Jasmine Tierra is a singer whose voice is crossing boundaries of language and culture. She's African-American, and grew up singing gospel music. But that's not where she's making her mark now. She has become a YouTube sensation by singing in Hmong. That's the language of an Asian ethnic group rooted in certain regions of China, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand.
Tierra has been singing and writing songs in Hmong for years, winning fans and sometimes besting native speakers at Hmong festivals around the country. She even performed at the First Annual Hmong Music Awards.
In an interview with Tell Me More host Michel Martin, Tierra says the Hmong language is musical, all by itself. "It sounds like a melody," she says.
Tierra first learned about Hmong culture when her family moved to Minnesota. In 2006, she entered Arlington High School in St. Paul, which had a large Hmong population. Her hunger to sing in the language began after she befriended fellow student Panyia Kong. "She's a really excellent singer as well. She's Hmong. And she gave me some of her albums – her Christian Hmong albums," says Tierra. "It started off with me just listening to the CDs...and then she would start singing one of the songs and I would join in with my broken Hmong."