FEATURE: To Watch in 2024: JGrrey — Music Musings & Such

FEATURE:

To Watch in 2024

PHOTO CREDIT: Leanda Heler

JGrrey

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I spotlighted her…

PHOTO CREDIT: Omar Khaleel

In 2020 but, as we are in a new year, and it has been four years since I last discussed her, it is high time I highlight the brilliant JGrrey. I am tipping her for big things this year. She is an amazing artist that everyone needs to follow. Real name Jennifer Clarke, this South London artist had a difficult start. It is clear that making music is the one thing that spoke to her. A true talent and direction. In 2019, in a year that saw her perform at Glastonbury, tour with Billie Eilish and release her debut EP, Grreydaze, there was clear direction and passion in the eyes of JGrrey:

“I grew up in around five or six different foster homes in south London. As a child, I was unsure a lot of the time, like I never knew what was going on. I remember being at a supermarket once and getting told off for walking away from everyone. I felt like I never knew the rules. I did what I wanted to do, and if someone told me off that’s how I’d learn I wasn’t supposed to do it.

‘When I met my adoptive parents, I assumed it was just another foster home, so I wasn’t that bothered. But I do remember thinking my dad was so big, the tallest thing I’d ever seen. During the first month of living there, I’d always ask for a drink or to go to the bathroom. My parents kept saying, “You don’t have to ask, this is where you live.” I slowly started to get it.

‘They lived in Edgware, and I remember on the way home with them I asked if that was London, because I didn’t want to get on a plane and go to a different country. I thought anything outside London was this whole other world; it’s always been a big part of who I am. We moved to Hertfordshire when I started secondary school, and the first thing I wanted to do was move back. Hertfordshire felt a lot more homogenous. I came from a school where my five best friends were Chinese, albino, black, Indian and white, and at my new school I was “the black girl”. My hair was weird, I was different, and that was strange for me. I didn’t know people were different, I thought people were people. I didn’t think about ethnicity or race, but when we moved to the countryside it was like, “Oh OK, that’s a thing here?”. Mum would always say, “People might be racist to you” and I was like, “Not me”. Now I’m 25, I understand that.

‘The only thing I know about my ethnicity is that my birth mother is Irish. Not knowing only fazes me if I really think about it or when I’m around people who are super connected to their heritage. My friend Caspar is half-Bajan, half-English. He can speak patois and has an amazing sense and understanding of both worlds. I have a lot of unanswered questions. My whole life is trial and error, but I think it makes me grow in different ways. I want to be at a comfortable place in my career and personal life. Right now, my focus is music.

‘When I was younger, there wasn’t one specific artist I was into, but I do remember listening to Adele’s album, 19, and thinking, “How are you singing like this?” “How are you writing like this?” “How are the melodies and the music so good?” I felt the same about Beyoncé. It’s her vocal runs; how the hell does her voice do that? I also started to fall in love with musicians like Amy Winehouse, Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu.

‘I made my first song when I was bored one day with nothing to do. Me and my boyfriend at the time recorded it and put it online. I didn’t think anything of it, but it got all these comments, and somehow [Roll Deep’s] Manga Saint Hilaire reached out and invited me to a studio session. I went, and was so nervous, but something clicked.

‘I always knew I could sing. I never thought I was particularly good, but I think what made me go back to music after that initial session was the fact that I knew I could do it better. Still to this day, I listen to my earlier songs and think, “Why didn’t I do that part differently?”

‘I’m figuring out a lot more about myself through my writing. I don’t overthink it, it’s straight off the cuff. That means when I look back at my lyrics, I realise I’ve subconsciously written all this stuff. I’m then like, “Oh, that’s a thing I said? That’s something I need to address.” It helps me understand myself a lot better. There’s a song called “Happiness Seems A Hell Of A Guy” from my new EP, which really allowed me to learn about my emotions and relate to them more directly.

‘I usually write when I’m sad, because it’s all I want to do, and it helps me make sense of my feelings. “Pretty Insane’’ is about mine and my mum’s mental health: “My mother doesn’t believe in everything she sees. Sorry, it’s quite sad, we’re both going mad.” I don’t really talk about how I feel, which is ironic because now it’s out there for everyone to hear. I’ve had so many messages from people saying, “This is exactly how I feel”, and that can only be a positive”.

I am going to move to an interview from last year. In October, JGrrey released her mixtape album, If Not Now? It is a magnificent work from one of our most distinct artists. I am going to move to that. I want to get some background and run-up first. Before getting to some current press and love, I want to get to an interview with Off the Block. The Neo-Soul artist was definitely capturing the media imagination. Someone who can write a song out of everything, I don’t think there is anyone in music quite like her:

“How would you describe your sound?

I would describe my sound as laid-back, almost lazy at times, just smoky. Sometimes it can be quite fun, songs like “Pretty Insane” are fun in the production and the way that I’m writing, but then I have songs like “Feelings” or even “Something” which are lazier and more down-tempo.

When you have interviews like this, do you find that journalists want to describe you as an RnB or hip-hop artist? Do you find this to be self-serving?

Yeah, just to make it easier for them. I don’t know what my genre is. For the past year I’ve been non-stop making music and I’m at a point now where I could make two albums with the amount of music I have. “Don’t Fade” is such a different song to “Feelings” or “Growing” or “Ready 2 Die”. I’ll make any music I wanna make. Genre to me is completely fluid, it shouldn’t exist.

Who do you get compared to in the music industry?

I get compared to Erykah Badu because a lot of my stuff is really soulful, and the structure is quite similar. Lily Allen as well, just because I sing in an English accent, which is probably the only thing that draws us together.

I’ve heard a lot of people compare you to Jorja Smith as well, does that bother you?

I don’t think it’s a case of being bothered by it – it’s Jorja Smith. I work really hard on my songs, and when I write them they’re coming from a place that I thought only I knew. So it’s frustrating when someone says ‘that sounds like a Jorja Smith song’ because me and Jorja are two very separate people with very separate lives and two very different sounds and experiences. A lot of the time I think that comparison comes from being lazy, and that we’re both women of colour who write love songs at certain beats per minute.

Do you find that people try to pit you against other female musicians?

I very rarely hear in an interview with, for instance, a male grime artist, being compared to another male grime artist. You wouldn’t do that, it’s almost disrespectful. But with women it’s; ‘you kinda sound like’ or ‘you’ve got a similar style to’ and a lot of the time people do it with the intention to compliment, but actually it can feel like now that’s my direct competition, because you’re essentially saying that we are making the same music. So it turns into: who’s making the same music better? I don’t think it’s done intentionally, but the music industry is a harsh place to be.

That harsh environment puts a lot of women, particularly women of colour, off from putting themselves out there creatively. Throughout school even, girls are brought up in a culture of competition where we compete for opportunities or men, or that it’s desirable to not be a ‘girl’s girl.’ What advice would you give to women who want to put themselves out there but are apprehensive about the misogynistic tendencies of the music industry?

Speaking from experience, I know I could give the best advice in the world but if you’re in a place where can’t or you won’t, or you don’t want to, it’s not going to help. I feel like everyone has a moment, and you can be reluctant because of those [misogynistic] reasons, but if you can see a door opening, or a moment that is just looking to be taken, take the moment, open the door and let people hear your voice. I’ve been in situations where I’ve held back, and I think now ‘why did I not take that moment?’ ‘why didn’t I release that track?’ But of course, it’s easier said than done.

Do you feel like your COLORS session was one of those moments for you?

I very nearly didn’t do COLORS. If I didn’t take that moment I would have been such an idiot! But I did, and I’m very thankful for it. COLORS came out like two years ago, and I’ve only just now found comfort in performing. It was the most gut-wrenchingly nervous thing I’ve ever done. It was horrifyingly scary for me and that’s why I nearly didn’t do it – it’s easier to just not feel those emotions.

PHOTO CREDIT: Omar Khaleel

What’s your creative process like?

The more I’m writing, the more I’m surprising myself with my process. It used to be, when I very first started, finding an instrumental, then finding a melody and fitting words into it; simple as that. Whereas now, the process behind a lot of the songs on my EP has been really strange. For instance, ‘God’s House’ was a poem I wrote and the last track off the EP (‘Something’) was a voice note and the weirdest process ever. Now, I’m just always looking for the next process and how I’m going to surprise myself.

What’s next for you?

Right now I’m in a mindset, but not necessarily a position, because that would sound arrogant, where I can go anywhere with my music right now. I think that’s a really nice mindset to be in because I’m not a naturally optimistic person. The feedback I’ve had from my EP, the music I’m sitting on right now, the people I’m surrounded with and [those] who support my music make me genuinely feel like I can do whatever I want to do with [it]. As long as I can help my parents the way they’ve helped me, and live a happy life while I carry on making music, that’s the goal”.

Let’s get to 2023. On a rainy day back in October, DAZED spent some time plant-shopping with JGrrey in London. It was a relaxed vibe where we got to know more about an incredible talent. Maybe still rising and coming through, I hope this year is one where we see more press from an extraordinary person. I have loved her music for years. If Not Now? might be the best thing that she has ever released:

“What type of music did you listen to growing up and how has it influenced your taste in music?

JGrrey: I listened to a lot of Beyoncé. My dad is a DJ, so he would often be spinning his sets during the day for events that would take place in the evening. It depended on whether he was doing mobile DJ gigs, parties, weddings, or bar mitzvahs – you name it.

I remember being really young and listening to my dad’s music. He unapologetically blasted a mix of songs, including tracks from artists like Amy [Winehouse], Beyoncé, Frank Sinatra, Kelis, and many others. It was such a diverse range of music. Back in his DJ days, he had to do a lot of research to discover new music.

Where was the starting point for your new EP?

JGrrey: I remember when I was writing, there was a lot of ‘song and dance’ in my tracks. Similar to like ‘Dream' or ‘Pretty Insane’, ‘There’s13’ was freestyle. I heard the track and just pressed record, the track itself is my first scratch. I really like keeping as many scratch vocals as I can. Even in ‘Dream’, or my latest single, ‘The Bottom Line’ if I do say so, is a good scratch vocal, and it doesn’t make any sense. The lyrics are absolute nonsense, but it feels good. I’ve seen people listen to that song, they’re singing along with meaning. I don’t know what it means, it’s open to interpretation.

How different have you found working on this project to your past projects?

JGrrey: Really hard because I care about it. I think the setup in which I was making music previously was a setup around men who worked in the music industry. Now I am around women working in the industry and I think that that’s completely changed my perspective because I’m aware, now more than ever, that I, as a woman of colour, a queer woman of colour, need to continue to release music for people like me. I don’t need to write a song for the pop charts. I don’t need to write a song that’s got a great chorus that might go. I need to write songs that other people like me can listen to, feel empowered by, feel uplifted, consoled, reassured and see themselves in.

The cast for your ‘Sick of Me’ music video was made up of entirely women of colour, what was the process behind that?

JGrrey: So it wasn’t just the cast; it was the whole set, the whole everybody from the beginning of production, storyboarding, behind the camera crew, cast, everyone. It was something that I was really active in trying to get, and I did it. I think there are only two men in the whole process of the music video, and it’s not that I’m trying to stop men from doing anything. It’s that I’m trying to make a point. It took me three days to find one woman in the industry. It was really just trying to uplift anyone other than men because the song isn’t about men. The song is for Black women and non-binary people. It is for trans people who I feel like the whole world is against them at the moment with regard to the headlines and the things politicians are saying about their existence.

PHOTO CREDIT: Habi Diallo

When you did finally find all the people to shoot, how was it on set? What was the energy like?

JGrrey: Everyone was just saying, wow, what a difference it can make when the whole room is a community and uplifting one another safely. No one feels like they are a target, no one feels worried, and everyone understands that we are a community of respect. The energy in the room was so validating. All of these people came together just because I thought I was gonna do it and we did it. It was a beautiful thing – very validating.

What do you hope people take away from listening to this project?

JGrrey: I hope they listen to it and remember that everybody is so multifaceted. You know, even you and me sitting here now, I’m showing you one side of myself, you’re showing me one side of yourself. Hopefully, this project will remind people when they listen to it that they are not just one thing, they are everything. You can be whoever you want to be. You want to try anything you want to do. If it brings you joy and doesn’t harm other people, pursue your interests. There’s nothing you can’t do”.

PHOTO CREDIT: Habi Diallo

I shall finish off back at the mixtape. It is a wonderful work that you need to listen to. I feel that this year will be a very busy one for JGrrey. New Wave Mave Magazine got some details about a project from one of the U.K.’s finest young voices. An artist who will have massive worldwide acclaim very soon:

“If Not Now?” is a potent question that we all should ask ourselves, and apply when we have the moments hesitant before deciding whether we should do something or not.

For JGrrey, it’s holding herself accountable on whether there is something that exists called perfect timing and a question that holds itself in the air.

It is also, the title of her new mixtape and the signal of return since her last releases four years ago in an attempt to find the most daring and freeing expression through her limitations to voice what she couldn’t before.

Composed of 8 tracks, the Londoner distils thoughts and feelings with elegant transparency as her distinct, timeless and soulful tone takes you on an impressionistic venture.

The Beginning of the track opens up with the entrancing ‘When?', where JGrrey muses during the aftermath of a personal relationship ending, there is a fondness in her soulful vocals that is endearing but she cannot help but revisit the bad.

Each of the other tracks is unique and individual, on the shortest offering on the project, you can hear the raw live recording of the instruments on ‘Theirs13’ as they improvise on the track.

‘Superfly’ leans into the realm of neo-soul with blue feels and a carefree attitude; ‘Sick Of Me’ is a seductive ego-driven tinged offering and ‘Boys?’ is a typical British nostalgic-sounding track from the early rock 2000s, that taps into her justifiable anger at the action of boys.

There are also barely any features on the mixtape you can only find Brooklyn rapper Zombie Juice and Mercury-nominated Kojey Radical on the project. The latter features on the ‘May’, whilst the Brooklyn native makes an apparency on the jazz-influenced ‘Drream’.

Produced by Grammy-nominated producer Maths Time Joy, we close with the mournful ‘Marble Flaws’ as she likens her relationship to the dying summer, abandoning the pulsating jazz feel, you are kept in time by a gentle guitar and percussion drums and lulled to comfort by the Londoner’s uncharacteristic soft tone.

The music video is also self-directed and shot in Metropolis, featuring JGrrey getting talked down to by a boardroom official. The overall message of the video, however, is of fair inclusion and shows JGrrey choosing to live authentically.

Speaking on the project JGrrey says “I would like to think that my music does what it says on the tin, when I call a project if not now… then that's why I've released it, because I had to, because why not, because I can. I wasted a lot of time, so did you, we all did… and I’ve decided to start making my art unapologetic and without reason, because I can.

I’ve doubted myself for years, then the whole worrld closed and I tried my best to be as close to who I wanted to actually be as possible, an ode to myself, I made some huge changes, everything, I changed everything, I finally listened to what my soul/gut was trying to say.

My partner would ask me why I’d often set my self proclaimed ‘best work’ to one side and wait for the right time to release it? I moved into club36, she saved me.

A sacred place with sacred souls, people I’ve known such a brief time but found home in, we cried, we laughed, we questioned one another and had discussions about everything and anything.

My housemate Frraser would often look at me when I’d doubt myself, or question a big decision, assertively she’d say girl, if not now? And even though it was probably rhetorical, I knew the answer, when? And so if not now is just some prices of art, some things I had to say, and feel, for Uu”.

Someone I feel is going to ascend to new heights this year, we are going to hear a lot more from JGrrey. Such a magnificent talent whose voice and writing takes you somewhere special. She has that power and allure that melts together to create this heady brew. A musical cocktail that is both sweet and smoky, everyone needs this artist in their life. Go and check out JGrrey. Listen back to her older work, but do go and take a moment to listen to If Not Now? A brilliant mixtape from a staggering artist. One that is going to enjoy big success…