Jazlyn Martin has a personality that is reminiscent of a beautifully crafted sword—gleaming and strong on the outside, yet with a core that’s lovingly delicate and filled with hidden depths.
For the last few years, the dancer-singer-actor has spent her days playing the likes of Lisa on All-American: Homecoming and Stacey on This Is Us. However, her most recent role as Jackie on Morgan Cooper’s Bel-Air has introduced her to a new community of viewers who are in awe of her vast talent. While Martin is not a carbon copy of her breakout character, they share a few similarities. Both possess a smile worth a million dollars and a tough outer shell that gives way to an inner core that is tender and somewhat gentle. Jackie best showcases her inner self through dance, which Martin also possesses the ability to do, but her music has done most of the talking lately. “They Say” expresses her ability to emphatically push back against a male-dominated society’s view of how women should dress or present themselves. Meanwhile, “Perfect” finds the multi-hyphenate entertainer pouring her insecurities into a piano-laden rhythm.
With each passing release, Martin unveils a new wrinkle of her personality. On Friday, August 30, she’ll share even more of herself as her deeply personal and refreshing EP, Identity Crisis, makes its way to streaming services globally. In preparation for the project’s release, actress-dancer-singer Jazlyn Martin spoke to our Culture Editor, Ryan Shepard, about the strength it takes to be vulnerable, her new EP, and the possibility of making music with her Bel-Air castmates.
Ryan Shepard: I want to start at the beginning. Many people know you as the actress portraying Jackie on Bel-Air. Through that role, many will also know that you can dance. However, most people wouldn’t know that you’re also an incredibly talented singer. Growing up, who was the first person who told you that you could sing well?
Jazlyn Martin: It was definitely my Dad. He is also a musician. Growing up, I would just listen to him play instruments and sing. He plays piano, drums, bass, guitar, etc. He grew up on Prince and a lot of jazz, so I think he naturally passed those influences along to me. Eventually, I wanted to do what he was doing, so I just started singing, and my Dad nurtured that passion.
You mentioned that one of your Dad’s influences was Prince and I read that one of your biggest influences was Stevie Wonder. Along with sharing his love for music with the world, he has this great quote that has helped me work through writer’s block. He said, “I don’t mean that egotistically – I love that God has allowed me to take whatever it was that I had and to make something out of it.” As I mentioned, we’ve seen you act and dance, but what do you feel like you’re able to make or express through music that you’re not able to make or express through dancing and acting?
That’s a good question. Oddly enough, dance provides this extension of myself where I can’t say anything, but I can express myself all through the movements of my body. Acting allows me to showcase different parts of myself. I can play an angry role, a sad role, a role that shows the parts of myself that I don’t like, or a role that highlights the parts of myself that I cast away. With music, I can authentically be myself. I can tell my story rather than telling someone else’s story. Sometimes, telling my story can require me to reveal parts of myself that I’d rather stay hidden. But there’s a quote that I like to remember in those moments. It says, “The parts that you most want to hide are the parts people most want to see.” That’s terrifying, but music can be soul-bearing for me. Music provides an outlet where I can let my voice be heard and say, “This is me.”
One of the songs where you showcase your ability to be vulnerable is “Perfect.” When I first heard it, it drew me back to something you posted on Instagram years ago. You posted a video of yourself “Strange Fruit” in Atlanta, Georgia. In the caption, you wrote, “This is the vulnerable side of me that I really don’t like sharing with others.” When you think about where you were in 2019 when you posted that and where you are five years later, how do you become more comfortable releasing a song that is as vulnerable and honest as “Perfect?”
That’s a great question. It’s the result of a lot of inner work. As a society, we’re often told that vulnerability is a weakness, but I’ve reframed it as my strength. It takes a lot of strength to be vulnerable, so most people don’t do it. So, I feel like I’m robbing people of that experience if I don’t show my vulnerable, honest side. You know?
A big part of the human experience is being vulnerable. Some of the greatest songs, stories, movies, etc. come from a place of vulnerability. Art thrives in vulnerability, and as I said, I’d be robbing myself of that, too, if I didn’t allow myself to display that fully in my music.
As you mentioned, “Perfect” is a boldly honest and vulnerable lead single for you first project, Identity Crisis, that comes out on August 30. When you look back the work you did for this project, what song was the most difficult to write?
“Lead Me To Love” and “In This Bed” were the most difficult. “In This Bed” was kind of my identity crisis of being soft in a very cold world. Naturally, I’m very protective and guarded, and “In This Bed” shows a more submissive side. I struggled writing it because I was like, “There’s no man I want to be submissive to.” I had to reframe it. I asked myself, “Who is the one person I would want to submit to? And it was God.” So, I wrote it as a song for God.
“Lead Me To Love” reflects my identity crisis and how I view myself. Sometimes, people have those moments where they say, “God, I love myself. I’m lit. I’m doing the thing.” Then, people also have those moments where they ask, “What am I doing? This is not who I am. I don’t like who I am.” So, “Lead Me To Love” isn’t necessarily vocally vulnerable, but it’s mentally vulnerable. I wrote it in one sitting when I was like, “Alright, let’s do it.”
“In This Bed” and “Perfect” are slower, heavier tracks that pull at the heart strings and relate to a lot of people. However, that doesn’t mean the entire project is slower and heavier. “They Say,” the second single from Identity Crisis, makes me want to nod my head and dance. What was the process of making that song like?
I heard the beat from this amazing producer, Ray Keys. Shoutout to Ray! I love him. He’s my brother. The beat was very reminiscent of the 2000s and he was like, “You’re a dancer. We’ve got to use that.” I thought it was a dope beat and I really loved the 2000s era, especially Amerie. At times, I think we’re missing that with music right now, so I was like, “Alright, let’s do it.”
We originally wrote a different song to it, but then we returned to the version that made the project. I was like, “Okay! So, this is my thesis, or how I imagine the project will be structured. In that structure, I want this song to make women who don’t identify as being a ‘bad b—h’ to be seen because there are so many songs about that.” Right? And I like being a bad b—h, which is fine and totally okay. There’s nothing wrong with that. But I wanted the good girls, the nice girls, or those who don’t identify with a certain aesthetic to feel like they have a song for them. It pushes against the idea of men telling women that they have to dress or act a certain way to be wanted.
For example, I dress very masc, and I love that I also feel sexy when I dress very masc. So “They Say” is telling men to shut up. I’m going to dress the way I want, and I’m going to love myself this way. You could love me this way, too, and if you want something else, you can go out and get that, too.
I want to come back to the project, but there’s something I really wanted to ask you. Before season two of Bel-Air, I had the opportunity to participate in the press junket. During that press junket, I realized that the whole cast can sing. Coco Jones is a GRAMMY Award winner. In the last year, you, Jabari Banks, Olly Sholotan and Simone Joy Jones have all put out incredible music. Have y’all ever talked about doing music together? Has that ever come up?
Surprisingly, no, I don’t think so. I would love to. It’s funny. We all say that we do music, but we have never gotten the chance to. We joke around and say, “Season four of Bel-Air should just be a musical.”
Fingers crossed. I’m hoping it happens in the future. Going off of that, I did want to ask you about Jackie. When you were talking about Identity Crisis, you mentioned dressing more masculine, having a hard outer shell, learning how to be more vulnerable and a few other things that reminded me of Jackie. What pieces of your authentic self are you able to bring to set each day to be able to play the role of Jackie?
What parts of myself can I bring? That’s a good question. I always think of this quote, “You could walk down any street and point at any stranger and say, ‘Me too. That could be me, too.'” I feel like Jackie is very different than me, which I love. You know? It really forces me to extend my empathy to this perspective that I’ve never lived. So, I don’t feel like I’m necessarily bringing Jazlyn to the set, but I’m bringing my human side to the set. I’m saying yes to this part of me or this perspective. There are definitely differences between Jackie and me. Still, I can relate to any character I play because I’m playing a human, and we all experience a variety of emotions and struggles. For example, she’s very guarded and protective of herself, and I definitely have that side to me. But I think deep down, Jackie is very soft. I think that’s all she wants to be. I think that’s what most people long to be. The world has just forced them to be hard, guarded, and protective of themselves. I don’t know if that answers your question.
It does. When you mentioned that Jackie wants to be softer, I agreed. I thought about an episode from season two when Jackie gets drunk and Will has to take her home. In those scenes, you see this teenager who has presented themselves with this tough outer shell, but in reality, she’s a teenager going through a lot.
I’m so happy that you remember that episode. People will have their opinions, but Jackie is just figuring life out. She’s had to figure life out without two parents, and that’s not an easy thing. Growing up in South Central, she’s always had to be on the defensive. So, all she really knows is survival. She really hasn’t been able to be a teenager. That scene is the first time you’re like, “Oh, wow! She’s human. She doesn’t have it altogether. She’s hurting.” So, yeah. I’m happy you remember that scene.
Thank you! I have one last question. With a title like Identity Crisis, I’m curious about where you are now. After putting together a deeply personal and honest project, how would you describe where you are today?
I would say, “I don’t know, and I’m okay with that.” I’m constantly changing, evolving and falling in love with each part of myself every day and learning to give each part of myself grace.
