Behind The Scenes of "Por Amor" Music Video

In creating the life we want, how much power do we have? A few months ago, I teamed up with my video Director, Rodolfo Duran, to film my first slow song, Por Amor, (Guitar by Mark Towns) but Hurricane Sandy pushed our plans back.

I wanted the message on screen to represent something meaningful, so I thought of getting 3 different interracial couples walking around China Town & Little Italy while making sure that the director captured cultural symbols. Well... Mother Nature practically wiped out the downtown area of Manhattan by covering it with 3 feet of water. Thankfully, the city was up & running again after a few weeks, but it took months for a lot of people to repair damage and get back into a normal flow.

So here we are, eight months after the storm filming, "Por Amor", in hot ass July! But at least we didn't forget about the project altogether! In fact, the origin of this song began exactly five years ago when I lived in Los Angeles, California for a summer. That's where I met the Latin Jazz guitarist, Mark Towns, who'd invited me to be a guest singer at his live band performances. I had never even considered singing in the Latin Jazz genre before, but I was specifically looking for a guitar player when he responded with enthusiasm! Well... Turns out that I was the lucky girl because when I heard his instrumental music, I fell in love with every chord, rhythm, and feeling it exuded. Thus, all it was missing was a voice - my voice.

Singer/Songwriter Jasmine Clemente

And that's how "Por Amor" was born. I wrote song lyrics over this gorgeous track and recorded it in a major NYC recording studio where it was engineered by Steve Francis for Stush Music. Now, five years later, my video director insisted we film a music video to this romantic ballad despite all of the invigorating, dance, house music that I have out. Of course we'll be filming music videos to those too! (I'm a house head through & thru) but this ballad shows that I have variety.

Back to the production of the video. Not sure if it was fate or what, but something made me remember this beautiful logo of a curly, long haired latina in front of a Coquito bottle that I'd seen on the internet. Being that my director was looking for ways to cross market the video to gain more followers, I started brain storming of who to include in the project, so I researched that image until I found Flaco Coquito - The Healthier Coquito, and contacted the founder, Cynthia Sepulveda. We both equally loved each other's websites and agreed to feature her product in my music video. What's even better, is that after wards, everyone on set toasted with her strawberry flavored drinks in hand. A perfect refreshment to cool us off on a hot summer day!

From Left to Right: Victorious De Costa (Web Series Director for Dirty Hearts TV) Cynthia Sepulveda Caballero (President of Flaco Coquito), Devora Wooden (Dig Deep Baby LLC), Music Video Director Rodolfo Duran (DoneRight Digital) & Singer/Songwriter Jasmine Clemente

Singer/Songwriter Jasmine Clemente

Another element that we included was featuring a friend of mine, Victorious De Costa, (Director of the Dirty Hearts Web Series) to play my date on screen. He's a tall, dark skinned, Panamanian brother with long dreadlocks - which was perfect for my interracial concept! I think the locks gives him an eclectic, artistic vibe, and that - me gusta mucho!!! What was even more coincidental was how Rodolfo Duran specifically requested that I wear a long gown to stay classy and sophisticated in this video, so when I came across the designs of Francis J. Cuesto, I was pleasantly surprised to see the perfect black dress in his collection. I said, "I need that!" And a good friend of mine, Dhylles Davis, made the phone call to Frankee that would have him dolling me up on set not even two weeks later. Amazing!!!

The finishing touch... Which made a big difference... Was when Devora of Dig Deep slid on a huge diamond ring on my middle finger, a thick bracelet on my arm, and gave me some gorgeous earrings to wear. Having the right costume jewelry gives the artist an extra edge, and every single element matters.

Until next time... Look out for the video announcement coming soon... In divine timing... (As you can tell from how this song started).