Hellooooo… Everybully!
And 
to Songs on Saturday!
Think I wanna move to London!
Lily Allen
And now, Jessie J!
Jessie J’s been all over the airwaves lately, performing her hit Price Tag on SNL and then last week on Ellen.
She’s young. She’s beautiful. She’s British! And she’s got somethin’ to say! Hey, Hey look it’s Jessie J!
I must confess, I never heard of Jessie J before her SNL appearance. Her spirited performance made me sit up and pay attention and do something I rarely do these days– Download the CD Who You Are on iTunes.
Already a prolific songwriter and accomplished professional performer back in her native UK, Jessie J, (born Jessica Cornish, March 27, 1988) got her first taste of success when she co-wrote a tune that managed to chart #2 in the US for, of all People, Miley Cyrus, a tune called Party In The USA. That definitely explains why I never heard of Jessie J until now.
Price Tag works fur me on one very significant level. I agree with her expressions about the thin social content and crass materialism that predominate in today’s “music.”
We need to take it back in time,
When music made us all UNITE!
And it wasn’t low blows and video Hoes,
Am I the only one gettin… tired?
No, Jessie. No, you’re not. It’s validating and a comfort to know there may be others who are equally as bored, disinterested and indifferent regarding the ever recycled subjects of who’s got bling, who’s drivin’, drinkin’, doin’ who, wearin’ what, or kickin’ to the curb whom as I am.
I’d like to believe the tune’s success is, in part, because of this comment on what’s passing in pop and hip hop circles as heady social commentary and not just because it’s an infectious, fun and catchy pop tune full of little asides both lyrically and instrumentally that direct the listener to certain ones she may have gotten tired of or is paying homage to? Maybe?
Everybody look to their left (yeah)
Everybody look to their right (ha)
Did anybully else besides me hear a faint, distant allusion to Irreplaceable by Beyonce? Instrumentally, the bright, effervescent, bubble gum pop liveliness of the tune reminds me of the Black Eyed Peas‘ Where Is The Love? Listen to them side by side. See what I mean.
The wonderful overlapping harmonies of the background vocals and the choice to end the tune as she does sounds suspiciously like Alicia Keys’ No One. All that’s missing here are John Mayer, an acoustic guitar and some violins!
Of course the rap contribution of B o B , while great as rap interludes go, sounds a lot like most any rap interlude interjected into just about any pop tune these days but I did get a bit of the Jay Z noise from New York or maybe some T.I. from Justin Timberlake‘s My Love.
Is Jessie J tired of JT? At least he hasn’t over exposed himself or put out a whole lotta crap like Usher. But if she is indeed subliminally referencing all the above, then I wholeheartedly agree 100 percent! At any rate, no harm can come of a little conjecture, right?
Maybe songs about “the rocks that I got” were fresh and perhaps even interesting the first 1000 times they cycled through the airwaves and on TV but now they’ve pretty much reached a saturation point. Fur me, they were always silly, repetitive and just plain boring. So what? Who cares?
What’s exciting with this young new artist is the chance to get in on the ground floor of a burgeoning career and participate in its trajectory. With a pop genre vocal style similar to P!nk, Ms J’s voice is a pleasure to listen to, particularly when she actually uses it to interpret a lyric rather than auto tune it up fur the dance floor.
You may appreciate why some have compared her vocal style with Gwen Stefani (Nobody’s Perfect, Abracadabra) and Beyonce (Big White Room, Casualty of Love). Ms J explains why her freshman release, Who You Are, may lack the editorial heft, life experience and strength of material of her more formidable peers namely Adele and Amy Winehouse:
“I feel like my album is an example of what exists in the world of music right now. It’s like my album is an iPod… it’s like when you go clubbing these days, you don’t have a pop room and a separate R&B room, they’re all together. People just appreciate great music…”
Well all righty then. At any rate, this effort is a joyful, lighthearted, cotton candied collection of mostly pop and dance tunes that appear geared to showcase Ms J’s considerable vocal dexterity.
If you’re looking for lush production values you will be disappointed. At least for now. No doubt, lots of big names are already now crouching at her door fur a chance to be a featured “artist” or produce her next offering. I see an overblown production on the horizon. Still, I’m looking forward to Miss J’s sophomore release.
Price Tag. It’s fun. It’s a pop tune. It’s a fun pop tune! So just sit back and enjoy! And dance!
Goodwill Energies I project
Upon each and every one of you
Each and every day!
Everybody look to their left (yeah)
Everybody look to their right (ha)
Can you feel that (yeah)
We’re paying with love tonightIt’s not about the money, money, money
We don’t need your money, money, money
We just wanna make the world dance,
Forget about the Price TagAin’t about the (uh) Cha-Ching Cha-Ching.
Aint about the (yeah) Ba-Bling Ba-Bling
Wanna make the world dance,
Forget about the Price Tag.
“And there came to be evening and there came to be morning…”
That’s life today!
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ThatOne | EBD 