' But really to be honest it's about being confident in a relationship and knowing that no matter what you got the guy and you don't have to worry about anything."
Villegas says she enjoyed linking up with Lamar on the single and would love to do more collaborations down the line -- maybe with Trey Songz or August Alsina.
"I would love to link up with Alicia Keys," said Villegas.
Well, that that comes as no surprise.
For more on Villegas' new music, Bieber and her favorite things, check out the videos above.
