Jesy Nelson releases ‘Boyz’ collaboration with Nicki Minaj

Jesy Nelson launched her solo career with her debut single ‘Boyz’, featuring Nicki Minaj, released today on 8th October 2021. The single marks the singer’s return to the music industry after departing from the girl group Little Mix last year, stating it was due to the “toll on my mental health.” The highly anticipated collaboration which contains samples from 2001’s ‘Bad Boy 4 Life’ song, was first announced on 28th September 2021 with a teaser clip of the behind-the-scenes filming for the ‘Boyz’ music video, an updated version of P. Diddy’s 2001 ‘Bad Boy 4 Life’ music video, which has a cameo of Bad Boys inc. founder P. Diddy himself.

Since leaving the girl group Little Mix last year in December, Jesy Nelson stated that she feels “in control” of her life now, and previously, she found “the constant pressure of being in a girl group and living up to expectations very hard.” During her time with Little Mix, Jesy Nelson revealed that she used to compare herself and her body to her group members Perrie Edwards, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, and Jade Thirlwall, though after leaving the group for the benefit of her mental health, the singer mentioned how she still has her insecurities, but to a lesser extent. She said, “I’ll never sit and lie and be like ‘Oh, I’m so happy now, I don’t have any insecurities!’ as that’s an absolute lie. I still have my insecurities, I still have my struggles.”

When talking about improvements that she has made with her confidence, she said, “I guess the thing that I’m better with now is that I see little things now when I do a music video, I’m not looking on the camera and thinking, ‘Oh my god, I don’t look as skinny as Jade, Leigh-Anne and Perrie’.”

She signed a record deal with Universal’s Polydor back in May and has been working hard on her solo debut since then, feeling that even though she filmed many music videos before within the girl group Little Mix, “for the first time ever” she “absolutely loved it” and thought that this was the feeling she should have experienced from the beginning.

Although highly anticipated, upon it dropping ‘Boyz’ has been received with mixed reviews. Her collaboration with Nicki Minaj, and having the ‘Bad Boy 4 Life’ song sample in the single, which is accompanied by an updated version of P. Diddy’s ‘Bad Boy 4 Life’ music video where Jesy appears to look racially ambiguous with a complexion that near matches Nicki Minaj’s, has raised a lot of eyebrows. This has brought about the discussion of white privileged individuals modifying their looks to appear more racially ambiguous so as to have black features without “blackfishing.” This further emphasises the awareness many have on the advantages colourism gives women with a lighter completion over their darker counterparts; furthermore the lyrics of the song has Jesy is talking about wanting “hood” guys yet has not been witnessed dating anyone that is “hood” has fans and listeners question her motives for the video and lyrics which for the most part screams cultural appropriation. Jesy is yet to respond to the mixed reviews, but in the meantime you can watch both music videos linked down below!