It’s the most eagerly awaited solo single by a former girl band member since (then) Geri Halliwell’s Look At Me back in 1999.
Less than a year since quitting Little Mix, Jesy Nelson’s brand new solo single Boyz is released today (Friday 8 October), and it is dripping in attitude.
Nicki Minaj is on guest vocal duties and P. Diddy has a scene stealing cameo in the video as a disgruntled neighbour. But the Diddy influence doesn’t stop there.
The song is based around a sample from P Diddy’s 2001 track Bad Boy 4 Life.
Jesy has said that a “particularly painful break-up” left her wondering “‘Why do I like bad boys, what is wrong with me? Why am I attracted to anyone that looks naughty?'”
She contacted production duo Loose Change – responsible for Little Mix’s platinum hit single Touch – and pitched to them.
“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 saying.
“And they were like, ‘Let’s do it’.”
The video also pays homage to Diddy’s track, with Jesy and her crew moving into a pristine, conservative suburban street and turning her dull neighbours into party people.
Diddy is seen going over to Jesy’s house in the video and complaining about the golf ball that she hit through his window, as she turns the suburban street upside down.
There had been speculation that the controversy over Nicki Minaj’s recent vaccine comments could affect the single’s release. But it’s now been reported that the video was delayed so that P. Diddy could appear.
Jesy knows the track will prove to be divisive, telling Noxis III magazine: “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…'”
Yet it’s clear that she’s proud of her hard work and excited about this new chapter. “This single is amazing,” she told Glamour recently. “I’m so excited for everyone to hear it. It’s ballsy, it’s honest and it’s me all over.”
In her first interview since leaving Little Mix, Jesy said that the constant comparisons to her bandmates had prompted her decision to quit.
“I was bigger than the other three, and there’s never really been that in a girl group,” she told Cosmopolitan. “I was classed as the obese, fat one.”
Looking back, she said: “I can’t believe how miserable I was.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
