Yasmeen, the newest, talented songstress to be signed to Strictly Rhythm as a recording and live performing artist, is refreshingly uncomplicated and yet slightly enigmatic by nature.

There’s a glint in her eye and an air to her voice that deserving house music hasn’t seen and heard in a while. Her colourful, island style upbringing in Hawaii has deep-rooted her effortlessly laidback but unforgettable appeal and no doubt influenced her love for the performing arts which she took to, fervently, from a young age. Yasmeen found solace in singing, dancing and acting on stage before she was 10 years old and was quickly firmly embedded in the world of theatre, opera, film and commercials. Her maiden voyage at 18 took her from the tropical Hawaiian beaches to the golden coast of Los Angeles, where she was signed by MCA artist management and lived for four years. After touring for a year with a travelling broadway show, Yasmeen took the gap and went Off Broadway in the only way you can; she moved to New York and made it her home and permanent base. “New York is great, there’s always something happening... I love that you can just walk down the street and come across a live music night!”

It is here and whilst working on a children’s stage show that she was approached by a cast mate about writing a track and recording the female vocal. “I hadn’t done anything like it before but we sat down and wrote the song in about half an hour. We recorded the demo and it was sent off, just like that!” The track ‘Glad I Found You’, a soulful melody with an R&B twang was picked up by Blaze Imprints. Several remixes of the track later, and it had a house edge which appealed to a whole new market. The track was signed to Defected Records and it was shortly after that Yasmeen, now 26, was signed to Strictly Rhythm with plans to pop her on bpms the world over! “I’m going to have fun, do my bit and see where it takes me!” She says, excited at the opportunity and chomping at the bit to get in the studio and record again. Some of Yasmeen’s early kudos includes performing the American and Canadian national anthems at The All Stars game at The Tokyo Dome. Yasmeen, having grown up to the sounds of Motown, R&B, Folk and traditional Hawaiian music is diffidently enchanted with the new world of dance music that’s grabbed her by the vocal chords. “House music is not something you hear on the radio in the states, it’s very much an underground scene but the more I hear it and am exposed to it, the more I like it!”

Her own lyrics are attentive and quixotic and she loves to tell a story, “I write about love, or whatever’s on my mind, it doesn’t matter… I’ll find something, a word, or the melody and build it from there…” Her passion for music is audible, and while now focusing on the melody and lyric writing aspects of making music, Yasmeen says she would love to get into producing. ‘You have to learn to walk before you can run,” She says smiling, ‘But I would definitely like to get more involved with the production process, that would be really fun!” Amid whispers of an artist album in the near future, the next few months will see Yasmeen recording several tracks on the Defected Records label. She’ll be recording releases with renowned house duo, Copyright, as well as embark on her first live tour in Europe with the inimitable ATFC, with whom she will be performing several of her tracks on stage to sell out shows in Switzerland.