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Photo: Lucero Glow

One of R&B’s best-kept secrets is blooming out of the bag. South London singer-songwriter Jaz Karis has officially released her long-awaited debut SAFE FLIGHT, a journey through time zones and love languages.

Though this is her first full-length album, the world has been enamored by Karis quite some time. Her 2018 COLORS performance garnered over 16 million views, a live rendition of the neo-soul single “Petty Lover.” The song quickly became an anthem for any woman who has dared to bite back, surpassing 35 million streams on Spotify.

As the world patiently awaited, Karis took some time to witness life and is now ready to reintroduce herself. OnesToWach got a chance to sit down with the songstress on her album release day to discuss everything from finding home to finding herself.

OnesToWatch: Congrats on release day! How are you celebrating?

Jaz Karis: Today feels good. I feel calm and at peace. I got breakfast with my best friend and manager at my favorite local spot, I’ll get dinner with my friends and family later. I’m really happy.

It’s amazing to hear you’re at peace, many artists find themselves on a release day feeling stressed and scattered. What do you attribute that peace to?

The process of making this album was a lot more than just making music. For me, I was accepting myself. I’m so happy that the music sounds so much like me. The response I’m getting from people who have known me from the beginning is that it just sounds like me. I’m glad that it’s authentic. The end of this journey is me accepting myself. That’s the peace I’m feeling.

What work led to that self-acceptance?

A lot of looking inward. Tons of therapy. I’m very big on my faith with God so working on that relationship. Being responsible and taking accountability for my actions. I’m a very emotional person so I can be quite erratic with my feelings, but I control them more now. Not needing to react immediately. It takes time but it’s all about accepting every part of yourself and learning how to use it all.

C’mon emotional intelligence! As someone who has been actively making music for some time, how does it feel to be putting out a debut? Does this feel like a reintroduction?

It definitely feels like a reintroduction. It came at the perfect time, it couldn’t have come any earlier because I had to go through what I was going through. You know when you’re a fan of someone and you go to their concert and they just perform their new stuff, and as a day one, you just feel heartbroken? I really wanted this album to feel connected to my older project but be higher quality and more grown-up.

You definitely accomplished that, it’s a noticeably moe matured sound and has some incredible features. I love that you and Mahalia collaborated, it felt like a radical act of dismantling societally-imposed competition between female artists.

100%, you’re completely right. I think in the industry, and even just in life, when two women are doing similar things, you’re just pit against each other. It’s as if there’s only one space available. It’s been so wonderful to see more women collab, there’s space for so many talented people at once. Mahalia is an incredible artist but also human being. She was a dream to work with, she let me try different things and was so open. She’s further ahead on her journey when it comes to music so she was such a safe space to talk to and learn from. I was so honored to have her on this album. 

I love that you also brought on Tone Stitch, he’s doing so much for R&B! What’s your perspective on the state of the genre these days?

This album is heavily R&B but there are also so many other elements. R&B is a beautiful genre but it’s definitely evolved, there’s so many more people making music these days. The quality threshold is not there. Anyone can put out music. That doesn’t mean there isn’t good quality R&B, it just means it’s harder to find. It’s definitely changed but times have changed. Genres evolve, that’s just what happens. I feel like it’s cyclical and there are old influences that are coming back, through samples and melodies. That’s just life.

I think you do a wonderful job at preserving the heart of R&B, which is just love. Is it difficult to perform those deeply emotional tunes once you’ve healed beyond them?

That’s a really good question because I write about my real life. I definitely embellish but my songs are based on true stories. It can sometimes get difficult to perform if it’s a deep one, but that’s the beauty of performance, you’re not gonna catch that feeling again. Whereas when you record it, you can cut it and redo takes. I’m an emotional person so I love it. Scars are great stories. It reminds me that things happen and I wouldn’t be here today if these things didn’t happen. I would much rather keep telling my stories and let other people feel like they can relate. I love when people hear themselves in my songs, that’s my favorite thing about making music.

I mean what you did for the girls with “Petty Lover” is a debt we can never repay.

To this day, I still get messages about that song, it’s incredible.

There are parts of this album from all over the world, the album’s title speaks to being on the go, has this life redefined “home” for you?

Home is where the heart is. I’ve made myself a portable home because I have to be comfortable wherever I go. So in that sense, yes. But otherwise, whenever I leave LA and come back home to my mom’s house, that’s definitely home. Getting off that plane in Heathrow or Gatwick and people just being rude, I’m like “I’m home!” The energy is gone and everyone is rude. LA’s amazing customer service is just gone.

So what’s next? I know tour is coming, are there any visuals we can expect as well? Anything you want fans to know about the album?

We have a couple of visuals coming out. We also previewed our short visual film here in London and we’re going to put that out too. I’m so excited. If you can, listen to the album in order. It’s a story. And I hope you hear your own story in these songs, too.

Last but not least, how does your inner child feel right now?

Little me was the version of myself that cared the least. It’s a journey to get back to her because she’s chilling right now. She’s just like “I told you. Why did you take so long?” She’s chilling, I think she’s really happy.

Jaz Karis' SAFE FLIGHT is available now.