Jesy Nelson reveals the REAL inspiration behind debut single 'Boyz'
Nicki Minaj features on the new single
The day has finally arrived! After months of teasing fans across the world, Jesy Nelson has officially dropped her debut solo single 'Boyz', featuring none other than American rap legend Nicki Minaj!
To celebrate the release of the hugely-anticipated new single, Jesy, who made the tough decision to quit Little Mix in December 2020, joined Harriet Rose on KISS Breakfast for a chat, where she certainly didn't hold back
Watch Jesy's full interview with Harriet Rose below:
Speaking about going solo, 30-year-old Jesy explained: "I actually haven't taken it in, I don't actually think it's sunk in yet for me, so I still feel like I'm in like a bit of a bubble right now. But I'm so excited."
Not only does Jesy's new single feature Nicki, 'Boyz' also samples P Diddy's track 'Bad Boy For Life', making it an outright certified BANGER. 🔥
Jesy opened up about the inspiration for the new track, saying: "They always say you write the best songs from heartbreak and it's so bloody true, I've experienced it now. This is the first time I've ever been heartbroken in my whole life and I have wrote some bangers from it, so, thanks mate!"
Following a tough few months in 2020, Jesy confessed she now feels like a different person, something which has come from writing her own music and being creative.
Speaking about her love for love itself, the former X Factor winner told Harriet: "I just love love. I fall in love very quickly and then fall out of it very quickly. So, this is the longest I've been single and I love it.
"It's nice, I'm just learning to properly love myself, I don't need a man, like I really don't."
Identifying the ways she's 'loving herself', Jesy added: "I think it is doing the things that you love, genuinely. For me, being around the people I love, my friends and family, creating music, just having days where I do things that I really really enjoy.
"Also, complimenting myself a little bit more. I think we find it so easy to put ourselves down. We are so quick as humans to say what we hate about ourselves, and we never really say what we love about ourselves.
"If we were to do that more, we'd be way more confident in ourselves and that's how it should be."
Take a look at Jesy Nelson's amazing career so far below:
2011: Little Mix are formed and win The X Factor
With both Beyoncé and Missy Elliot as her inspirations, Jesy Nelson signed up to audition for Simon Cowell's prime-time entertainment show The X Factor in 2011, performing 'Bust Your Windows' to judges Gary Barlow, Kelly Rowland, Louis Walsh and Tulisa. With Kelly and Tulisa both impressed, Jesy made it through to the Bootcamp stage of the competition.
After failing to impress all four judges at bootcamp, Jesy, along with Perrie Edwards and two other solo auditionees, were put into a group called Faux Pas. At the same time, Jade Thirlwall and Leigh-Anne Pinnock were placed into another four-piece called Orion. After The X Factor judges witnessed both performances, Jesy was later put into a group called Rhythmix alongside Perrie, Jade and Leigh-Anne, with the band later changing their name to Little Mix for legal reasons.
With four amazing vocalists, the girls sailed through the rounds with their mentor Tulisa, and became the first ever band to win The X Factor in December 2011.
2011-2019: Jesy Nelson's time with Little Mix
Jesy Nelson managed to pick up four Number 1 singles during her nine-year stint in the band. That included 'Cannonball' in 2011, 'Wings' in 2012, 'Black Magic' in 2015 and 'Shout Out to My Ex' in 2016. With Jesy in the band, Little Mix released an incredible six studio albums, with three off them gaining 1 billion Spotify streams each. Little Mix released 'DNA' in 2012, 'Salute' in 2013, 'Get Weird' in 2015, 'Glory Days' in 2016, 'LM5' in 2018 and 'Confetti' in 2020.
During her time in the band, Jesy took part in six mammoth tours with the Little Mix girls, playing across the world to millions of fans in sold-out arenas and stadiums. They went on the 'DNA Tour' in 2013, 'The Salute Tour' in 2014, 'The Get Weird Tour' in 2016, 'The Glory Days Tour' in 2017, 'Summer Hits Tour' in 2018 and 'LM5 - The Tour' in 2019.
Little Mix won an incredible three BRIT Awards. The girls won British Single for 'Shout Out To My Ex' in 2017, before picking up the award in the Video of the Year category for 'Woman Like Me' in 2019. Jesy then won her final BRIT with the band in May 2021, as they become the first female band to win British Group. Although she didn't attend the ceremony, Jesy reacted to the news by posting a picture of the girls accepting the award to her Instagram Story. They also thanked Jesy in their powerful acceptance speech.
September 2019: Odd One Out documentary
Jesy teamed up with the BBC in 2019 to release a ground-breaking documentary called Odd One Out, which highlighted the affects of bullying and raised awareness for mental health.
Odd One Out followed Jesy Nelson's journey of self-acceptance after being bullied by online trolls incessantly following her rise to fame on The X Factor, with the star even bravely opening up about the moment she tried to take her own life.
Odd One Out aired on BBC One on Thursday 12th September 2019 at 9pm, and it was later added to BBC iPlayer.
January-May 2020: Jesy wins an NTA Award
After picking up a nomination for her Odd One Out documentary, Jesy attended the 2021 National Television Awards in January 2020, where she was crowned the winner in the Factual Award category.
After winning the award, Jesy told fans: 'Guys I honestly do not even know where to begin with this post! I woke up this morning and my heart is bursting with happiness! I cannot thank you all enough for making this moment happen, there are no words to describe how this moment felt and because of you guys you made this one of the most magical nights of my life! I love you all so much thank you ❤️'. (sic)
As it continued to break BBC iPlayer viewing records, Jesy's documentary Odd One Out picked up another prestigious award in May 2020, this time a Visionary Award for Documentary of the Year.
Sharing a photo of herself holding the award, Jesy wrote on Instagram: 'This morning I received this incredible award for my documentary Odd one out from @visionaryartsuk and my heart feels so happy! Thank you so much to every single person that voted for me this honestly means the world and I'm so thankful that it still continues to have such a positive impact on others ❤️.' (sic)
September 2020: The Search
Despite initially being scheduled to air in Spring 2020, Little Mix's very own TV talent show The Search, was postponed until later in the year due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Jesy, along with Perrie, Leigh-Anne and Jade, served as both mentors and judges on the singing competition, with the girls looking for a brand new band!
It was Vocal and Instruments Group Since September, made up of Harry, Patrick, Matthew and Jacob, who were crowned the winners.
December 2020: Jesy quits Little Mix
After an amazing nine years in the band, alongside Jade, Perrie and Leigh-Anne, Jesy made the tough decision to leave Little Mix in December 2020, admitting it had recently been 'taking a toll' on her mental health. She released this emotional statement thanking fans at the time.
Following Jesy's statement, Little Mix wrote online: 'After an amazing 9 years together Jesy has made the decision to leave Little Mix. This is an incredibly sad time for all of us but we are fully supportive of Jesy. We love her very much and agree that it is so important that she does what is right for her mental health and well-being. We are still very much enjoying our Little Mix journey and the 3 of us are not ready for it to be over.
'We know that Jesy leaving the group is going to be really upsetting news for our fans. We love you guys so much and are so grateful for your loyalty and continued support of all of us.' (sic)
February-April 2021: Jesy works on solo music
Uploading this stunning snap of herself to Instagram in February 2021, Jesy got EVERYBODY talking in the comments section with her caption. The singer captioned the shot with a number of music emojis, writing: 'Let's go', leading many to think she was back in the studio.
As if that wasn't enough, Jesy later shared a number of photos and videos in the studio alongside songwriters Patrick Patrikios and Hanni Ibrahim, who have previously worked with Little Mix on a number of their albums. Jesy then sent her fans into overdrive in March 2021, sharing a video from inside of the recording studio! Despite muting the video so we couldn't hear the track, Jesy filmed a computer screen with soundwaves, writing: 'I can't wait for you to hear this'. (sic)
Then speaking during a candid interview with Cosmopolitan Magazine in April 2021, Jesy confirmed the news we were all hoping for... That she WAS working on solo music. She said: "Music is my life. It's so powerful for me. I'm in the studio just having fun. I loved the music I made with Little Mix, but it wasn't the kind of music I listen to. It just feels so nice to be making music that I love. I don't know when I'm going to bring it out. I feel really content and happy. It's the weirdest, best feeling in the world."
May-June 2021: Solo deal
After months of teasing her fans, in May 2021 Jesy finally confirmed she'd signed her first ever solo record deal with Polydor Records. She shared this snap of herself on Instagram, writing: 'So excited to announce that I've signed my first ever solo record deal with @polydorrecords @universalmusicgroup. This is such a pinch me moment. I cannot wait for you guys to hear what I've been working on 🙊❤️'. (sic)
Fans were treated to a six second snippet of Jesy's debut solo single in June. Although it didn't give much away, you can clearly hear Jesy's vocals on the short clip she posted to Instagram.
October 2021: Jesy drops debut single 'Boyz'
After months of teasing, Jesy finally dropped her debut solo single 'Boyz' featuring Nicki Minaj on Friday 8th October. The track samples P Diddy's hit 'Bad Boys For Life'. Jesy then appeared on The Graham Norton Show on Friday 29th October, giving the first live performance of her debut single.
2023: Jesy begans teasing new music
Jesy began 2023 by teasing brand new music! Sharing a video of herself singing along with rapper Zion Foster accompanying her on the piano, Jesy could be heard singing a beautiful R&B style melody — very far removed from her days in Little Mix! This came after rumours in December 2022 that she was preparing to release single 'Cried Out'. To date, the song still hasn't been released.
2023: Jesy announced her second single was 'Bad Thing'
Jesy Nelson announced her second solo single was be called 'Bad Thing', with the track later being released on 14th April 2023. It peaked at Number 98 in the UK charts.
2026: Jesy's Prime Video docu-series Life After Little Mix is released
Just days after giving birth to twin girls Ocean and Story in 2025, Jesy delighted fans by announcing she'd signed a deal with Prime Video for a docu-series called Jesy Nelson: Life After Little Mix — which was later released in February 2026. She told fans: 'We have more exciting news to share… I feel so excited and proud that we can finally reveal we have been filming our own series for @primevideouk . We met with the creative director @demidoyle and Producer Gavin at @navybee.tv , letting the cameras in wasn't an easy decision for us as it's such a deeply personal time but I knew I wanted to tell my story in my own words. We opened the doors fully and I'm really looking forward to letting you all in as I navigate my way to becoming a first time mum to our beautiful baby girls Ocean and Story. I'll be honest, it's not been easy as it's been such a high risk pregnancy, so you'll see all the highs and lows and rollercoaster of emotions we have been going through. I hope you will all join me on this journey as I really open up and say goodbye to the past and enter this new chapter in my life… Coming to Prime Video 🎥'.
It's safe to say Jesy is extremely proud of the music video to accompany her new single 'Boyz', telling Harriet it's the first music video she's ever been involved in that she 'truly enjoyed'.
Speaking about shooting a video for the first time without her former band mates Perrie Edwards, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jade Thirlwall, Jesy said: "As much as it was a weird feeling, it was the most liberated and best feeling in the world, I felt proper proud of myself.
"I just loved it, it was the first time I've done a video where I can genuinely say I truly enjoyed it and didn't look back on the camera was like ergh, like hated myself. I just loved it, I enjoyed it."
Now that she's branched out into the world of solo stardom, Jesy's fans are excited to see what's next for the singer, and by the sounds of it, they aren't going to be disappointed with what she has planned!
Commenting on the new era, Jesy confessed: "Well obviously performances, which is so exciting for me because I have so many ideas up my sleeve of what I want to do for this song. I just can't wait to start getting into that.
"Writing the album, which is really exciting."
And it sounds like Nicki Minaj won't be the only feature on the upcoming album, as Jesy said there will be one million percent more collabs.
She said: "There's so many people I want to work with. There's too many to say. Male wise, up there would be Bruno Mars. I love a performer so anyone I could do a big performance with."
We can't wait for the album to arrive! 🙌
Jesy Nelson's new single 'Boyz' with Nicki Minaj is out now.
You can hear more amazing interviews with Harriet Rose on KISS Breakfast, weekday mornings from 6am.
Now read:
Jesy Nelson's biggest career moments as she launches solo music
Jesy Nelson says fans will either 'love or hate' her debut solo single
Jesy Nelson: Get to know the former Little Mix star