In honor of the second week of Haitian Heritage Month, The Sit Down with EmEz Show welcomed Jessie Woo to bless us with her beautiful presence & hilarious sense of humor on Thursday, May 13th, and as a fellow proud Haitian sistah (as she would sing it) & personal fan of hers, I was more than happy to hear everything she wanted to share.
EmEz caught up with Jessie right away by asking her how she was surviving through this pandemic, where she answered that she is “here, and God is good..it has been a year, and a lot has changed for me…” One thing about Jessie Woo, she is going to place God first no matter what! She went on to share that at the beginning of the pandemic, she was residing in New Jersey, but in the middle of it all, she moved and brought her talents to Atlanta, Georgia. She shared with EmEz that she moved “because of the panoramic (as she likes to call it jokingly), a lot of production stopped and I was doing a lot of things with Viacom. I actually had 2 shows that I was supposed to start hosting at BET and somewhere else, but the panoramic happened and boom, no more shows.” She went on to say, “bagay yo fini,” which means in her native language of Haitian Creole, that “everything was finished.” One thing I admire about Jessie is how she intertwines both the English & Haitian Creole language into her skits and/or in her very transparent, yet hilarious IG posts & stories despite the fact that she has thousands of English speaking followers & fans. She went on to share how depressing it was in Jersey during the pandemic, and since there wasn't much for her to do there, she decided to move to Atlanta since she saw everyone online out there was “living their best lives,” and since she sporadically was visiting Atlanta to record her music, she believed that it was the best move for her to make.
Jessie says she loves Atlanta because since she is a “work horse and loves opportunities,” she fits right in, especially since a lot of production from NYC & LA essentially moved to Atlanta to complete projects. However, she has found challenges in the dating scene out there, stating in her words,“dating here is ghetto...the guys here are messy and just as messy as the women, the Nigerian men out here got all the women fighting..the girls are fighting! The girls are fighting! It’s a lot.” She references Nigerian men specifically because she states that they pretty much run Atlanta.
EmEz then took the opportunity to ask Jessie about a statement she made on her social media posing the question, “Why do black men hate black women?” and Jessie’s eyes widened up before she prepared to give her response. She states that recently she has witnessed a trend of black men feeling the need to “humble black women, with rating our looks, and just saying a whole bunch of things that I don’t see a lot of content coming from these men that are curating this dating advice where it's uplifting to black women.” She goes on to remind us that black women, “saved the democratic party, black women are the reason Georgia the state turned blue, black women are always at the front lines at every social justice movement, black women we do a lot…the content is not always positive when it comes to black women and I feel like a lot of men project a lot of their self-hate towards black women.” She did not state one lie that I was able to detect in that statement. EmEz humbly gave an apology on behalf of black men after she so passionately completed her statement. Thank you for that, EmEz.
EmEz then moved on to talk about Jessie Woo and her music, specifically her new single that is about to drop, “Laid Up.” She shared that she released it then retracted the release, then re-released it again because she was changing her name. She states that she was going to change her name to “Jessica Fyre,” but is thinking of using that name for her acting gigs instead; she is still trying to figure that out, but has decided to keep her name as simply, “Jessie.” She shares that “Laid Up” is a song that she did with a producer she has worked with before named, S.K. out in Atlanta, and the song is actually dropping at midnight on May 13th, so EmEz definitely caught her at a good time! She went on to mention that she is currently recording a special performance for Haitian Flag Day which is on May 18th, and that she looks forward to dropping another EP for the summertime. Since being in Atlanta, Jessie mentions that she is having a way better experience with her music, and that we should expect to hear more of her vocals and Caribbean sounds.
EmEz asked Jessie when was the last time she had been to Haiti and she shared that she was there in 2019 when she shot the video for her hit song,“Vacation.”She shot that video at the historic Haitian Citadel where the only Caribbean, Haitian King, Henry Christophe resided. She shared that there are many beautiful artifacts still there including the cannon and missiles that were used in the battles, and that she wanted to plan a “Seester Trip” there last year but the pandemic obviously got in the way of doing that. She also shared that she met up with some government officials in Haiti in hopes to contribute in a more philanthropic way, however, unfortunately, those things did not come to pass just yet. We shall remain optimistic and I can’t wait to see what she has in store with her music and for the country of Haiti.
EmEz continued to discuss Jessie’s music and her most recent decision to get breast implants; something that is usually frowned upon in the Haitian culture. Jessie states, “ I always wanted some titties. Titties is not something the Lord blessed me with when he created me. I always wanted them but I wanted to make sure I wanted them for the right reasons, not because I was insecure or not because I wanted to get men….I am 30, I know who I am, I know where I am going, I have self- esteem, I am confident in myself, and I felt like it was a good time to do it.” She shared her process on her social media because she wanted to share that there are great doctors like her doctor, Dr. Altman, who did her augmentation. She also went on to shock us by stating that she did not tell her family about her surgery until it was done. She says her mom was “pissed off,” as I assumed she would be! That is a huge no-no in Haitian culture, but what is done is done, and Jessie, your titties look great, girl!
Due to all of the creative projects Jessie has in her pipeline, she had to pause the podcast she had with two of her girl friends entitled, “BrowniesInTheCity” since she says she was doing a lot of the work to maintain it. So, moving forward, she has decided that she cannot work with just anyone and that she needs people that will be able to move their weight as well. Jessie wrapped up the interview by sharing with us some exclusive news that she was recently signed to an agency and she will be in LA for a month to shoot “Wildin’ Out!” Jessie, we see you working, girl, congrats!!!
Lastly, when asked what she has learned about herself from this pandemic, Jessie dropped some beautiful gems by stating, “I am a fighter. I always knew that, but I fought even harder during the pandemic. A lot of people don’t know this, but for most of the pandemic last year, I was legally getting off of my label; I was in the fight of my life trying to get off my label. Then coming here, and fighting for auditions, fighting to get to an agency…. the acting world is a whole beast, it's not for the weak at all, and I think that comes with being Haitian. Sometimes I think to myself, I am really my ancestors' child. When it comes to doors, I really kick doors down, Imma be loud about it, I am not gonna leave silently, I don't take no for an answer, I am very persistent and fight. Everything I have in my life, I have not gotten easily, I always had to fight for it and that is why I am so vocal about certain things and I am so persistent because I know what it is like to fight for what you believe in, because when you fight and you get it, it makes it ten times better….I am definitely a fighter.”
I concur, Jessie and we thank you for being a strong example for young Haitian girls and women everywhere. We salute you and are happy to give you your flowers today. Congratulations on all of your current and future accomplishments, cherie. God Bless you always!
To hear more about Jessie Woo, watch the full interview below on EmEz’s Youtube Channel The Sit Down with EmEzto really get to know the always hilarious and beautiful Jessie Woo.
For more info on Jessie Woo, follow her on her website, YouTube Channel, IG, and Facebook.
(Photos Courtesy of Woo’sInstagram Page)