Singersroom recently caught up with newcomer Jessie J to talk about her debut album, her inspiration, etc.
On working with other artists on her album: “I feel like so many artists on their debut album, they smother the album with features. I feel like I wanted to be organic. B.O.B was someone I really wanted to work with. I am honored he is the only feature on the album right now. There are so many people I want to work with; Prince, Beyonce, Eminem, Drake. I am going to wait to see what happens , see how the world takes my album.”
Her musical inspirations: “My inspirations are so wide. When I grew up, I was listening to The Beatles, Aretha (Franklin), Funkadelics, Michael Jackson. As I got older, I like TLC, Beyonce, Lauryn (Hill), Mariah (Carey), Whitney (Houston). Now, I am addicted to Jazmine Sullivan and Kim Burrell. I a huge fan of Nicki (Minaj), Rihanna; someone like Beyonce inspires to be consistent for a long time.
Her expectations of her debut album “Who You Are”: The expectation of it in the UK was so high because a lot of people seen me brewing for 6 years. There was a lot of pressure on my shoulders to make sure the album fed the people that were hungry for it. I think it did that; it almost outgrew my expectation in the sense that the whole album is in the top 100 in the UK.”
On preferring US or UK success: “I am British so it was so important to me after I was re-signed in the US (after I was signed in the UK). That’s where I am from. I have to represent, you have to support where you are from. I have the opportunity to fly the flag in such places as America, Australia, Japan. It’s just overwhelming. It feels like there is a movement right now and I am so honored to be one of the artists to be apart of it.”
The inspiration behind your 1st single “Do It Like A Dude”: “I am not saying that I hate men. It’s about being equal and never feeling that anyone should intimidate you to be what you want to be. Everybody think it’s very sexual. I didn’t really talk about sex. I wanted to shake up some controversy and I definitely think that record did that.”
On the success of her single “Price Tag”: “I still am (shocked), everyday. What I love about the song is that there is no restrictions. Any culture, any race can listen to it. It doesn’t single anyone out. It’s a straight cool song that everybody can sing along to. Everybody in any language can understand what it is about. That’s what I love about it. In the UK, it was #1 for 2 weeks and it has held it’s place at #2 for 3 weeks. I never want to get comfortable. You should never get comfortable with success. You have to always be on the ball.”
—— By: Interview By Cola Janneti
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