Jessie Reyez: A Great One

I first heard of Canadian singer-songwriter Jessie Reyez, of Colombian descent, when her raspy voice, sometimes spitting savage Spanish lyrics, blazed through Eminem’s 2018 album, Kamikaze, on songs she co-wrote, “Good Guy” and “Nice Guy”—pretty big flex to be selected by the iconic MC to write and sing on his album. My ears immediately perked up when I heard her voice because it was new, exciting, and different, with so much energy it was hard not to fall in love and look her up after that initial introduction. So, I went back and heard her two EP’s—both brilliant with great songs that currently flood my playlist—Kiddo (2017), and the incredibly titled Being Human in Public (2018). In an interview promoting the album, Eminem praised her and told Sway Jessie Reyez would blow up—a well-deserved and meaningful compliment from a global superstar. (Only Jessie can turn a commercial jingle, “No Sweat,” for a deodorant into a banger.) Her lyrics are raw, real, and resonate with you long after you’re done listening to her. In 2019, she released a strong debut album, BEFORE LOVE CAME TO KILL US. Eminem returned the favor and featured on the song “COFFIN.” The lyric in the titular song explains the album’s name: “‘Cause nobody gets outta love alive/ We either break up when we're young/ Or we say goodbye when we die.” Fuck. That line really got me and it comes back to me a lot because it’s true. She delivered a great performance on that album, recycling previous songs she’d released before; however, they were amazing songs that deserved to be on that album for anyone whose first introduction to the artist was her first full-length album. There are fourteen tracks and really only two songs I skip. I only wish she had released more videos but then COVID-19 hit and canceled everything; she was even supposed to tour with Billie Eilish. Unfortunately, the pandemic hindered her rise. (If you listen to her revealing song, “Gatekeeper,” on Kiddo you’ll learn another reason why her overall ascension wasn’t overnight.) No matter; she kept going, released more songs and visuals, was a part of THE Beyoncé’s The Lion King: The Gift (and absolutely bodied it), and released her sophomore album last month, the self-titled YESSIE. She explained in an interview with Billboard that the album title came more from her learning to say “No”: “I was originally thinking I was going to name the project Self, because I feel like I’ve made such an emphasis on self-discovering, self-healing. I’ve been way more selfish than I’ve ever been in my life.” In that same interview, she says she feels that YESSIE is more of her real first album because of the pandemic killing the launch of her debut. I would argue that she needs to give herself more props for her creation because she killed it with KILL US, offering an array of songs that displayed her artistry. Jessie had arrived.

Before YESSIE dropped, Jessie released two singles, the rage-filled “FRAUD,” where she calls out an ex for being a liar and committing that oh-so-modern transgression of sending DM’s while she’s asleep, and the cut-throat “MUTUAL FRIEND” where she matter-of-factly tells her ex: “If you died tomorrow/ I don't think I'd cry/ I gave you one too many nights/ Don't care if it sound cold, it is what it is.” She has said the song demonstrates growth because she’s telling her ex he should be grateful she didn’t hurt him back unlike her 2016 smash song “FIGURES” where she wishes she could hurt him back: she’s evolved so much she’s not even thinking of him anymore. I quickly became obsessed with the new songs—both of which received beautiful video treatments—and started counting down the days until her album release. On the records, her voice is electric, her energy magnetic, and her lyrics biting, so I was surprised she didn’t put “FRAUD” on the album, too; I thought it would’ve fit nicely before “MUTUAL FRIENDS.” Maybe she was committed to keeping the album short, which as of late, with our attention spans shrinking ever so quickly, is the move to make. There are eleven songs on YESSIE, with a total running length of thirty-six minutes; it’s an easy, fun album to listen to on repeat. The only featured artist is 6lack, which isn’t surprising after their incredible duet, “IMPORTED,” from her debut album, a collaboration that’s hard to top. They still sound really good together on their new song, “FOREVER,” and it’s just really cool to hear these two R&B artists’ voices on one track again. In an Instagram post, Jessie described YESSIE as being “About leaning into happiness. About assessing mistakes. About getting better,” so why would she need any other voice on the album?

Aside from “MUTUAL FRIENDS,” some of my other favorite songs are “TITO’S,” “ONLY ONE,” and “STILL C U.” Like her song “ANKLES,” which appears on KILL US where she boasts that her ex won’t find anyone who could measure up to her, claiming bitches can’t even make it to her ankles, Jessie knows her worth and croons on “ONLY ONE” that she’s the type to level up who she’s around. When she first dropped this song, maybe a day before YESSIE’s release, I didn’t really like it because the beat is different than what she normally does, but that’s what makes the song so good. After hearing it on the album, it’s one of the best songs. Not every song on YESSIE finds her spurning an ex-lover. “TITO’S” is another fun song to listen to where she intermingles Spanish lyrics and lets her confidence shine through. She knows she’s the focus of her admirer’s attention, warning him with the flirty line, “Cuidadito papi cuidadito/ Te enamoro con solo un besito.” She’ll make him hers with just a kiss. There’s yearning, anger, and sorrow on “STILL C U” as she deals with the aftermath of a breakup, getting over someone and healing while simultaneously unable to escape their grasp. She recorded live performances of this song and “ONLY ONE” for VEVO, which I really recommend watching. She also, finally (!), performed on Tiny Desk and that’s worth watching, too, as it’s a beautiful short arrangement of her new songs. She opens with the intro of the new album, “MOOD,” belting out “Los Caminos de la Vida,” the sample she uses for the song; it sounds beautiful on Tiny Desk. She told Angie Martinez she needed that sample to ground the song in her Colombian roots. YESSIE closes with “ADIÓS AMOR,” leaving unworthy lovers behind. She’s better off with her Self; she’s built a strong enough foundation.

Any new Jessie Reyez project excites me, just as her old music continues to move me. It’s thrilling to have this badass Latina making dope music, enjoyed by both men and women—that’s how cool she and her music is that it can appeal to anyone. She’s proud of her Colombian roots and usually always sings a full song in Spanish on all her projects. In a recent interview, she was asked how important it was for her to release albums versus singles. I was saddened by the question although I’ve heard it asked of artists before. It comes from the fact that our attention spans are so short and the idea we only want to hear songs for playlists. I was happy with her answer: she went into this second project making it an album and has no control over how people consume things; she’ll make the album and let whoever wants to take it that way take it. It makes me sad to think an artist might not create an album in favor of singles because I do think it’s still important to create full bodies of work. I love getting to know an artist by spending time with their creation and Jessie is the type of artist you want to invest in because she says things you’re thinking and only wish you can say out loud. She’s said before that she likes to sing about things she doesn’t like to talk about, which is I think the reason her introspective lyrics are so blunt and powerful. When speaking about investing an hour of her life in artists’ albums, she mentioned being able to do that for people like Kendrick Lamar and Beyoncé—I would add Jessie to my list. She makes really great music, and her voice is incredible and unforgettable. I recommend you stream all her projects; it’s worth the time. She’s the type of artist you want to hear full projects from. One of my favorite songs of hers is “Great One” off Kiddo because I find it so relatable. While she manifests on “Great One” about wanting to be a great one, I think she already is one. She’s a talented musician who has shown her range and I can’t wait to hear what else she blesses us with. I hope there are many, many more albums to come.