Kennesaw State freshman international business major Yasmine Bateman released a song on Friday, July 31, that started her music career and college career at the same time.
Bateman released her first single, “Worth It,” over the summer on Spotify and Apple Music. The single was received well by audiences, garnering over 8,000 streams on Spotify and 21,000 views on the single’s music video.
Bateman worked with a team of producers and sound engineers on making her single, but she wrote most of the lyrics alone.
“I wrote “Worth It” on a plane with no headphones or WiFi and went into the studio the next day with an entire team of producers,” Bateman said. “I immediately knew I wanted it to be my debut.”
Bateman stated that she chose KSU for its proximity to Atlanta.
“I just love how close it is to Atlanta and the overall college vibe,” Bateman said. “It’s a perfect distance and it’s not too much.”
Bateman’s love and experience with world cultures also brought her to KSU. She chose International Business as her major because of her close ties with many different nationalities.
Bateman speaks Arabic and has been surrounded by French and Spanish cultures her whole life, with her family taking vacations to Europe as well as many other countries around the world.
“Every two years we take a big family vacation to see our relatives in different parts of the world,” Bateman said. “I have Snapchat streaks with all my cousins, it’s how we communicate from far away.”
Bateman began her journey in music at Pebblebrook High School as a part of the school’s performing arts magnet program, while simultaneously taking online classes at Georgia Military College. She found her passion for music as well as vlogging and her drive to handle everything at once at the high school.
“I would get home from rehearsal at 10 p.m. and edit videos until 1 a.m.” Bateman said. “It was a lot but I learned I am someone who can work at any time of the day.”
Bateman’s perseverance in high school taught her valuable skills for the future on how to approach being successful on her YouTube channel.
“You won’t be able to post once a month and gain any traction,” Bateman said. “You have to post every day over and over again so people keep seeing your content.”
Because of this strategy, Bateman has amassed over 151,000 YouTube subscribers and 99,800 followers on Instagram. Bateman’s following on social media and YouTube has come from her own hard work — vlogging is something she does entirely on her own time and has an atmosphere different from that of a recording studio.
“Everything in the studio is planned down to the minute by someone else,” Bateman said. “Vlogging is by myself and totally on myself and my own time and my own schedule,”
Looking forward, Bateman is most excited about making connections with people at KSU through her sorority and other activities. Bateman will be releasing a new single September 18, with more information coming on her Instagram, @yasminebateman.
