When Alabama A&M University alumna Jasmine “Jazz” McKenzie took the stage for “The Voice” blind auditions Monday night, she was praying for a one chair turn. She ended up getting four.
On the Season 28 premiere of NBC’s Emmy Award-winning competition, McKenzie stunned coaches with her powerhouse rendition of Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got to Do with It.” Country legend Reba McEntire spun first, followed quickly by Niall Horan, Snoop Dogg, and Michael Bublé.
“It was overwhelming,” McKenzie said. “As soon as I hit the last note, I was so overcome with emotion, I cried like a baby because I couldn’t believe it.”
Although Bublé turned his chair last, he ultimately won McKenzie to his team. McEntire even played her one “block” to keep Snoop Dogg from snatching the Birmingham native.
McKenzie’s musical journey started early. “My mom sings. My grandmother. I come from a big music family,” she said, noting that several relatives are members of the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in Alabama. Her mother, Brenda McKenzie, is a familiar voice around Huntsville, often performing at Oakwood University. McKenzie grew up singing in church, and when it came time for college, she said Alabama A&M chose her. “They came to my high school in Birmingham for a college fair and I was accepted on site. From there, I was good. They made me their first choice, so I made them my first choice.”
Once on “The Hill,” she had a humorous introduction to campus life. She originally auditioned for the University Choir with “Amazing Grace,” but Choir Director Dr. Horace Carney quickly redirected her. “He said, ‘Amazing Grace? That’s for the Gospel Choir. We’re going to fix that!’” Carney accepted her after she auditioned again with the national anthem. “I ended up serving in the Gospel Choir, and that’s where I grew,” she said.
McKenzie also joined Sigma Alpha Iota, an international music fraternity, which helped spark her confidence as a performer and put her on the path to pursuing music more seriously. She walked across the stage at AAMU’s Spring 2018 Commencement, but her performance schedule kept her from completing a final summer class. By then, her career was already beginning to accelerate.
In 2023, she began earning attention as an opening act for headliners such as Chrisette Michele and Leela James, and even headlined at Huntsville’s Panoply Festival. Those performances built her reputation as a dynamic live artist and eventually led to a life-changing opportunity.
“It all started with a DM I got on TikTok in February for this video that started gaining attention,” she recalled. “At first, I thought it was a scam. But when I got the same message on Instagram and through email, I called my friends – who are all AAMU grads – and we checked it out. It turned out to be real.”