I
T’S CERTAINLY an exciting time for Jessie J. Not only has
the Essex-born singer-songwriter scored phenomenal success
with singles “
Do It Like A Dude”, “Price Tag”
and “
Nobody’s
Perfect”
, but she’s also making massive waves in the US, even as
we speak. The 23-year old urban/pop songstress has achieved
more in the last few months than some artists do in a whole
year; from winning the gong for BBC Sound of 2011 last year and the
Critic’s Choice Award at this year’s Brits, having two of her songs,
“Sexy
Silk”
and
“Who You Are”
featured on the soundtrack of movies
Easy A
and
Step Up 3D,
to touring with established artists such as Chris Brown,
Macy Gray, Taio Cruz and Cyndi Lauper whilst performing live on the
biggest platforms around the world.
So what did we make of the raven-bobbed singer sporting a perfect
fringe and loud make-up when she first hit our screens? Well admittedly,
thoughts of a gothic infused big mouthed artist crossed my mind when I
first saw her perform the dark and moody, macho challenging, crotch
grabbing, girl-power urban track
, “Do It Like A Dude”
(originally intend-
ed for Rihanna) but when she followed it up with the unselfish, ‘get the
world to dance instead of worrying about money’ track
“Price Tag”
and
subsequent singles, my perceptions changed, and I realised that Jessie J
isn’t a book that should be judged by its cover.
A rising star that was in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s
Whistle Down The
Wind
when she was 11, wrote lyrics for Justin Timberlake (who thinks
she is “the best singer in the world right now”), Christina Aguilera, Alicia
Keys, and co-wrote Miley Cyrus’ hit
“Party in the USA”,
Jessie has proved
she isn’t the typical artist we would normally expect. She’s been described
as an edgier Britney Spears, a mixture of Pink, Gwen Stefani, Beyoncé
and Lady Gaga, and without a doubt has a dynamic voice that easily
matches Christina Aguilera’s. I won’t deny that Jessie J totally blew me
away when she sang
“Nobody’s Perfect”, “Mama Knows Best”
live and a
cover of Whitney Houston’s
“I Have Nothing”
on YouTube. The girl can
damned well sing!
For someone in her early twenties, Jessie oozes the confidence of a
much older person. “I have to be confident,” she says. “Because I can’t
intoxicate myself with those props ordinary young people have to give
them confidence.” At a young age, she was diagnosed with an irregular
heart and suffered a minor stroke five years ago. “I don’t drink. I don’t
smoke. I can’t touch drugs. I can’t even have caffeine.” She secured her own
record deal with Universal Records after packing a small kit and heading
to the States to perform a showcase. “I landed off the plane in LA, did a
showcase at the Viper Rooms and two days later, I sat with LA Reid and
there are eight offers on the table.”
In April, she performed on stage at Dublin’s Trinity College and was
appalled at the number of drunken students falling over each other. After
the gig, she wrote on Twitter that it was “probably the hardest gig to date”
and added: “To see so many people so drunk they couldn’t even stand. Girls
unconscious and them literally trampling on each other.” She was met
with severe backlash for her comments, with one commentator remarking,
“Are you being serious? Just be thankful you were performing on stage to
your fans.” (Well, that’s gratitude for you!) Jessie obviously concerned for
the welfare of her fans, responded with, “I was just shocked at how intox-
icated they were and I was genuinely worried for them. I’m not used to it.
That’s all. And it’s not just in Ireland, it’s everywhere. As a non-drinker, I
just want to spread the message that binge drinking is dangerous.” Jessie,
we couldn’t agree more.
Her debut album,
“Who You Are”,
a fusion of US-flavoured hip-hop,
pop, R&B and rock exercises the vast spectrum of her vocal range. From
her hardcore debut on
“Do It Like A Dude”,
she then surprises the masses
by changing tack completely, showing concern about people’s perception of
money on
“Price Tag”,
then capturing our hearts by blending evident emo-
tion with a strong evocative voice on
“Mama Knows Best”, “I Need This”
and
“L.O.V.E.”
The acoustic track
“Big White Room”
(the first song she
ever wrote) is a heart rendering number inspired by a young boy who
shared the same hospital room, but died following a heart transplant oper-
ation when she was 11. She says of his death, “The memory of him pray-
ing stuck with me, I didn’t quite understand it, and I asked my mother
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