Jazzy releases debut album after more than a billion streams

Irish DJ and singer Jazzy is releasing her debut album, *Peace and Patience*, after her music passed one billion streams. The 30-year-old, whose real name is Yasmine Byrne, says years of releasing singles and smaller projects have given her the experience to make a full-length record.

“I wasn’t thinking about going viral,” she told BBC Newsbeat. “I just wanted to make something that was true to me and sounded like a Jazzy album.”

Jazzy has released music for more than five years and collaborated with artists including Calvin Harris, Sonny Fodera and Rossi. She has previously put out dozens of singles and has more than 10 million monthly listeners, the BBC reported.

Her album arrives as dance music’s popularity grows, but Jazzy says artists in the genre increasingly favour singles and EPs over albums. She said it felt as though people were siding with virality rather than the quality of music.

The record also includes more personal material. Jazzy describes “Invisible” as a departure from her more upbeat songs and said it addresses a bad experience in the music industry.

On Saturday, she is due to play Dublin’s 3Arena, which she calls the biggest milestone of her career so far. She will then take the album on a UK tour from next month.

Jazzy, who began her career in Dublin as part of the group Powerful Creative Minds, also voiced concern about the decline of club culture. She said fewer clubs meant fewer opportunities for artists to develop in person, adding: “We all need to try and put a hand in to keep it going.” The Night Time Industries Association’s latest figures, cited by the BBC, suggest about 12 venues are closing across the UK each month.