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Jessie J has only been on the public’s radar for a matter of months but she’s made quite an impact. With key accolades under her bling bling belt (BBC Sound of 2011, BRIT awards Critic’s choice award) she’s on the right track – but just who is Jessie J? And what sort of a pop star does she want to be?
Her debut album is the first step to answering that question and quite frankly it’s as confusing as her supposed sexuality. ‘Who You Are’ is a messy affair – a mish-mash of styles (perhaps deliberately) with the aim of establishing what her niche is in cold, hard sales.
Is she the new Lily Allen (Rainbow)? Is she another Katy Perry in the making (Abracadabra)? Does she want to knock Christina Aguilera off her perch (Mamma knows best)? Hell, does she want to be a member of Eternal (Casualty of Love)?
In truth it’s when Jessie mimics some of her illustrious peers that she sounds at her best. ‘Rainbow’ is a zingy little pop track which bounces off the walls. ‘Price Tag’ is the mega-selling single the album needs. Even ‘Abracadabra’ is perky – despite the obvious comparison with Katy Perry’s ‘Teenage Dream’.
Sadly a lot of the album drifts by without a raised eyebrow. ‘Nobody’s Perfect’ and ‘Casualty of Love’ are depressingly mundane offerings. ‘Do it like a Dude’ has plenty of balls but lyrics written by a six year old.
‘Who’s laughing now’ does manage to raise an eyebrow but only for its spoilt “screw you doubters” outlook, which doesn’t reflect well on Jessie’s likeability. Indeed her attempts to convince us she is ‘ghetto’ are about as convincing as Jennifer Lopez’s were.
All of which makes for a personality crisis of an album caught in a mix of styles. You can’t help but feel for the girl – this has big label influence written all over it. Let’s hope she has enough success to do it on her terms next time.
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- Very bad review dude. You have hater written all over you. Since when did music become one genre per artist. She does multiple genre's. She's written songs for Alicia Keyes, Justin Timberlake, Miley Cyrus, etc. Why didn't you mention "Who You Are" the song? That's the best song on the album. And you just repeat yourself "lyrics written by a six year old". I am 100% sure if Jessie J did follow through on selling "Do It Like A Dude" to Rihanna, you
- Terrible review
- yeah, this is bad journalism at its finest. If you did some research, you'd understand why her songs sound like all her peers, cuz she's been writting the songs her peers have been singing...
That's how artists make there way nowadays, artists like The-Dream, Lady Gaga, Sean Garret, ect... were writting everyone else's songs for awhile before obtaining their own success as artists. Bonnie Mckee is the next one to watch out for.
- Thanks for feedback everybody (albeit negative). First point to make is I'm actually a fan of Jessie J. I even had a copy of her debut debut album before her old label went bust. Im well aware of her health issues and song writing attributes. But I am judging the album not the person or past. It's a clutter of styles which is fine if effective. But to me this album wasn't inspired and somewhat compromised. The lyrics in particular are basic I felt. Just my personal view
- The only thing to make me shudder about this review is the reviewers need to justify it. Fair play for saying what you think and what countless others think about the album but why defend your work to 3 comments? Looks bad
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