Like mother, like son: Dessa’s son Yvng Jin follows in her musical footsteps

MANILA, Philippines — When Fil-Am artist Yvng Jin’s mom, veteran Original Pilipino Music (OPM) singer Dessa (Saan Ka Man Naroroon, Bring Back the Times and Lipad ng Pangarap), and his stepdad gifted him with a microphone and headphones on his 12th birthday, it piqued his curiosity about music and later prompted him to pursue it.

“On my 12th birthday, my mom and my stepdad came home one day and they just had a gift for me — it was a microphone, headphones and an audio interface. And then I think it’s called a launch pad or something. It’s something you can make beats on,” Yvng recalled to The STAR in an exclusive Zoom interview.

“But it was kind of surprising because I had never really expressed a want to pursue music or really make music, even as a hobby. So when they came home with the gift, I just got curious. And I was like, ‘OK, well, you know what, since it’s here anyways, let me figure out how to use it,’” he said, and went on to watch YouTube videos, figuring out how to make and record a song.

“So it was really just my curiosity that brought me to starting music. And then eventually, I realized that it was just something I really enjoyed doing and I’ve just been doing it ever since.”

The letter V in Yvng, pronounced “young,” stands for Vegas, where he lived, while Jin comes from the first letter of his first name and the first two letters of his last name. The R&B crooner was born in West Covina, California, and moved to Las Vegas at the age of four.

Needless to say, his mother played an integral role in shaping his passion for music. “When I was young, when I was a kid, I’d always be going to her shows, going to her gigs or concerts. So I would always hear her sing and see her on stage and just having fun and just being like the great performer she is in my eyes. It was one of the things that really inspired me into wanting to pursue music myself.”

He also named Chris Brown, The Weeknd and Michael Jackson as his musical heroes growing up.

Fil-Am artist Yvng Jin pays homage to his Filipino roots in Wala Nang Iba (Nobody), one of the tracks from his album ‘4EVER YVNG.’

The core lesson that stuck with him from his mom was patience. “Because everything happens when it’s supposed to, you know, so you just have to trust in whatever you’re doing and trust that everything’s going to work out how it’s supposed to,” he reflected.

“So, I feel like that’s one of the things that she’s taught me that really helped me a lot because I think it causes a lot of stress when people think about the future too much, in a sense, where they’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, like what if music doesn’t work out? Or what if I’m not meant to be pursuing this career or pursuing my dream?’ I think believing that whatever is meant to be is meant to be. It keeps the peace. And honestly, I’m all about just keeping the peace.”

Yvng has already shared the stage with Dessa a couple of times, and he would like to do so in the Philippines as well.

“One time that’s kind of sticking out in my head right now was when I might have been like eight years old. My mom was doing a Mother’s Day concert in Arizona,” he fondly recalled.

“And I came up on stage and she had me sing a little bit. And I started rapping and then she started chasing me around the stage, trying to get the mic from me. And I’m like moving away from her trying to perform. I’ve performed a couple of times with my mom. I think the most recent time was probably back in my senior year of high school, which was a couple of years ago.”

It has long been his dream to take his mom on tour with him and have her be part of his show. “So the Philippines is definitely gonna get it. So yeah, I better get ready.”

The last time Yvng visited the Philippines was when he was 13. He is now 21. He signed with global music label EMPIRE before reaching 20 and released his debut album titled “4EVER YVNG.”

Paying homage to his Filipino roots, he put out a Tagalog version of Nobody, one of the tracks from the album. The song, Wala Nang Iba (Nobody), was written with help from his mom and sister.

“I’ve been really wanting to delve back into my roots as a Filipino and connect back with my culture. And so I feel like doing this song, Wala Nang Iba, translating a song that was originally in English and creating a Tagalog version of it, was my way of stepping back into my culture, my Filipino roots,” he mused.

He was also thrilled to announce that he is currently working on his second album, which will feature another Tagalog song.

(“4EVER YVNG” album is available on music streaming platforms now under The Record Company/EMPIRE.)