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"Boyz"
Single by Jesy Nelson featuring Nicki Minaj
Released	8 October 2021
Genre	Hip hop • R&B
Length	2:59
Label	Polydor Republic
Songwriter(s)	Abby Keen Amanda Atoui Avital Margulies Yinka Olatunji Hanni Ibrahim Jesy Nelson Nicki Minaj Patrick Jordan-Patrikios
Producer(s)	Loose Change
Nicki Minaj singles chronology
"Whole Lotta Money (Remix)" (2021) "Boyz" (2021)
Music video
"Boyz" on YouTube

"Boyz" is the debut solo single by English singer Jesy Nelson, featuring Trinidadian-born rapper Nicki Minaj. It was released on 8 October 2021, through Polydor Records. It was Nelson's first solo single since her departure from British girl group Little Mix in 2020. The song samples American rapper Diddy's "Bad Boy for Life" and lyrically, speaks of Nelson's infatuation with rebellious men. The song entered and peaked within the top 5 at number four on the UK Singles Chart, it became Nelson’s first top five single as a solo artist there. It also charted at number sixteen in Ireland, becoming her first top twenty hit in the country.

Background

In December 2020, Nelson announced she was leaving Little Mix for mental health reasons. A few months later, she signed a record deal with Polydor Records. Nelson teased a comeback in August 2021, saying: "For me, this is the music that I've always wanted to make. I don't think that anyone is gonna expect this."

On 28 September 2021, Nelson confirmed that her first solo single, "Boyz", was being released soon. Nelson said that a "horrible breakup" inspired the single. In an interview with Noctis Magazine, Nelson described the song as "in your face", adding: "I wrote it when I was going through a break-up and it’s me all over. I just love a bad boy. I say it to people all the time... it's not healthy!"

Nelson shared a teaser of the single on Instagram, showing her practicing the choreography.

When asked about working with Nicki Minaj, Nelson said in an interview with Paper:

I've worked with Nicki Minaj before when I was in the band, on "Woman Like Me," so I already had a relationship with her, but when I wrote this song I knew I wanted Nicki on it. There was no one else I wanted. She was so perfect for it and we're label buddies, so our label helped make it happen. They sent her the song and she loved it and said she wanted to jump on it, which was amazing.

Critical reception

The song received negative reviews. The Guardian writer Laura Snapes found the song derivative and dated, concluding: "The long-awaited debut is a farrago of incomprehensible lyrics and queasy tropes that undermines her self-help journey". Roisin O'Connor of The Independent wrote that "Boyz" is "a terrible song, on which a barely comprehensible Nelson sings like Britney Spears doing TLC karaoke, lisping and gasping her way around a sample of Diddy's "Bad Boy for Life". Where Diddy's original was gritty, sharp and visceral, Nelson's has been polished and autotuned to death ... It's a novelty, not a career-launcher." She considered Nelson's solo career debut "one of the most disastrous in recent memory".

Music video

The music video was released on 8 October 2021, the same day as the song's release. The video is a homage to the original "Bad Boy For Life" music video, with Diddy himself appearing in a cameo playing the role Ben Stiller played in the original video. The video has reached 10 million views on YouTube.

Controversy

On the day of the release of the music video, Nelson faced accusations of both cultural appropriation and blackfishing for her appearance in the music video. Several noted that Nelson's skin tone looked "unnaturally, un-genetically tanned", while "parroting the aesthetics of Blackness".

In response, Nelson said, "I take all those comments made seriously. I would never intentionally do anything to make myself look racially ambiguous, so that's why I was initially shocked that the term was directed at me." In an Instagram Live, Nelson said furthermore that her "intention was never ever to offend people of color with the video" and instead wanted to "celebrate 90's R&B because that era of music is what I love." She shared, "It actually does really hurt me that it may have offended people." Nicki Minaj defended Nelson from the accusations of blackfishing, and criticized Little Mix's member Leigh-Anne Pinnock over unverified messages allegedly sent by the latter on the topic, calling Pinnock "jealous" and "a clown".

Track listing

• Digital download / streaming

1. "Boyz" (featuring Nicki Minaj) – 2:59

• UK CD single

1. "Boyz" (featuring Nicki Minaj) – 2:59
2. "Boyz" (acoustic) – 2:34

Charts

Release history

References

1. "Elton John & Dua Lipa's Cold Heart (Pnau Remix) climbs to Number 1". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
2. ^ Pearce, Tilly (29 September 2021). "Jesy Nelson teases solo single 'Boyz' as she teams up with Nicki Minaj". Yahoo! News. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
3. Biggs, Jade (30 September 2021). "We're *obsessed* with this teaser of Jesy Nelson and Nicki Minaj's collab". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
4. "Jesy Nelson Can't Be Stopped". PAPER. 9 October 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
5. Snapes, Laura (8 October 2021). "Jesy Nelson: Boyz review – derivative and dated P Diddy mashup". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
6. https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/jesy-nelson-boyz-charts-little-mix-b1938231.html
7. Jesy Nelson Ft. Nicki Minaj - Boyz (Official Music Video), retrieved 11 October 2021
8. Kent, Sara-Aisha (8 October 2021). "Jesy Nelson under fire for new music video as she's accused of blackfishing". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 9 October 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
9. https://www.vogue.com/article/the-problem-with-blackfishing-jesy-nelson
10. Kumari, Priyanca (9 October 2021). "Jesy Nelson responds to 'blackfishing' claims following new music". Digital Spy. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
11. "Nicki Minaj Appears to Slam Jesy Nelson's Little Mix Bandmates Amid "Blackfishing" Accusations". E! Online. 11 October 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
12. https://www.nme.com/news/music/nicki-minaj-says-little-mixs-leigh-anne-pinnock-is-jelaous-of-ex-member-jesy-nelson-3067993
13. "Boyz UK CD tracklist". Universal Music Group.
14. "Official Irish Singles Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
15. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
16. "Boyz - Jesy Nelson & Nicki Minaj". Spotify. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
17. "Boyz CD Single tracklist (Uk only)". Retrieved 8 October 2021.
18. "Singles to Radio". Retrieved 11 October 2021.

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