Donnie Yen's daughter forges own path in music industry

At just 19, Jasmine Yen is approachable, smiley and undoubtedly at ease when she speaks.

The singer had her artist debut event at the Artscience Museum lobby on Tuesday (Aug 1) where she performed two songs from her upcoming album. RCA Records Greater China, a division of Sony Music Entertainment (SME), announced her signing on July 28.

Her natural confidence in front of a crowd could be something she inherited from her father – renowned martial arts actor Donnie Yen.

But a trait of the Hong Kong star that his daughter did not take on is an inclination towards acting as she has always been dead-set on pursuing music. 

“It was just not what I was interested in,” she said in reference to her father’s profession. 

She went on to say that even the movies she loved growing up were all music-adjacent, like musicals Dreamgirls and Hairspray.

Yen’s passion for music began from as young as three years old. She said according to her mother, retired Hong Kong model Cissy Wang, she had already memorised many Disney songs as a toddler.

She began writing her own songs when she was just seven and has a whopping 70 original songs to date.

Two years later, she found onstage confidence performing in front of over 2,000 guests at her aunt’s wedding where she sang ballads such as Shania Twain’s “From This Moment On” and Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep”. 

It was on that night, at the age of nine, that she came to the realisation that she wanted to pursue a career as a singer. 

Initially, her parents had concerns knowing the uncertainty and adversity that come with the music industry.

But when they saw how happy she was when she wrote and performed her own songs, they chose to support her wholeheartedly.

She has just completed her first year at Berklee College of Music in Boston. She will be taking a gap year to focus on her singing career.

A sneak peek of an upcoming music video that has yet to premiere was also shown at the debut event.

The song, titled “tbh,” an upbeat pop number that interchanges between English and Mandarin, played behind artfully filmed shots of her dancing alongside back-up dancers.

Yen grew up attending an international school in Hong Kong, hence her fluency in both languages. 

When asked about why she chose to compose a bilingual album, she said, “It just represents who I am.” 

• “idk,” Jasmine Yen’s debut single, is now available on music streaming platforms. Her debut album will be released on Sept 1.