FamilyChristian.com
Exclusive Interview
Clearly Jaci
With her latest album, Crystal Clear, Jaci continues
to move her career forward at an unbelieveable rate. Jaci spoke with Jen Abbas
about the past two years and where her recent recognition as a Latin artist has
brought her.
 Sixteen-year
old Jaci Velasquez stormed onto the Christian music scene in 1996 with her debut,
Heavenly Place. The young
1997 New Artist of the Year has continued to encourage the Church with inspiring
songs like "On My Knees," "God So Loved," "If This World" and "Show you Love."
With her 1998 self-titled sophomore project,
Jaci established herself as a permanent fixture in Christian music. In 1999,
as a gift to her Spanish-speaking grandparents, Jaci released
Llegar A Ti (To Reach You). That project presented, literally, a
world of opportunity.
Jaci Velasquez has become the darling of the Latin music community, collecting
a slew of accolades, including Primio Lo Nuestro (New Artist of the Year) at
A La Musica Latina awards and earning recognition at the Latin Grammys
as well. With her new album Crystal
Clear, Jaci offers a transparent look at the woman she has become and
the relationship with the God she loves.
FamilyChristian.com: Tell
me about the experiences you had with mainstream and Latin press while promoting
your Spanish record?
Jaci: They are actually different from the Christian press. They ask
a lot of questions about your personal life. They always want to know who you're
dating and what designer you wear.
FamilyChristian.com:
When I look through your press kits, there seems to be a dichotomy
between how you are perceived by mainstream media.
Jaci: Yeah, the Christian
market sees me as the bad girl, the one that is pushing the envelope a little
too far. The Latin market and the pop market see me as the good girl. The headlines
always read "la nina buena, Jaci Velasquez," "the good girl,
Jaci Velasquez."
FamilyChristian.com: You recently completed a tour with Plus
One, another band receiving mainstream attention. Do you still see the same
differences?
Jaci: I enjoy being in the Christian market. It's easy. It's not as much
pressure to have your life be so scrutinized testimony-wise. Everyone's a Christian.
You're preaching to the choir. In a sense, you're amongst your family, the family
of Christ. So it's really comfortable and easy. In the pop market, in my life
I have to be very, very conservative, my testimony, because I may be the only
Jesus that these people will ever see. That's my responsibility to them as a
believer.
FamilyChristian.com:
How did the tour with Plus
One go?
Jaci: The tour went great! It's a girl's dream to be on the road with
five cute boys.
FamilyChristian.com:
Any fun stories to share?
Jaci: When
are there not fun stories? Everyday there is a fun story on this tour. My brother
came on the road and he called us the High School Tour. I've always been the
youngest on every tour and on this tour, we're all the same age. It's funny,
because I've been doing this for six years and I'm a veteran at this. I'm not
a rookie anymore, and yet I'm the same age of all the rookies right now.
 FamilyChristian.com:
It's been two years since your last
English record came out. What's been going on in your life in the last couple
years?
Jaci: A lot has been going on. A lot of great things musically, of course
the Grammys, the Latin Grammy Awards…there's been a lot of trauma
in my family this past year, which I believe is why this record came out so
personal. Everything that was happening in my personal life was happening during
the recording of this record. It was really important to me that I was honest
with myself and with people about myself.
FamilyChristian.com:
What is it you really want people to know about you?
Jaci: I would want
to be defined as someone who has made a difference in people's lives. I was
talking to my boyfriend about that today. I was thinking that all this stuff
is going to go away and you're going to hit a plateau, and you're going to come
back down and all that's going to be left is what you've done for Jesus Christ.
FamilyChristian.com:
The first track on your record is "Escuchame (Listen To Me)." As I was listening
to it…
Jaci: You realized that it was about me? You're the first person that
actually thought about it. I usually have to tell people that it's about me.
It's a little deep for being a cute little fast song, right? That's the song
I wrote for the people coming up behind me, so that they would learn from the
mistakes from the people who have been there before.
FamilyChristian.com:
When your first album came out, people dubbed you the next Amy
Grant. Now your labelmate Rachael
Lampa is being dubbed the next Jaci Velasquez. What advice would you give
to a new artist?
Jaci: Watch yourself.
Someone said to me one time that no one can watch your back better than you
can. That's the best way to see it. You can't be always freaked out with everything,
but you have to be careful, because not everyone is going to take care of you
the way that you would or the way that someone that truly loves you would, because
not everyone is your friend. That's ok because it's partially a business and
partially a ministry and partially a career.
FamilyChristian.com:
That's good advice for anyone, especially someone
who is going through the process of defining herself in the fishbowl of public
life.
Jaci:
I think I came into the industry before the whole teen pop craze. Before
me was Rebecca St. James and before Rebecca was Amy Grant. I was a phenomenon,
yet I really wasn't. I was just a singer. I wasn't the best singer in the world;
I'm still not. But I think I was just at the right place at the right time and
hit at a time when people and young girls needed to hear something from their
own peer.
FamilyChristian.com: Any
regrets about starting your career so young?
Jaci: There are some regrets in anything you do. There are some things
you would never change. Then there are some points where you say, "I wish I
would have done this, but I wish I would have waited until I was a little older
to do this…" Like possibly finishing high school (with my class). I think that
there are [times when] I regret those types of things, not being able to do
the normal high school thing.
FamilyChristian.com:
What is God teaching you now?
Jaci: God is teaching me that only through our weakness can He make us
strong. Only through the things that really test us and push us to be better
can He really show His strength and voice and His light. That's kind of what
He's taught me through all the personal things that have happened. He's been
the one to say "You're going to go through a bunch of things, but never fear
that I'm not here, because I am. No matter how far away I seem sometimes, I'm
always here."
Jen
Abbas, a writer in Grand Rapids, Mich., originally conducted this interview
for Family Christian Stores' All Access music catalog.
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