Jessie J’s ascent in 2011 appeared to take about three seconds. One minute, no person had ever heard of Essex lady Jessica Cornish; the subsequent, she’d hit No.2 within the UK singles chart with the insanely infectious pop-dancehall observe “Do It Like A Dude,” and gained the British music business’s two essential rising-star polls for that yr: the Brit Awards Critics’ Selection and BBC Sound Of 2011.
Clearly, her success wasn’t fairly as in a single day as that – she’d been round in varied guises, from aspiring pop star to songwriter-for-hire, for the reason that age of 15. However when she lastly broke by, it felt like she’d merely come out of nowhere, oven-ready. Characterised by a voice that might cut up the sky or flutteringly seduce, her recent sound and Essex-girl saltiness marked her out as completely different.
Even throughout what was a golden age for girls in pop – Woman Gaga, Katy Perry, Rihanna, Beyoncé, Florence Welch, and Adele had been all flexing their vocal cords – Jessie J stood out. Her large breakout yr was adopted by a number of extra hitmaking years, culminating in “Bang Bang,” the 2014 collaboration with Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj that zipped up the charts around the globe.
Regardless of a recording historical past courting again solely a decade, there’s a substantial quantity of treasures in Jessie J’s catalog. The quintessential self-starter, she’s launched a lot music – from do-it-yourself YouTube uploads to the formidable four-part 2018 album R.O.S.E. – that it’s exhausting to slim it down to twenty tracks.
Take heed to the perfect Jessie J songs on Apple Music and Spotify.
The YouTube years
(Stand Up, Mamma Is aware of Finest, Large White Room, Why)
Like many a Noughties pop hopeful, Jessie turned to YouTube to unfold the phrase. Not like a lot of the competitors, nevertheless, she already had a fully-formed life philosophy and didn’t hesitate to share it through her self-filmed clips. Take, say, “Stand Up,” a bubbly EDM backing observe overlaid with Jessie’s hovering vocals. It was enjoyable in its personal proper, but it surely got here with a three-minute spoken prologue about sticking up for oneself. Even at age 21, she noticed herself as a task mannequin, and she or he’s constantly used her platform to denounce bullying and encourage self-care.
Her earnestness provoked ribbing from some quarters, however she was talking from expertise. At 15, she’d gained the Finest Pop Singer class of a actuality present known as Britain’s Sensible Prodigies, and the doorways that it opened landed her a file deal, then a publishing contract. Despatched to Los Angeles alone on the age of 17 to work on an album, the label folded earlier than her album was launched, and her work as a songwriter hadn’t but borne fruit. By the point she posted “Stand Up” in mid-2009, she’d realized a factor or two the exhausting method, and wished to share.
However not all of her early releases had been so weak. “Mamma Knows Best” is pure, brassy enjoyable delivered with big-band pastiche, and sees her vamping in her bed room. In the meantime, “Big White Room,” reveals the knock-out energy of her voice. One other unsung entry is “Why” – recorded when she was a part of a lady group known as Soul Deep – it reveals a special Jessie. Whereas she’s able to blasting each notice to the bleachers, right here she reveals herself able to nice subtlety.
The chart bangers
(Do It Like A Dude, Worth Tag, No one’s Excellent, Domino)
When she’s working at full throttle with an important track to play with, Jessie is just a pop queen. Mischievous and downright cute, “Do It Like A Dude” was a glowing introduction to her abilities. The lyric, with its reference to crotch-grabbing (her personal, that’s) and behaving “like the mandem,” may very well be taken as a declaration of a lady’s proper to drop conventional “feminine” mores, or just as an announcement that she’s about to occasion exhausting.
“Dude” was adopted by the one-two punch of “Price Tag” and “Nobody’s Perfect.” The previous, her first UK No.1, was an EDM foot-stomper with a message: senseless consumerism hurts us all. That provoked loads of pushback from critics riled by the concept of a pop star telling the lots to spend much less, however what a tune. It was a crowd favourite in her reside units, the place she performed with the melody, scat-singing up and down the scales simply because she might.
Jessie thought-about “Nobody’s Perfect” one of many rawest songs on Who You Are – it’s about her unfaithfulness in a relationship – however the fraught lyric (“Karma comes back around/’Cos now I’m the one that’s hurting”) was offset by one among her most speedy hooklines.
Her second UK No.1 single, the disco throwback “Domino,” was additionally her first US Prime 10. Identified to non-aficionados because the one which begins “I’m feeling sexy and free,” it’s the aural equal of glitter being shot out of a cannon.
The playful collaborations
(Calling All Hearts, Do You Hear What I Hear, Wild, Bang Bang)
Because of her cool bodily angularity and the melismatic stamp of id she leaves on songs, Jessie is commonly thought-about a solo warrior. It’s exhausting to consider her as a staff participant, but a few of her greatest work has been collaborative, displaying an entire completely different facet to The J. The 2014 disco pastiche “Calling All Hearts,” noticed her harmonizing with Robin Thicke like lovesick youngsters. Vocally, each singers had been on the high of their video games, and so they did the tune proudly.
Whereas placing her along with Mary J. Blige on the Christmas hymnal “Do You Hear What I Hear?” was one other sensible transfer. It was made for the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul’s 2013 vacation album, A Mary Christmas, so Blige was the nominal star of the present, however whilst featured vocalist, Jessie acquitted herself nobly. The powerhouse singers turned the wattage method down and let subtlety win the day. That very same yr introduced “Wild,” the place she proved she might maintain her personal towards hip-hop heavyweights. Having lassoed in Large Sean and Dizzee Rascal, she created a bubbly pop-grime observe that was a strong piece of labor, slightly than the sort of add-a-rapper-in-the-middle quickie that was widespread at the moment.
Regardless of being a collaboration, “Bang Bang” ought to be one of many first tracks a brand new Jessie J fan seeks out. Jessie, Ariana Grande, and Nicki Minaj are on the peak of their powers on a track so stuffed with joie de vivre it virtually sails out of the audio system.
The deep cuts
(Conquer The World, Horny Silk)
Tucked away on the finish of her second album Alive, “Conquer The World” didn’t get the props it deserved. She and visitor vocalist Brandy sound remarkably comparable on this downtempo R&B piece, co-written by Jessie for a buddy experiencing a psychological well being disaster. Matching one another notice for notice, the pair are formidable – and Jessie’s efficiency is a reminder that her first label noticed her as an R&B artist.
For sheer escapism, nothing within the Jessie catalog beats “Sexy Silk,” a soundtrack reduce from the 2010 teen-com, Straightforward A. Vamping and tenting it up, (“Will you be my medicine man?/Put your hand on my chest/Feel the bump-bump-bump-bump!”), she’s extra cabaret diva than pop singer.
Songwriter for rent
(Occasion In The united statesA., V.I.P, L.O.V.E.)
As Jessie has usually mentioned, her co-write credit score on Miley Cyrus’s “Party In The U.S.A” paid her hire for 3 years. It’s much less generally identified that she initially meant it for her personal debut album, however determined it wasn’t fairly edgy sufficient. Aside from the precise Americanisms (“Get to the club in my taxi cab/Everybody’s looking at me now/Like, ‘Who’s that chick, that’s rockin’ kicks?’”), her personal model shares the identical off-kilter sass that powered “Do It Like A Dude.”
Recorded by Japanese pop singer Koda Kumi, “V.I.P” is an in-da-club extravaganza that celebrates dwelling it up within the cordoned-off A-list space. There are excessive heels, mirrorballs, and all of the fixtures of an enormous evening out, together with a jabbing refrain that might have made the track a shoo-in for UK Prime 5 if Jessie had launched it herself. Sadly, she didn’t, however Kumi’s joyous take might be discovered on her chart-topping 2012 album Japonesque.
“L.O.V.E.” was initially earmarked for Alicia Keys, although it will definitely ended up on Who You Are. Maybe Keys ought to have thought twice about turning down this lush R&B proclamation of affection for a greatest buddy. The track by no means specifies the gender of the buddy in query, leaving it open to interpretation.
The motivational anthems
(Not My Ex, Who You Are, Queen)
This class might have been crammed a dozen occasions over, such is Jessie’s affinity to tunes that educate. Listed here are three of her most vivid. The slow-burning “Not My Ex,” from 2018 album R.O.S.E, recollects a poisonous relationship in forensic element (“My ex used to tell me, ‘No male friends, cut them off if you really care…My ex used to tell me he’s so chill/Then steal my phone so I couldn’t leave”), ending with the vow that no person will do this to her once more.
In the meantime, “Who You Are,” composed when she was 17 and feeling overwhelmed in Los Angeles, is arguably her most placing self-help ballad. Its hookline, “It’s OK not to be OK,” has been adopted as a cultural catchphrase – and simply attempt to take heed to it with out reflexively reaching for a lighter to wave over your head.
Jessie J has few equals in pop on the subject of endowing different ladies with bodily confidence, and in that respect, “Queen” is the one to listen to. Demanding that followers love each imperfect inch of themselves, this sultry EDM observe pulls no punches. “I love my body, I love my skin,” sings Jessie. “I am a goddess, I am a queen.” There’s no arguing with that.
Take heed to the perfect Jessie J songs on Apple Music and Spotify.
