Jol!e on Fusing Cantonese Influences, Spiritual Songwriting, and the Power of Live Music

Listen to her latest single, “Serpentine Dream.”

Photography by Yomna Mohamed, Photography Assistance by Ericson Contreras

The beautiful thing about living in New York City is that you can see music and the arts intersect almost everywhere you go. Last weekend, I found myself in that position when I watched my friend Jolie perform with her live band at Brooklyn Art Cave, a minority-owned art center and creative hub celebrating diverse artistry.

Jolie Chen (AKA Jol!e) is an R&B/Soul artist from Guangzhou, China, now based in Brooklyn. With a jazz-infused sound shaped by influences like Ella Fitzgerald, Cleo Sol, and Cantonese visionaries Anita Mui and Sandy Lam, she creates an intimate and heartfelt experience both live and in the studio. She always performs with a live band. Each song was brought to life with sheet music carefully arranged for the set.

After her performance, we talked about her upbringing in China, how she blends Western and Eastern influences in her music, and how she spiritually manifests experiences through songwriting. If you’re into old-school and modern Jazz and R&B/Soul, Jolie may be your next favorite artist.

How are you feeling now that you just performed?

It's like a high. It's not even like a substance high; it's more like adrenaline. I feel like tonight was my best performance. And I don't do that many shows. And there's a reason behind that: I personally don't go to other people's shows. I don't go to parties just because people like to look cool, drink, and smoke.

It's just for show.

Yeah, I don't like that. So that's why whenever I do a show, it's always like everyone has to come out. I see everyone all at once. And I always say it's a family thing with friends. And I don't have family in the States. So I always keep it close.

Photography by Yomna Mohamed, Photography Assistance by Ericson Contreras

Tell me what being raised in China was like and how its culture influences your music.

I didn't know anything about Western music growing up, maybe just Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, and major pop stars. It was always through people who brought Western culture into China. I came here, and then I started realizing I really do fuck with neo-soul, gospel, and R&B. I was in China until I was 14. Honestly, if you ask me if I remember much, I just remember being in a public school system, which was really strict. It was really different. I grew up listening to a lot of ‘90s Cantonese and OG Cantonese artists, and I watched a lot of what was happening in the Hong Kong 90s music industry. And a lot of them actually borrowed elements from Japan and the West.

And how different is it now that you’re living in New York?

I'm going through this whole existential crisis with a lot of spaces right now, but this is my first time seeing more Asians in jazz and R&B shows. You see Southeast Asians a lot, but East Asians? Nah. So, in a lot of events that I work on, I'm the only Asian girl there. I also get comments from a lot of musicians in this genre asking, ‘Why don't you write in Chinese? Why don't you write in Cantonese, in your own language?’ I say, ‘Girl, I haven't written in Chinese in eight years.’ I speak Chinese and Cantonese, but Chinese songwriting is so different from English. English is how we speak in lyrics, but in my language, that's not the case.

Who are some of your favorite soul, neo-soul, jazz, and R&B artists right now?

Ella Fitzgerald, Cleo Sol, SAULT, Anita Mui, Sandy Lam.

Photography by Yomna Mohamed, Photography Assistance by Ericson Contreras

If you could name your top three favorite albums of any genre, what would they be?

Mother, Cleo Sol. Gold, Cleo Sol, and To Pimp A Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar. One thing about songwriting these days is you gotta learn from Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly because of the way he writes; oh my God. His rhythmic pattern and his lyricism go across bars.

I love artists who don't follow the typical song structure and do their own thing. I also love hearing beats that don’t stay the same throughout the entire song.

What did you experience after watching the show?

It's an experience. It’s also very intimate, and I feel like many artists now lose focus on authenticity and intimacy—making it connect with their audience and showing their efforts and talent instead of just singing or rapping to a backing track and then leaving.

Yeah, I always have a live band. Everything is so intricately designed that I have sheet music for every song. Everything is so detailed and musically marked.

Photography by Yomna Mohamed, Photography Assistance by Ericson Contreras

The live band aspect changes everything about the experience, so that's what I love the most. It makes you feel calm and close to the music.

I had no idea that my music could actually make people feel something. That's never my intent. It’s all manifestation for me. Like ‘Under the Cover,’ I chopped it into three different periods: the start, during, and the end of the relationship.

Wow, it’s like you have a spiritual relationship with your music. And following what we were talking about, what are your goals regarding creativity and personality?

I need to find a job. I feel like I spend more time working in the industry than really focusing on my own music. I use every release as a different strategy to test out which kind of marketing works. Music is basically my side hustle. But it's taking off okay. So now I'm considering putting in more effort doing it. I don't really have a goal; I know how I started, and I'm always going to remember why I started this. And even though it has nothing to do with music, my dream is to open a restaurant.