Unstoppable Rise Of Jasmine Sokko

She’s just released her first mandopop single, something she never thought she’d do. The singer-producer shares that a good performance is never just about the singer but the audience too.

- Hayley Tai

Jasmine Sokko enters the studio, and it’s impossible to recognise her – until she greets the crew in her silvery voice.

“Good morning guys! I’m Jasmine,” she chirps, bowing her head.

The electropop songstress who’s known for the sleek black outfits and bejewelled masks she dons onstage is barefaced and mask-free. She sports a casual look – a chic sheer top, basic black bermudas, black socks and a pair of slides. Her stage name, Sokko, means “blind” in Finnish, befitting her mysterious look.

At 23, the Singapore singer-producer's achievements in her music career are spectacular. And she won’t trade her success for anything – not even school.

It’s understandable, as she has worked her way up to become one of Singapore’s most streamed artists on Spotify. Jasmine’s debut independent single, 1057, topped Spotify’s Singapore Viral 50 chart in 2016.

Her two latest singles, Hurt (2018) and Tired (2019), have a total of six million plays on Spotify. The music video for Tired, released in May this year on Youtube, has more than 600,000 views.

And that’s not all. The rising star gained international fans after securing fourth place on Rave Now (20182019), an international electronic music competition held in China.

A few months on, she’s riding the Mandopop wave with her first Mandarin single, SHH, which was co-produced with American producer Felix Snow. The track was released with Warner Music China in September.

She says of her foray into the Chinese market: “I don’t know how the track will fare. People told me that electropop may not do so well with the Mandopop audience because soulful ballads are more popular.

“But I didn’t want to change my style of music, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed.”