Jaci Velasquez

Jaci Velasquez

DIVA FEVER
A Grown-Up Jaci Velasquez Shows Her Stuff
Long before Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera (or, for that matter, Christian music's own Rachael Lampa and Stacie Orrico), Jaci Velasquez was a teen pop dream. Blessed with a powerful voice, waist-length hair, and a precocious industry savvy, Velasquez sailed to the top of the Christian music charts at the age of 16 with such award-winning songs as "On My Knees" and "If This World." Named the Gospel Music Association's Female Vocalist of the Year in both 1999 and 2000, Velasquez further expanded her audience when she released the blockbuster Spanish-language Llegar A Ti. While she charmed the Latin music world -- and was nominated for a Grammy -- she also ruffled some Christian fans' feathers in the process by appearing onstage with the likes of Jennifer Lopez and Julio Iglesias. Now a seasoned industry vet at age 20, Jaci is back with her fourth album, Crystal Clear. The young star recently talked with Barnes & Noble.com's Lisa Zhito about being a Christian diva, growing up in the public eye and her bilingual career.

Barnes & Noble.com: The word is that you had a greater hand in the production of Crystal Clear than your previous albums.

Jaci Velasquez: I did get to be a part of the process. I hand-picked every song. I went in and said, "I don't like this, I like this." And I actually helped in production, to be able to say, let's figure out this different guitar lick, or this or that. I actually got to write on the record, which was a really good thing for me. I chose everything. I helped with everything. I told them if I didn't like the way something was done or whatever on one song, and they would go and fix it.

B&N.com: Was it difficult to gain more input in the creative process?

JV: I do tend to have a reputation of being a little bit of a diva, I think. As a woman, whenever you know what you want, whenever you're successful and you're put in a position of telling people what to do, you're suddenly a diva. You know as a woman, when you go in and tell a man what to do, it's not a good thing! And I'm 20 years old. So it's even worse.

B&N.com: Did you have difficulty getting people to take you seriously?

JV: On my last record it was a little more difficult, but not on this record. This record was smooth sailing, I was able to say, "Yes, this is what I want to do, this is the way I feel it needs to go, lyrically this is where it has to go." The record label just sat back and let us make a record. They didn't come in every day. They heard the record at the listening party, and then they trusted us and said, "You guys go for it, have fun."

B&N.com: Crystal Clear seems a bit more cohesive than your last English language album, Jaci Velasquez.

JV: I was really proud of my last English record. It was really difficult to make because obviously it was the sophomore record, you know what I mean? And I didn't have a lot of say in it, because we'd just come off Heavenly Place and a lot of politics came into play the second time around. It wasn't an easy process, but a lot of songs that were on that record, I think, are really amazing.

B&N.com: What did you learn from that experience?

JV: I learned to never compromise. I learned to say, "You know what? Just because it's a business, just because it would be a good thing to do what Sony says or Epic says, I'm not going to, I'm just going to do what I want to do!" I mean, sometimes you just have to figure that out! I cannot try and compromise who I am for the sake of making some label happy, you know what I mean?

B&N.com: There are now quite a few teen artists in the Christian music world. What advice would you offer these artists?

JV: Find who you are artistically, find who you are spiritually. Don't let people make you into a product. Don't let people tell you what sells, you figure out what sells, and you figure out who you want to be. I mean, that's the biggest thing. A lot of artists are into being stars nowadays, and they forget about the artistry and the reason why we do it.

B&N.com: Growing up in the public eye must have been hard. What was it like for you?

JV: I came into this when I was 14 years old. I signed when I was 15, released my first album when I was 16. I burned a lot of bridges, because I was 15 years old! And I'm suddenly given this big ol' huge thing in life, and when I had a bad day, people at the record label would walk away and go, "What a little brat!"

B&N.com: Do you regret at all having traded a big chunk of your youth for your career?

JV: I'm 20 years old now, I still feel like I'm young, but I also feel like I had to grow up overnight. So yeah, I know I traded a lot of things for the life I lead, but the most important thing is that I've been able to walk away and go, "You know what? I'm living out a dream!" I can look back and say I would not change a thing.

B&N.com: You've faced your share of public criticism. How did you handle that?

JV: When I did my Latin record, people wrote me letters and youth pastors said they told their youth to throw my records away because I was suddenly a secular singer. I was signed with Sony and I did a show with Jennifer Lopez, so I wasn't a Christian anymore. It was really hard for me.

B&N.com: Do you see your Latin and English-language work as two separate careers?

JV: They are two separate careers, two separate things. It's weird, but yet it's not because at least the language changes! At times, I feel a little schizo; there's times when I come home and I just literally fall on the ground. I really have had to just get down on my knees and go, "God, you are going to have to shine through this and speak through me, and figure this stuff out for me, because I can't do it by myself." That's really what it's come down to. Spiritually, it's been a good thing for me because I'm put in a place that's not comfortable. I'm doing a show with Julio Iglesias and Jennifer Lopez, and I'm the only Christian there, and people know I'm a Christian, so I'd better lead a life like a testimony. It's made me be stronger spiritually because it's not comfortable. In the Christian market, everyone is a Christian, so it's easy to lead your life on the straight and narrow. And then it's kinda cool sometimes when you kinda do things you're not supposed to do!

B&N.com: Like what kind of things?

JV: For me, it's dancing on stage! You know, they tell me not to shake my hips, I do it!