Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Jessie J's 'Who's Laughing Now' video is kind of great - watch now!

"Is there something on my face?"
At first we didn't like Jessie J, because she put out 'Do It Like A Dude' and we were worried that "the industry" was returning to that horrible time in the 90's when R&B was all shouty and tuneless, but this time with autotune so it'd be 10x as horrible.  Then we liked Jessie J but worried that no one else would, because she's kind of quirky and the FEMALE POP DIVA GREEN ROOM is a bit crowded at the moment.  Then 'Price Tag' was a hit and we worried a little bit less.

Now we love Jessie J and SO DOES EVERYONE ELSE, and with good reason.  She is amazing.  And as it happens, so is her new song. 

It's kind of a Pink-meets-Lily Allen thing, about BULLYING and how bad it is to be BULLIED.  Which means she's a bit late to the party - Gaga, Katy Perry, Ke$ha and the aforementioned Pink have all trod that ground recently - but this track is a lot more on the nose about the subject than any of those were.  It's less "you're awesome just the way you are" and more "DON'T BE A DICK TO PEOPLE," and though it isn't strictly autobiographical, Jessie herself was victim of some hella harshness after her skin turned green (!!) from some heart pills as a kid.  About the incident Jess said, "(k)ids at school nicknamed me Alien and they threw rocks at me."  Rocks?  Seriously?  Those kids are hardcore.  Well at least she grew up to be pretty great and they're probably restocking the Tesco adult diaper aisle.

The video is pretty great too, following a young fictional Jessie through a day at school, during which attractive blond children call her names and make her feel bad about herself even though 8-year-old Miss J looks FIERCE.  These kids have clearly never seen a NYLON magazine because Jess is totally bang on trend right now - these children should be asking her for tips on where to buy vintage broaches, not flicking boogers at her.

It's a great tune and a great video and everyone should watch it and make it a hit.  Because bullying is bad and Jessie J is good, and...well, that's all really.