It feels like the release of a new Jessie J single, last week, got very little attention. There was just too much music news going on to keep everybody busy, but I also think that something else is going on surrounding her new song, “Real Deal”.
I actually wasn’t really sure if I had found an official audio track of her new song on YouTube. It just sounded like the quality was a bit off somehow, but now, I think that actually is the whole point. Jessie has always flirted with various genres, but most of her influences can be traced to r&b music. In “Real Deal”, she’s taking it one step further and making her way into a hip hop attempt, on her own. In the past, she’s done a few hip hop ventures with rappers.
To be honest, I don’t really know what I think of “Real Deal” yet. There’s just something about it that doesn’t work. I just find it to be a bit of a weak track especially considering the fact that this is her first real single in 5 years. At the same time, it’s got a few bits that I actually like.
Some parts of the verses remind me of Christina Aguilera in her Stripped album period, where she also was brushing shoulders with hip hop. Altogether the Jessie track throws me back to the 90s hip hop / rnb sound with an additional attempt to throw in some old classic soul.
I like the vocals on the song, but you can’t really miss with such a talent like Jessie J. She can make “Happy Birthday” sound like a great r&b song, especially when she can also add background vocals. You can’t deny, though, that even her vocals are used differently on this new song and somehow, that just makes it lack the usual power house Jesse J vocal style.
Jessie has admitted that the song has gotten a somewhat soft release, because it’s not officially part of something. She’s evasive about it being part of an upcoming album. In fact, she says she has no idea as she’s “just writing”, which I find interesting. Usually artists have no idea about these things, when there’s uncertainty about a label’s involvement (which would also explain a soft release; a release without too much of a push), but that’s just me making up my own real deal.
