By Crimson Jordan
“I just can’t give up now, I’ve come too far from where I started from…”
As Jasmine Branch, aka Jassyb, belts these words on stage, they come straight from her heart. She embodies them. “Can’t Give Up Now,” the song the Houston-based singer chose for her winning Pride Superstar 2018 performance, is definitive of both her journey during the competition, and within her life. No stranger to a challenge, Branch knows the importance of pursuing a goal until you emerge victorious.
“I’ve been singing forever.” Branch tells me. “The furthest back that I can remember is when I auditioned for The Jenny Jones show. I was about 10 years old. [But] right after I sent my tape in, they cancelled her show.” We both erupt into laughter. I don’t know whether it’s the hilarity of or the irony of the situation, but it’s hard not to laugh when you’re talking to someone with such infectious positivity. “It just wasn’t my time,” Branch says once we catch our breath.
Pride Superstar, however, was Branch’s time to shine. “It was a boost in my confidence,” Branch says. “As far as my singing, I’ve always had low self esteem. I’ve always talked bad about myself. I’ve always made myself feel like I wasn’t good enough. So this was a big boost in my confidence. I can do this. I am good at what I love to do.”
The Pride Superstar opportunity couldn’t have come at a more perfect point in her life, either. Before moving to Houston from Louisiana, she’d faced a series of personal life challenges, including coming out of an abusive relationship. The singer says that the competition took her focus off of the negative and allowed her to fully commit to her craft. That commitment showed throughout the competition and ultimately led to her victory—an accomplishment, she says, was less about winning and more about affirmation. “I’ve never won anything before,” Branch says, explaining that, every time she tried out for something, the response was repeatedly a “no.” So, she decided to give up on contests and resolved to focus her efforts on furthering herself as an independent artist. “When I tried out for this, I just thought, ‘Forget it, you’re in a new state, just try,’” Branch says. “And I did—and I won, and I was just in complete shock.”
The road to victory was not without struggle, however. The day before Pride Superstar began, Branch lost her voice. During the middle of the competition, the singer was in a car accident that left her on crutches. But Branch persevered. Whenever the judges had criticisms of her performances, she used their feedback as a way to improve, blowing them away during the following round.
Her growth during the competition was metamorphic, and it showed when she spread her wings and reached new personal heights during her performance at the Houston LGBTQ Pride Celebration in June. “That was just amazing to have feedback from an audience—there’s no feeling in the world like having the audience join in and sing along with you,” Branch says. “Pride, for me, was definitely a big eye opener. It was just the most amazing feeling. It was thousands of people. I’ve never sang in front of that many people!”
It’s clear that, when Branch performs, she is singing with more than her voice. She sings with her soul, her entire being. It is that infectious positive energy—the way she engages with her audience as if each and every person in attendance is her personal friend—that keeps them coming back for more. And when the spotlights fade, she’s still the same genuine person she was on stage.
Branch credits much of her success and confidence to her ever-present front-row supporter, her girlfriend, Jay. “When I moved down here, I had nobody but Jay,” Branch shares. “She was all I had.” But after Pride Superstar, the young performer has gained even more support—and some essential wisdom. “I learned that I can just be who I want to be,” she says in reference to the self-love and self-acceptance she’s found in her identity as a lesbian. “I don’t have to pretend to be somebody else.”
She has a similar message for future Pride Superstar contestants: “Don’t be afraid to express yourself. Don’t be afraid to open up. Take every judge’s constructive criticism in a good way and turn it into something positive for your next show.”
Reflecting on the past several months, Branch shares that the biggest change she’s experienced is her shift in self-worth. “Normally, I wouldn’t say [good things] about myself. I wouldn’t take the positive feedback into consideration like, ‘Maybe I am this good. Maybe I can do this.’ I’ve never done that. So the competition, performing at Pride, people inboxing me, and going viral on Facebook, all of that just made me feel like I’m good. Like, I can tell myself, ‘Jasmine, you are good. People love you. So, love you.’”
Keep up with Jasmine Branch, aka Jassyb, by following her on Facebook and Instagram. For bookings, please email [email protected].
