FEATURE: Spotlight: Jessie Murph — Music Musings & Such

FEATURE:

Spotlight

Jessie Murph

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IN December…

PHOTO CREDIT: Talie Eigeland for NOTION

the incredible Drunk in the Bathtub was released. The work of the amazing Jessie Murph, one can watch stunning music videos of songs from the mixtape/album. It is a looking like a very promising year for the teen sensation. I am fascinated by artists and their relationship with TikTok. It is a platform that Murph received some backlash on, but she has also found a huge and supportive audience. As someone who grew up in Alabama, it is quite a conservative part of the U.S. Maybe not seen as a traditional career or something she should pursue. She has had to fight back against misogyny, criticism and bullying. A multi-instrumentalist with an incredible voice and music that has this power and sense of real purpose, it is no wonder she has connected with so many young listeners. After overcoming some real hurdles and growing up in a part of America where musical opportunity and exposure is less obvious and harder to get, it is encouraging to see Jessie Murph triumphant and look forward. I think that she is going to have her best year yet. After putting out an incredible mixtape last year, there are eyes on her. I wonder what will come next. I think there is so much respect out there for an artist who is going to have a long career. When you read about Jessie Murph and hear her story, you will her to succeed and prosper. She deserves acclaim and respect. I want to draw in a few interviews with the amazing Jessie Murph. Before getting to them, here is some brief biography from First Avenue:

“Underneath a unique blend of modern production with echoes of distant guitar and evocative vocals, Jessie Murph tells the kinds of stories we all relate to, but we might be too uncomfortable to disclose to the world at large. Thankfully, she’s not shy in her songs. The 18-year-old Alabama singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist gushes emotion through the cracks of her dominant, yet lilting croon, staring down heartbreak, anxiety, and darkness without filter or any fucks given.

This open-hearted honesty has endeared her to a following of nearly 10 million across platforms and asserted her as a critically acclaimed force. The stress of a fractured family, bullying in school, outdated expectations for women, and latent backwoods misogyny pushed Jessie to cling tightly to music and never let go. She listened to everyone from Adele and Lady A to 6lack and Lil Baby, learning piano, ukulele, and guitar and writing songs of her own.

After a taste of viral popularity on YouTube, she launched her TikTok during 2020. Beyond popular covers, she gained traction and connected with audiences by way of originals such as “Upgrade,” “Look Who’s Cryin Now,” and “Sobriety.” However, “Always Been You” affirmed her as a powerful presence. It gathered north of 115 million global streams, while Stereogum pegged it as one of “2022’s Potential Pop Hits.”

Between praise from OnesToWatch, Flaunt Magazine, Hits, and more, she tallied over 100 million streams with “Pray,” “I Would’ve,” “While You’re At It,” and “How Could You.” However, she opens up once again on her 2023 debut mixtape, Drowning [Columbia Records], and more to come”.

It is no surprise to read that there is no Plan B for Jessie Murph. Someone for whom music is such an important portal to communicate with others and also tell her story, you can hear the authenticity of her songs. They come from someone who wants people to hear her words. Not chasing success or trying to fit into markets and follow others, this is a young songwriter on a mission. NOTION featured Jessie Murph back in May. She underlined how music is very much her path;

“Jessie Murph seems wise beyond her age. Courageous in her ability to tap into viscerally raw emotions for her art, Jessie’s lyrical matter is unflinching in its vulnerability and honesty. Touching on everything from heartbreak, her own struggles with mental health to her strained relationship with family, Jessie’s uniquely powerful vocals deliver an emotion that suggests a life lived beyond her seventeen years.

Although she was signed at only sixteen, Jessie is far from naïve. As a young woman in the industry, Jessie already possesses an air of gravity when it comes to which direction she envisages taking her sound. However, her love affair with music goes back long before she signed her name on a contract. Coming from a musical family in Alabama, Jessie has been penning tracks and playing multiple instruments since she was a child. It seems for her, music has always been the only option.

After moving cities and facing criticism for posting TikToks in a closeminded community, Jessie pushed forward, ignoring the noise and staying adamant in trusting her process. With over seven million followers on the platform to date, there has to be something serendipitous about proving her doubters wrong.

PHOTO CREDIT: Talie Eigeland

You have such a strong fan base on TikTok and YouTube. What kind of message are you hoping to portray to them through your music?

I mean honestly, I’m not trying to portray a message other than just be yourself. I feel like I’ve been through so much in my life where people didn’t approve of what I wore or what I said or what I posted so I know first hand how shitty that feels and I just never want anybody else to have to go through that. Even if it seems like you’re alone or nobody around you supports you for who you are, I just want my fans to know that there are people out there who love them for who they are. Like I literally love all of my fans so much.

You can play guitar, piano and the ukulele. What are some of your first memories of making music? Did you always know you wanted to be a musical artist?

I always knew I wanted to do it from a very little age. I grew up, especially when I was younger, I grew up in a chaotic household. There was a lot going on. And I just remember using music to kind of get me out of that craziness. And yeah, I think that’s kind of how it started. And I was like, wow, I actually want to do this as a career. I knew that from about six or seven.

You got signed as such a young age at 16. Being such a young woman in the industry, how do you make sure your voice and creative vision is really heard and honoured?

Honestly, TikTok plays a huge role in it. Because me being like, ‘I have a vision. This is what I want to sound like, this is what I want to write about.’ Being able to put it on TikTok, and so many people resonating with it, kind of is all the validation people need to be like, ‘Oh, shit, this works. And people like this and people resonate.’ You’ve got to prove yourself a little bit. But yeah, it’s been pretty good so far”.

Mixing Hip-Hop, Country and Pop together to create this intoxicating and heady cocktail, there is no doubt Jessie Murph’s music stands out. She is someone who has had to react to people telling her she couldn’t say certain things or do that. So many women in the industry are held back, underestimated, treated badly and seen as inferior. Coming into Country and Hip-Hop – genres that are still largely populated by men -, Women in Pop wanted to know more about the amazing Jessie Murph:

“Both country and hip hop are heavily, heavily male dominated genres, obviously there are women in there, but it's very much divided, shall we say. You're going at it as a young woman, and anyone who's young going into this, but in a very male saturated industry and genre, I imagine there must have been a certain amount of second guessing. Can you talk me a little through your approach to music?
I grew up in a really small town, and everybody was like, ‘you need to act like a lady, you need to not say that’ about the things I was saying in my songs. With hip hop and country being male dominated, I love that about those genres, that's what almost draws me to it. Because I'm not a dude, but I can say the same shit they can. That really motivated me to be more angstful in my songs.

With the music you do, and I guess the superhuman that you channel into it, what is ‘being a lady’ to you’? What does that mean?
You know, I really hate that phrase, because I heard it a lot growing up.

It's it awful?!

It’s awful! I'm like, what the fuck does that mean? I really don't think it means shit, you should be who you want to be.

I think that’s greatest answer. ‘I don't think it means shit! I read that you had a less than ideal youth in quite a conservative town with incredibly conservative values, and that comes into your music. Can you talk to me a little bit about your history within that element of society and how it affected you as the artist that you are today?

Yes, of course. As I was saying earlier, people were very against the things I was saying in songs. I started on TikTok, so everybody would watch my TikToks and send them around, and the parents more so than anybody were just not having it, because of the things I was saying. And them telling me ‘you can't say that, you need to act like a lady’ made me like, ‘okay, I'm gonna say it more’. I feel you can hear in my earlier songs that they're a little bit more explicit and that's why, because I was so like, ‘oh, I can't? I'm gonna do it the most I can now!’

Do you think there's something incredibly empowering about being joyously spiteful?!

That's one of my favourite emotions!

As a young female solo artist, In the time that you've been within this industry, have you've ever felt you've needed to push harder or be louder or be better or stronger to be taken seriously within the industry with regards to creative decisions?

Not necessarily. I have an amazing team around me but there are times where I have to stand my ground and I have like a little voice in my head that's ‘trust your gut’. Most of the time that comes into play with certain lyrics or production elements, but overall, it's been pretty great so far”.

I am going to end with an interview from Ones to Watch. It is going back to 2021. It is interesting to see, even in just over a year, how much Jessie Murph has progressed – and seeing the fanbase and admiration she has built. You know that, in years to come, she will establish herself as one of the biggest artists around! I wanted to finish with this interview, as Murph is asked about her home state and mother. The importance of where she come from and those around her:

“Ones To Watch: There's a quote from Oscar Wilde: "Be yourself, everyone else is taken." When did you realize that it's okay to be different?

Jessie Murph: I love that quote - probably the beginning of my sophomore year of high school I'd say. I was on the cheer team and did competitive figure skating - everyone around me kind of looked/acted/dressed very similar to each other. I definitely tried to fit in for a while. Looking at old pictures of myself, I was super blonde and dressed how I was expected to dress. Eventually, I just realized that I was spending more energy and trying way harder to be someone I wasn't rather than just being myself... and it was f**king exhausting!

What happens when you go on tour and play in Alabama? Do you think their perception of you will be different now?

Oh, definitely I think. I feel like they used to kind of judge me for wanting to take risks and pursue this crazy dream but now that it's actually happening, they're able to be more supportive. It also obviously wasn't every single person that was critical - there were people who had my back from the beginning. When it was actually going down though, it felt like the critics and haters were way louder than the supporters.

Your mom has always been one of your biggest supporters. How important was this relationship growing up?

My mom has always been very supportive of me. No other moms in the small town where I grew up would've let their daughters express themselves in the way that I was. It was so cool of her to allow me to just be myself. I'm eternally grateful because I really don't know how I could've done any of this without her.

You originally blew up thanks to the help of social media platforms like TikTok and YouTube. What's next for you as an artist?

I hope to show people all different sides of myself honestly. I'm so excited to get on the road and start playing some shows later this year. I've never even been to a concert before let alone actually performed at one, so my first ever concert experience is going to be my own which is wild! But, I'm just really excited to get in front of fans and start meeting people in person especially because I talk to so many of them in my DMs. Also, I think releasing a lot more music, cool music videos and visuals will continue to showcase who I am and where I'm headed as an artist”.

Go and follow Jessie Murph, listen to Drunk in the Bathtub, and read up about her. Definitely an artist who is among the most promising of this year, I hope that her music gets more attention in the U.K. and beyond. I think Murph is still better-known and played in the U.S. That is something that hopefully will change soon enough. Keep your eyes on the terrific Jessie Murph, as there is…