JGrrey: The new 'May' takes 'Fight Club' approach and pays tribute to late friend
If you needed a little extra motivation to push forward and get things going, look no further than JGrrey and her ‘May’ music video. It just hits way different and deserves ample replay value.
Of course having Kojey Radical pull through on the video and single too makes it even more complete. Peep the details and get trapped in the cinematic flex.
Today, JGrrey (pronounced Jay-Grey) brings in longtime friend, Mercury- and BRIT-nominated Kojey Radical for the haltingly beautiful ode to eternal friendship, “May.”
Her second single of the year following “THEIRS13,” “May” is a tribute to JGrrey’s best friend, James, who sadly lost his battle with depression. A team-up years in the making, Kojey and JGrrey met almost a decade ago, and finally, creatively something felt right.
JGrrey elaborates: “I’ve known Kojey for about 10 years and the timing aligned for us to work together. I knew that whatever I sent to Kojey, he would listen. I hadn’t created something that I felt made sense to send him, until writing “May”.”
The video is directed by the incredible duo Pip + Lib (Nike, Def Jam 0207) and is a thing to behold. Set in a school hall the cinematic experience begins with JGrrey joining the rest of the cast (Suhaiyla, Bel, Louisa, Shak, Kurtis, Sarah & Naissa) in a support group before it breaks into violence. Full of depth, candor and heartache JGrrey hits new heights with this incredible ode to a dear friend.
JGrrey’s message:
“For James,
Forgetting the sound of someone’s laugh isn’t something I thought I’d lose so much sleep over...James died and had his funeral on my birthday (classic James) - he left suddenly, dramatically magically..like? I still don’t really believe he’s gone.. like he’s giggling somewhere, laughing at us all for missing him so much. This video and this song are for him.”
For JGrrey the past couple of years haven’t been a refresh as much as they have been a complete reinvention. Having first caught the public’s attention with her viral rendition of “Don’t Fade” on the Colors platform in 2017, she went on to rack up millions of streams of breezy and soulful tracks “For Keeps” and “Growing” as well as opening for Billie Eilish on her European tour. This isn’t a story of the global pandemic halting an artist’s momentum, though. If anything, the enforced pause gave JGrrey the chance to finally reckon with who she was as a person and an artist. Jen to her friends. It had started to feel like the person and the persona were drifting apart. It’s been a heavy period of opening up and coming to terms with a set of truths Jen could no longer deny, and one that has set her onto a path of feeling more self-assured than she has been since stepping up to that Colors mic six years ago.
Having taken a short break to re-centre and reevaluate her personal needs and priorities, JGrrey is back in full force with “May” swiftly following the incredible queer anthem “THEIRS13.”
JGrrey has cemented herself as one of the most exciting talents on the UK Scene. Through her music, she is offering dream-like escapism, all the while sharing her powerful songwriting with her avid and anticipatory listeners.
