When you feel like an adult, and you meet someone, and you two become one, and you think that’s it. And my writing, I don’t think it got any substance until I went through my first real heartbreak, you know? After puberty. I was an awful singer when I was younger. You got a little bit of a blade there! Could be a harpoon if you give it some time.” You know? …But I was awful. My grade 7 teacher happened to see one of the notebooks that I filled up with letters, and she said “this is dope,” and went as far as to tell my parents, “I don’t know if you know, but your daughter is lit with the pen!” and I was like, “thank you!” And she was one of the first people in the schooling system that ever took the time to be like, “Maybe you should polish this. And then I got introduced to reggae at like or six or seven and I was like, that was just everything. Writing, I actually started with poetry, when I was younger. My dad plays guitar, and I grew up listening to cumbia and salsa and boleros. Watching that video and “Shutter Island,” “Gatekeeper,” I noticed that bluntness and honesty are the running themes in your music. We shot a bunch of shit, and it ended up on the cutting room floor. And then after we saw everything, the guys were like, “Jess, I think this is the shot,” and I was like “Fuck! Me breaking down, sick!” And that ended up being it. I think that was the first or second take of the day, and I was in the middle of my darkness, you know? We didn’t even know we were just gonna do it in one take. I really loved your EP, Kiddo, and the song that really strikes me is “Figures.” Obviously it’s deeply personal for you, but it’s also personal for the listener. Now, Reyez is headed out on tour with a handful of sold out dates in the US and Europe, and she’s featured on Calvin Harris’ new album, out June 30th. Just last night, she stunned us with a breathtaking performance of “Figures” at the BET Awards.
Since the release of her excellent debut LP Kiddo two months ago, Reyez has been focused on bringing her music and message to life. Last month she released Gatekeeper, a gut-wrenching short film about music industry sexism which resulted in a lot of buzz online, and when we meet, she’s just played Governor’s Ball, her first New York festival. She refers to her own blend of genres as “Quentin Tarantino.” Songs vary from dark hip hop/R&B arrangements to mellow electric guitar hooks, but what shines through is the rawness and purity of her voice and the brutal honesty in her lyrics. Her father plays guitar, and she felt a deep connection with reggae, which she was introduced to as a child. Jessie Reyez was born and raised in Toronto, the daughter of Colombian immigrants, and has been around music her entire life. Perhaps these qualities have something to do with her background.
“No one can interrupt your song,” she says about this dynamic. “I mean, they can pause the song, but you know what I mean.” But that spontaneous burst of energy remains mostly in service for her performances and recording–when we speak one on one, she’s focused and thoughtful about talking about her music. When she sings, she belts from the bottom of her stomach to the top of her throat, as if her voice could rip through her frame with its integrity and candor. “It ended up being a blessing.”Īs a live performer, she is even more striking and exudes an unbridled energy that’s buoyantly captivating. “The song was still so real to me that I couldn’t quite hold it together,” she tells me when we meet a few days after her performance at a New York festival.
#Jessie reyez kiddo album cover full
During her four-minute music video for “Figures,” Jessie Reyez smashes her guitar to the ground with full force before looking into the camera with an intensity that implies she can see into the darkest corners of your soul. For the 26-year-old singer from Toronto, emotional honesty is admirable if not easy–she’ll wreck shit and then delve into tear-jerking vulnerability, revealing different sides and complexities in emotion.
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