Crashing the ‘Gate’
Artist’s song & video exposes industry’s endemic sexism
FIVE years ago, Jessie Reyez was just another young, hungry wannabe singer and songwriter, living in Miami, when she finally got a chance to impress the right people. While at a party filled with industry folks, she instantly turned heads with an a cappella demonstration of her raw, soulful voice. For a moment, Reyez, barely 20 years old at the time, thought she had scored a big break. But as she got into a car with a well-known producer who had taken a shine to her talent, Reyez found that it wasn’t just her voice he was interested in.
The producer hopped into the back seat with her, while another industry guy drove. The producer tried to touch Reyes and coerce her into sex, and when she rebuffed his advances, he flew into a drunken rage.
“Does this bitch know who the f- - k I am? We’re the gatekeepers,” he screamed at Reyez. “You’re not using your p - - - y, you’re not serious about your f - - king dreams.”
It’s a scene that Reyez, now 25, brings to life in her tense new R&B track “Gatekeeper,” from her first major release, an EP titled “Kiddo.” The entire incident is also portrayed in a 12-minute short film that accompanies the song. She never names the producer but hints that he is struggling to stay relevant.
“I hope he knows ‘Gatekeeper’ is about him, but that’s wishful thinking,” Reyez, who plays the Mercury Lounge on Thursday, tells The Post. “I was probably one of many girls he tried that with.”
Although Reyez admits that she thought about caving in to his demands to further her career, she credits her Catholic faith for helping her stay on the straight and narrow. The incident initially left her wondering whether she really wanted to pursue a career in the music biz, but Reyez, who was born in and is now based in Toronto, used it in her quest for musical recognition.
It’s working. Currently, she is one of the music world’s hottest new talents. Her previous singles, “Figures” and “Shutter Island,” have amassed more than 15 million streams, and she’ll make her late-night TV debut later this summer.
And last month’s arrival of the “Gatekeeper” short couldn’t have come at a more prescient time. It was released online just days before Epic Records CEO and industry heavyweight LA Reid was ousted from the company over claims of sexual harassment.
“It’s wild because it’s unrelated,” says Reyez. “But you can make a song in one place in the world, [and] it can resonate with someone else somewhere completely different.”
Reyez has received many messages from other women who say they’ve been in similar situations — a fact that she says speaks to the music industry’s endemic sexism. “More often than not, there are people watching this happen,” she says. “Social pressure from other people who say this [behavior] is unacceptable is necessary when this happens.”
“Gatekeeper” has a long way to go before it makes a mainstream splash, but it’s already sparking a small change in attitude.
“I expected this song and video to resonate with women who’ve been through the same thing, but a few times, some men said, ‘This made me conscious to not be a dog and made me not want to behave that way.’ I think that’s almost as important.”