Jesy Nelson samples P Diddy on her first single since leaving Little Mix
Former Little Mix star Jesy Nelson has released her first solo single, Boyz, less than a year after quitting the record-breaking girl group.
Street-smart and dripping in attitude, the song is based around a hefty sample from P Diddy’s Bad Boy For Life.
The release was reportedly delayed for several weeks so the hip-hop star could appear in the music video.
Nelson has previously described the song as an “in your face” club anthem that could divide fans’ opinion.
“You’re either going to love it or you’re going to hate it and I would rather that than people be like, ‘ Meh, okay…’”, she told Noctis XXI Magazine.
In reality, it’s not a million miles away from Little Mix’s more strident R&B songs - think Power, Salute or Wasabi.
Nelson’s trademark vibrato and butter-smooth harmonies are instantly recognisable, although her accent falls awkwardly between Texas, Jamaica and her home town of Romford. Lyrically, the song was inspired by a “particularly painful break- up” that left the 30-year-old wondering: “’Why do I like bad boys, what is wrong with me? Why am I attracted to anyone that looks naughty?’”
Inspired, she contacted production duo Loose
Change - who were behind Little Mix’s platinum hit single
Touch - and pitched them her idea.
“You’ll think I’m a nutter but I really want to write a song about why most women like bad boys and I want to use the Diddy song,” she recalled telling them.
“And they were like, do it’.”
The track sees Nelson declaring: “I like the tattoos and them gold teeth / Tough to make me feel like I’m a baddie,” backed up by US rapper Nicki Minaj (who also makes an ill-advised attempt at a trans-Atlantic accent).
On first listen, it’s a little chaotic - but once you get used to the contours of the song, it lodges in your brain.
In the pantheon of former- girl-band-solo-singles, it’s up there with Cheryl’s Fight For This Love or Mutya’s Real Girl, without reaching the heights of Beyonce’s Crazy In Love or the lows of Victoria Beckham’s Not Such An Innocent Girl.
It’s a confident, if imperfect, start to Nelson’s solo career. Diddy also makes his promised cameo in the glossy, high-production video.
The hip-hop mogul plays Nelson’s neighbour, who complains after she smashes golf balls into his property.
“Hey Jeezy, Little Mix, whatever y’all calling yourselves these days, check it out. I live next door - the golf balls through the window? They’re not going to work,” he says.-BBC ‘Let’s