Fearless and ready to make her mark
in the music industry, 21 year old Latina Eli Jas is taking bachata by the
horns and representing true girl power in a genre where female representation
is scarce. Eli Jas describes singing as
something that she has done since she was young, and with her first studio
experience being at the tender age of 14 she knew that music was her true
passion. However, it was not until her
second year of college that she decided that she wanted to dedicate more time
to her music and pursue it as a career. It
was with this decision that Eli was able to record her first single, a bachata
song, entitled “Tu Me Haces Volar.” She recalls her mindset at the time saying,
“[I] really wanna do what I love and show the world who Eli Jas is!”
Eli Jas’ very first performance on
stage was at the Gun Hill Road Festival, “I have to admit I wasn’t used to
having all the eyes on me,” she says, but describes the feeling as, “now or
never.” Despite the nervousness of her
first performance, once Eli got off of that stage for the first time the
feeling was infectious, she couldn’t wait to do it again. This past March Eli
performed on the Calle Ocho stage in Miami, a show presented by Mr.305
Inc. “Yes I got to perform on the
Putbull stage,” she says with excitement.
“The energy was nuts …I can’t wait to go back to Miami again.”
With the powerful, mesmerizing
sound in her voice it is no wonder that Eli Jas’ inspirations stem from artists
like La India, Mary J Blige, Faith Evans, and Christina Aguilera just to name a
few. Currently, Eli Jas’ self-titled
mixtape has five original bachata songs infused with R&B influences making
them each exciting and alluring in their own ways. “I love them all” she says, but points out
that her favorite track is “No Me Podras Olvidar.” The song, whose title translates into ' you won't be able to forget me,' was
Eli’s way of giving a more positive outlook on a breakup, “I got to express
myself saying ‘ok, this is not going to break me.’”
It is this positive outlook that
will take her far in her journey to represent females in bachata, “representing
women and girl power…I love it” she admits.
Eli feels that that it is important to have females stick together and states
that she is, “honored to represent females and young women.” In fact, Eli points out that being a female
in a male dominated genre has helped her build a tough skin. Her colleagues are very critical of her, always
pushing her to work harder which she loves because in turn she is able to
provide her supporters with quality music.
The journey to stardom, however, is
not always a smooth path. “Nothing is
easy when trying to pursue your dream,” Eli points out, and notes that it can
be hard to “buckle down and do what you need to do.” She recognizes her fans and
peers saying, “They are giving me beautiful support.” Eli encourages all upcoming artists to
believe in themselves and concentrate on what they do, to think outside of the
box and become a different sound. “Always
be unique and if you believe in your heart that this is what you should do, go
for it!”
At the moment, Eli Jas is working
on new music alongside Matetraxx, who is known for producing albums for the Kings of Bachata themselves, Aventura. Eli has a lot of surprises in store along with more interviews
and live shows while working on experimenting with other genres; you’ll just have to stay tuned and follow her
journey to see exactly what she has in store. She
thanks all of her supporters and says, “I am super grateful and I appreciate
every single one of them!”
“I love them all and can’t wait to bring them new stuff.”
Website: Eli Jas Worldwide
YouTube: TheRealEliJas
Twitter: @TheRealEliJas
Instagram: @TheRealEliJas
I really liked this interview. It was really neat. I absolutely love seeing my peers following their dreams and not letting the pressure of others make them hesitant to follow their dreams. I really enjoyed this interview and love seeing a female in the bachata genre being female myself and lastly, I love what A Vocal Accord is doing for the juventud de hoy :)
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