How to save a girl before the music industry swallows her up?
So, I have a problem. As you all know, I love Jools Holland more than a lot of things, and when Jessie J appeared on the show a few weeks ago, I was amazed. An Essex girl who has been signed for years, finally getting the recognition she deserves, something that you won’t doubt when you hear her voice.
However here’s the problem. The acoustic, stripped down version of ‘Price Tag’ was phenomenal when Jessie performed it on Jools, so it made me head straight to her YouTube channel to hear more of her stuff. What I found was her new single, ‘Do It Like A Dude’, which to be frank, hurt my ears until they nearly bled. This isn’t the girl from Jools Holland! Where’s the incredible, distinctive, girl with a voice like no other gone? ‘Do It Like A Dude’ completely undermines Jessie J and what she stands for in my opinion. Effects and stupid beats take over her powerful voice, and for those who would be hearing for the first time, I’m pretty sure they would think that this song is just another example of how bad the music is that the industry is churning out nowadays. This isn’t the girl who has uploaded home recordings of just her and a backing track in her bedroom onto YouTube.
Which is why I’m so glad that I found this acoustic version of ‘Do It Like A Dude’. All it took was Jessies’ amazing voice and a guitar to win me over again, and I just wish that she stuck to this kind of stuff; what she does best. I would upload the video of the non acoustic version, but quite frankly I hate it that much that I’m refusing to give it any airtime, so search it for yourself if you want the proof of this post!
For a girl who has written for Miley Cyrus and Alicia Keys, I think it’s time that Jessie J sticks it to the ‘dude’ who is hiding her real talents of singing, otherwise she’ll be a hit for a year, churning out hideous pop songs and only appealing to those who like to listen to songs out loud on their phones on the back of a bus.
If her record label is clever, they’d market Jessie J to everyone, just how XL have done with Adele. If you think about it, Adele is loved by a wide audience, from mums who listen to Heart through to those who listen to Zane Lowe and XFM. I’m not saying turn Jessie J into Adele, no way, but instead be cleverer than just appealing to the X factor audience.
What do you think? p.s listen from 2 mins onwards of the video for a voice that I promise you’ll find hard to hate.
Stay classy, Jaye xx
