Jessica Mauboy has experienced a slightly uneasy return to the Australian pop psyche since coming home from the United States armed with a bagful of slick R&B/pop songs for her latest album. Though the Aussie public lapped up the LP’s second single ‘Saturday Night’, they seemingly weren’t quite so enamoured with its predecessor – the album’s title track ‘Get ‘Em Girls’.
Now onto single No.3, we plonked on the couch with Jess and talked designer footwear, a forthcoming repackage of her latest album and being chained to a chair. But we kicked off by asking her why she thought the lead single just didn’t connect with her normally adoring public.
“It wasn’t meant to be ‘the one’ that would change everything,” she admits. “There was just a little part of me that wanted to show what I could do. It’s a style of music that I’ve fallen in love with. I hoped it would have done a bit better. It was unexpected, but I think I’ve put myself in that position where anything can happen and I’ll just go with the flow. So when I was writing the album, that’s where my headspace was.”
However, despite the single limping into the Aussie top 20 (it peaked at a disappointing No.19), Jess remains full of praise for her co-star on the track – Snoop Dogg.
“He is a real gentleman,” she says. “He lives such a crazy life… but he was really cool. He loves the song. I just remember him saying ‘we’re gonna make this number one’. I’m sure he was on something.” She laughs.
“I know I was excited inside, but I felt that it was an honour working with him. I was just enjoying the ride. I guess I got to see him with his people and how he worked. I thank him for wanting to be a part of my music and my album.”
Jess’s follow-up single was the Ludacris-featuring ‘Saturday Night’. Though not a No.1 hit, the single made it into the top ten and has gone on to clock double platinum sales, making it her most commercially successful single since her debut ‘Running Back’. She reveals a sense of relief that it succeeded where its predecessor had failed.
“I tried to forget everything that had happened with ‘Get Em Girls’,” she concedes. “And I think that ‘Saturday Night’ was THE single. It didn’t explode, but it happened gradually. I’m very proud of it and I’m really glad that we got it up to that level.
“It was that ‘getting ready’ kind of song. Your anthem song when you’re about to go out and you’re just screaming to get out the door. I really wanted that type of song for the album.”
We ask cheekily, given that Jess had name-checked Malaysian shoe designer Jimmy Choo in the lyrics for her last two singles, whether or not the brand had come to the party with any little freebies.
“They have not. But I must say I am a fan of Jimmy Choo shoes,” she smirks wryly. “But I wasn’t looking for anything like that. I wanted things to be a little bit tongue in cheek. I thought that would be really fun. Just to kind of give it a little added flavour.”
That’s not to say Jess has her eye solely on one designer brand of footwear. Oh no. She’s also got her eye on a pair or two from Prada.
“They are very beautiful,” she says. “We did a photo shoot in L.A. for a few days. I saw Prada heels and asked for them for the shoot. We didn’t end up getting them in the photo shoot, but I ended up buying them and taking them home.”
The latest single to be lifted from ‘Get ‘Em Girls’ is one of our personal favourites – the Jay Sean duet ‘What Happened To Us’. And it soon becomes apparent that the track holds a special place in Jess’s heart too.
“It’s definitely one of my favourites. I shouldn’t say that I have favourites, but this was a special song – and one that I really contributed to, along with Billy Steinberg who wrote ‘Like A Virgin’ for Madonna among many other famous hits.” (Billy also co-penned ‘Eternal Flame’ for The Bangles, ‘So Emotional’ for Whitney Houston, ‘I Touch Myself’ for The Divinlys and ‘True Colours’ for Cyndi Lauper among many many others.).
“He just had this beautiful melodious bed track. We just started working on it and he just lyrically stunned me. I didn’t know what to say,” Jess says. “After we finished the track, I remember asking to listen to it back a few times because I was loving it. I loved the strength of it, but I asked (Jess adopts a sheepish voice) ‘Billy… What do you think about someone else being on the track? I really believe that we should get someone really special to duet on the track.’
“I remember saying, ‘Billy, how would I get Jay Sean on this track?’ He replied with a ‘meh – we’ll get something happening.’
“So I was on my way back home to Australia and I got an email with ‘What Happened To Us’ attached to it. I was listening back to it and I went insane as the second verse came in. I yelled “NO YOU DIDN’T!!?’.” She then bubbles over with laughter in her chair.
‘What Happened To Us’ also seems to be finding favour at local radio and retail, with the song moving up into the iTunes top 20 last week. This release is also coupled with a (very limited edition) signed physical CD single. And Jessica is quick to point out that yes, she’s hand-signed them all.
“Every one of them. They tied me up, they chained me to the chair and they told me I wasn’t going anywhere before I signed all of them,” she says, very tongue in cheek. “Not until the last one. Sometimes that can get really tiring. By the end of it it was all kind of ‘JM’. No squiggles or ‘Jessicas’. No I’m kidding. I really did sign every single copy and I think it’s a beautiful thing. Most of my fans want to get their hands on something that’s more exciting than just a digital track.”
And it delights us to find out that the physical version of ‘What Happened To Us’ is not just one of those dreaded one-trackers either.
“The physical single has the two remixes of ‘What Happened To Us’ on the b-side. The remixes really amazed me. I was curious to find out what they’d do to the track in remix form. I’m really thrilled with the way they’ve turned out,” she says.
Late next month, Jessica joins the Chris Brown tour in the role of support act and she’s brimming with excitement at the prospect of taking her live performance up another notch.
“Going back to the Beyonce tour, I just performed to track with two dancers, so this is going to be something completely different,” she says. “I’ve been working with a live band, so we’re going to rock it out. We’re going to put some electric and percussion in there and take it to another level.”
She also tells us to expect the Justice Crew boys to drop by.
“Yeah, the Justice Crew boys are there too. That’s going to be interesting because every time I do a gig with them, we always seem to do a collaboration. You never know. Perhaps they may come out randomly and do their thing on one or two songs.
“But with a whole tour, it’s usually a case of towing the line with what the big act’s team is after. We could be on the third song and they could want us off the stage. We’re just preparing for the worst. I just remember doing the Beyonce tour and her guys asking us to cut it because they were running out of time.”
Jessica also says that plans are already well advanced for the “what comes next” phase following on from the current single, saying her fans can expect much more to come from the ‘Get ‘Em Girls’ project.
“We’re trying to take the album straight through to Christmas,” she says, hinting at more. “We might even be doing a re-package, which is really cool. All new photos. This might happen next week – I don’t know. I guess it really depends. But before Christmas would be lovely.
“I’ve also been in the studio again. I’ve had some of the previous producers I’ve worked with send me some new stuff and I’ve just been working on it. Putting my thing on it.”
Despite all the naysaying about the performance of Jessica’s latest project, ‘Get ‘Em Girls’ the album has already achieved a gold sales status and has charted inside the top ten – higher than her debut album ‘Been Waiting’ which, after countless singles and a repackage, went on to achieve double platinum sales.
“It’s interesting, because the more people hear, the more they end up getting curious about the album,” Jess says. “I’m so excited. This is the part where we can really ramp it up.”
Jessica’s latest single ‘What Happened To Us’ (featuring Jay Sean) is available digitally now.
The limited edition signed physical single is available from her official website (link below) until Thursday March 24, 2011.
Jessica’s album ‘Get ‘Em Girls’ is available digitally and physically now.
Catch Jessica on tour with Chris Brown nationally throughout late April and early May.
www.jessicamauboy.com.au
Gary Wood, Wiradjuri Boy says
reading this, it doesn’t appear she has actually said that she wrote it.. she just said it looks fun.. I love the album yes, but it is disappointing and it isn’t doing as well as Id hoped… Id hoped for a different album to start with… I’m all for other Aboriginal ppl out there doing their best (sister, I am so proud of you for putting us out there and showing you what we can do) but I do wish that she (or her label) wasn’t relying on everybody else (snoop, luda, JS) to make her famous.. FYI Like This is by far the best track on there and Iyaz adds to it not takes away from it… It’s her sophomore album and it’s not so great.. let her make mistakes and then she’ll come out shining… xx
Anonymous says
I agree with Anonymous about her lying about writing the songs. The ones she does have credit for the writer just gave her 10% just to get it on the album.
ba_young says
“Best in the business”??? Come on, get real. She is a manufactured…. no, they are TRYING to manufacture her into the next big thing. It’s not working. She looks so unnatural and uncomfortable on stage, I sometimes feel sorry for her. As for the negative comments, she brings a lot of them onto herself. She is a lying little try-hard.
ba_young says
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous says
Come on “Why So Many Duets”, its hardly fair to bring in Guy Sebastian. 6 albums and he has only released two duets, Art Of Love and Who’s That Girl. Both actually written by him as well.And he wrote both of them, and both were shortlisted by APRA for Song Of The Year. Thats quality and talent. Yes is nowhere near his class.
Anonymous says
To all the ppl leaving negative comments………..Shame, shame, shame……..she is doing it and WINNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So stop with all the negativity and just accept that she is a Beautiful, indigenous and kind hearted girl who is the new face of R&B/pop and is currantly and presently the best in the business xxxxxxxxxx Love Darwin N.T
Why so many duets says
I like Jessica and I am thrilled that I was able to watch the video of ‘Happened To Us’, however, what is it with Jessica not believing in herself. Why does she do so many tracks as duets? Is she hoping that byperforming with these American artists it will help her crack the US market?
I’m so over people doing duets. Guy Sebastian is another one.
I can’t see this album lasting until Christmas although I wish Jessica well.
Meg says
Did sales of the album eventually match its gold accreditation?
Anonymous says
Fair enough auspOp. I just wish a journo would ask her the tough questions sometimes. You are all so gentle with her, which enables her to continue with all the bull.
And to the my namesake anonymous, I won’t lighten up about Jessica. Her lies annoy the bejesus out of me. She has gone into explicit detail about writing so many of these songs in so many interviews. For example this is what she said in a magazine interview about Scariest Part, one of the many songs on the album she has no writing credits on.
“and I got the inspiration also from the Freddy Krueger films. At the time, they were just showing the trailers, so I wanted to write a song that makes you terrified in a good way. I think everyone goes through that when you just want to close your eyes and count for a few seconds and then open your eyes and think, “Did it happen?” I’d never been so open before and we really put everything on the table. “
There is no shame for a singer to sing a song they didn’t write, so why the need for her to lay claim to writing all the songs she sings. It is a wonder anyone can believe anything she says. Maybe Beyonce’s father didn’t ring up and personally invite her to perform on his daughter’s tour as she said he did. Maybe Lisa Presley didn’t ring up and ask her to do the Elvis duet as she said she did. Come to think of it I am sure they didn’t. In fact some of her stories are hysterically funny.
Anonymous says
I gotta agree that Saturday Night was a great single, don’t really think the album can survive until Christmas though, especially with it’s lagging performance in the charts (out of the top 50). Maze or Fight for You for next single
Anonymous says
Will be interesting to see what the repackage will be. The album is okay just sounds the same by 15 songs. I would like an artwork change, never liked the cover art much. Good interview though…lots of info. Saturday Night was a great single.
Anonymous says
LOL. People so need to lighten up. If you want to know who wrote the actual words then read the fricken credits in the album notes.
She could simply be referring to writing as involvement in the feel and the production and the phrasing of the song.
Anonymous says
they are trying to take the album right through to christmas?
*looks at calender…9 more months
hmmm they must think its a hell of an album
auspOp says
Hey Anonymous,
While we agree that it’s strange that an artist would claim to have written something they didn’t, we’re merely publishing what Jess told us. In her words.
The auspOp team
Anonymous says
Disappointed with you auspOp. You let her carry on with the lies about her input into these songs. We both know she did not have anything AT ALL to do with writing one of those first three singles lifted from the album. In fact the first single Get ‘Em Girls was released as a demo by another artist a year before Mauboy even saw it. Word for word the same including the “Jimmy Choo shoes” reference. So it was not her sense of humour which put that into the song. She just sang a song which was presented to her. And you knew that as I am sure you were told in a comment last year about the original version, and yet you ask her a question that makes it sound like you believe she actually had something to do with writing the song. While there is nothing wrong with artists singing songs that are written for them, there is something very deceitful about a girl who spends so much time in interviews talking about writing songs she never wrote. Why do you media people not get serious and ask her the tough questions. Stop pandering to her deceitfulness. Are you music writers or just record company promoters?