A gravity-defying electric guitar arcing into a soaring violin, honey-toned harmonies, and a rhythmic touch of the trade winds: Across a radiant aura of cascading sonic colors, Jasmine Crowe and Brittni Paiva are the duo BLVCKBOW.
Tracking independently in studios in California and Hawaii, within a two-month span in the summer of 2021, Jasmine and Brittni wrote, produced, and played all of the instruments on their self-titled debut. The lead single, “Memorize u,” the collection’s opening track, was the first official BLVCKBOW co-write.
From their mutual hometown of Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii, the two artists followed solo paths. Jasmine, a singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist, has played violin since age three. Moving to Los Angeles, she released singles, an album, a Billboard-charting dance track, an award-winning video, and won the Song of the Year Grand Prize for the John Lennon Songwriting Contest.
“MEMORIZE U” is the first song written and produced by BLVCKBOW. The duo project was formed shortly after Brittni Paiva was a featured guest on Jasmine Crowe’s latest single, “LOVE IS LOVE,” last June. The two award-winning solo artists, writers, and producers from the same hometown of Hilo, Hawaii, reconnected and found a powerful writing connection as collaborators penning ten songs in a little over a month.
What’s your story as a duo?
Brittni: Both being born and raised in the same hometown of Hilo, Hawaii, we’ve had our own individual journeys and success as musical artists, myself as an instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer, and Jasmine as a pop singer, producer, and songwriter. After Jasmine invited me to be a featured artist on her latest single, “LOVE IS LOVE,” we reconnected and started writing together. After three songs in, we realized that we had a very powerful creative dynamic together and just kept going until we had a full album written in just over a month.
Jasmine: There’s a line in “LOVE IS LOVE” that goes, “Love is a rainbow. All the colors, colors of your heart,” and I jokingly told Brittni that my heart is black. She replied with “Oh, like a black rainbow! Blackbow!” That word stuck with us and became our duo identity.
What do you want your music to communicate?
Jasmine: Our songs are all about connecting to your inner self, building your dreams…music is cathartic – something that helps us get through this crazy journey we go through in life. It’s ok to feel, it’s ok to be vulnerable, it’s ok to have wondered and not know all the answers in life, and sometimes it’s ok to not be ok. Music is also healing; it turns heartbreak into something beautiful that can connect with and heal other people. Our music is reflecting of the things we have gone through in our lives, and we want to use our individual stories and story together to give hope and inspiration, and strength to others.
What are some sources of inspiration for your storytelling?
Jasmine: The things that we go through in life. All of our past traumas, current traumas, self-analysis and growth, self-discovery, moments of celebration, joy, and sharing all of the experiences connecting with those you love.
Who is an artist that you look up to more than others today?
Jasmine: For me, it’s Sia because she is, probably, what I want to become as an artist. She’s a dynamic, versatile songwriter, she’s an empathic singer, her vocals drip with emotion, and she’s honest with her writing and experiences in life, connecting and vulnerable. Her sound really reminds me of our vibe with Blvckbow.
Brittni: I really look up to Charlie Puth. He’s so innovative with his music, his rhythms are unique and tight… His talent and songwriting style are incredibly inspiring for me.
What’s the record or artist that made you realize you wanted to be an artist?
Jasmine: When I was five years old and heard the broadway musical Les Misérables for the first time, I asked my mom, “Why is the little girl so sad?” When she told me the story of “Castle On A Cloud,” I started singing the song to everyone who would listen to me.
Brittni: I can’t say that there was a specific record or artist who made me realize that I wanted to be an artist — it was more of a goal and vision that drove me to be who I am today. In 2004, I was watching the Na Hoku Hanohano Awards (the Hawaii equivalent of the Grammys) on TV and I told myself that I really want to be there one-day winning awards for my music. After that moment, I worked toward recording my very first album and released it shortly after. The following year, I was actually there winning the Most Promising Artist of the Year award for that album.
Tell us about your debut release “Memorize U” and how it came about
Jasmine: “MEMORIZE U” is the first song that Brittni and I wrote and produced. The lyrics are inspired by feeling physically and emotionally bonded with someone. It’s about really taking in and being present in those moments you have with that other person so that you never forget what it feels like being together — remembering that special connection and experience in time even whenever you may be apart from each other. It’s also about realizing there is so much in life that we can’t predict so being present in the moment is sometimes all we really feel like we have to hold on to… and within that realization maybe you never wanna let that other person go.
What inspires your sound?
Brittni: We both come from a very eclectic background — pop, broadway, classical, reggae, rock, R&B, jazz… and even though we grew up in the same hometown environment and in the same musical era, we each have different experiences in all of those genres career-wise. But we also have the same mind musically and are always on the same page when we create together.
Where are some things you really want to accomplish as a duo?
Jasmine: We want to tour the world, spread positivity with the message of equality through our music; we want people to hear our songs and believe they can be who they truly are so they can follow their dreams. Any goal we have is to reach as many people as possible with that message. Music moves through our lives and souls.
Favorite lyric you ever wrote?
Jasmine: It would be the second verse from another song that we’ve composed called “Empathic”:
”All you give to me
Such a gift this is freedom
Wanna exhale and just let it all out
All the pain and joy
Everything that’s inside is now”
This lyric epitomizes the dynamic of BLVCKBOW and the meaning behind all of our songs. Every song is a cathartic experience of release and healing through the specific experiences we go through in life, and sharing that even when you feel vulnerable can be so freeing.
Was there ever a moment when you felt like giving up?
Brittni: Oh, absolutely. There have been many times over the course of my solo career when I didn’t feel good enough and wanted to give up playing music altogether, but after some things that I’ve gone through, I realized that music is who I am. It’s a part of me, will always be a part of me, and is the only thing that brings me true solace with who I am as a person.
Jasmine: I think one of the lowest moments was when I was in the woods and writing “Breaking Things,” the song that won the John Lennon Songwriting Competition. As I was writing that song, I felt the most alone and the most isolated – I remember lying on my bed saying to myself, “I just want to write something great that reaches somebody.” And then that song changed my life; that experience taught me to never give up, to trust in my abilities, believe in myself, and to keep going.
What is the best advice you’ve ever gotten?
Jasmine: I was struggling with a song one day I was working on in the studio, and just couldn’t get it right at that moment, and my vocal engineer and one of my best friends, Chris Hanebutt, said, “It’s ok, it’s just going to take more time with this one.” That made me realize that I could relax into the process with anything in my life, whether it was dynamic with someone else or something I was going through or anything something somebody I loved was going through. It was just going to take more time to get through it. Music is truly a metaphor for life!
Also, when Ringo Starr told me, “One day I’ll be singing your songs!” That was a serious motivation to keep going and strive for bigger things.
Brittni: When I was hanging backstage with Carlos Santana in 2013, he told me, “If you’re a musician and you’re in this just for the fame, you’re in it for the wrong reason. As musicians, our goal is to give our listeners goosebumps seven times throughout a song. If you give someone goosebumps seven times in a single song, you’ve accomplished the goal of being a true musician.”
Where do you think the next game-changer will be in the music industry and entertainment scene?
Jasmine: I think that now more than ever independent artists are able to control their own destiny, have creative ways to connect with people and have access to resources that they need thanks to technology.
