ABOUT BLACK JADE
silky r&b sprinkled with traditional East Asian elements and futuristic candy
Black Jade (Jennifer Hsu) is a Los Angeles-based music producer, vocalist, and songwriter. Her musical journey emerged from classical piano lessons, which led to self-taught guitar and becoming one half of a dream pop duo in college. Soon after, Black Jade's style evolved into electronic, acousmatic soundscapes. Her broad music interests from the past inform and influence her current sound: a modern blend of hip hop, r&b and world music. Her musical creations fuse traditional East Asian instruments with world music-inspired beat patterns supported by a backdrop of contemporary hip hop groove. While Black Jade’s music productions span a wide variety of feelings from slow-burning, sentimental tracks to dynamic and danceable songs, her DJ sets are consistently upbeat and energizing.
Black Jade holds a PhD in Computer Music from UC San Diego and writes software for synthesizing musical sounds at Output. She is a part of TRIBE 20:4, a creative collective of musicians and visual artists. Currently, Black Jade is working on original music and collaborations with other musicians. In alignment with crystal therapy, in which black jade is used to transform negativity into positivity, Black Jade hopes that her music can shift her listeners into a more positive and productive state of mind.