Little Mix and Jesy Nelson's Upcoming Chart Battle... are they on good terms?
Photogaphy: Zoe McConnell for Attitude Magazine
I was originally planning on including this information in an HIP post but I realized it would be too long and I wanted this information separate from everything else so here we are.
Last we talked about Little Mix, we focused it mainly around their struggles as a band with Simon Cowell, label mistreatment, and how they would do solo projects.
I come bearing new information about Jesy’s relationship with the rest of the girls, Perrie, Leigh-Anne, and Jade.
According to my source, they’re not really on speaking terms and this goes way back before Jesy’s departure. My source wants to place this shift in friendship around mid to late 2020.
Leading up to Jesy’s departure, there was reportedly a lot of tension between the girl group on the different directions that Jesy wanted to take vs. Little Mix. For the most part, Jade, Perrie, & Leigh-Anne were on the same page, but it was Jesy who wasn’t.
She wanted a different sound for the music and wanted to go a completely different direction with her music.
This makes me feel like her solo stuff will sound different from what Little Mix’s traditional sound is. However, I will say that Little Mix’s discography is pretty versatile.
When Jesy left, she based her departure on the pressures of being in a girl group so fans assumed that she’s talking about how it’s hard to be in the spotlight.
That definitely did play a part for Jesy, but sources don’t believe that it weighed that heavy considering she was back into the studio like a week after her departure. She also knew how people would perceive that and both she and her solo team took that to their advantage. They want to capitalize on the drama and hype that would surround a former member of a group going solo.
These are textbook steps of what to do when you leave a group. We’ve talked about it with Zayn Malik leaving One Direction and with Camila Cabello leaving Fifth Harmony.
The girls of Little Mix have always said that when the days of Little Mix are over, they’re all going to leave at the same time and this is why fans always had hope that they wouldn’t have to endure the aftermath of a member leaving a group.
However, they didn’t take into account the disagreements about direction because as far as I know, that’s one of the main reasons why Jesy wanted to leave.
Similar to Camila, she believed that the group was holding her back from 1. cracking the US market and 2. experimenting with a different genre as opposed to just being a pop star.
This is why Jesy signed with Republic Records which gives her the advantage of cracking the US market.
This brings us to Little Mix’s new era, their ten-year anniversary, and Jesy’s debut solo single.
On August 15, Little Mix posted a teaser on their Instagram to celebrate their 10 year anniversary. They shared a video montage on Instagram featuring snippets of their hits throughout the years and captioned it saying “Thursday.” The video ends with a snippet of a never before heard song.
On August 12, Jesy’s social media blackout and hype started when she posted a clip to Instagram saying “The next chapter”
On August 17, she posted about her brand new single “BOYZ.”
So apparently they’re releasing on the same day… August 19 (the day you’re reading this post).
Before Jesy’s departure, they all planned big things for their 10th anniversary together. I mean let’s be honest, many groups don’t last that long so it is for sure an achievement.
But with Jesy’s departure, plans took a little turn but the rest of the girls were obviously going to still do something special for their 10th anniversary.
They’re supposed to be releasing a greatest hits album. I don’t know if the song will be coming out first or the album announcement, but by the time this post is up, there should be confirmation.
However, I don’t think fans anticipated that Jesy would drop (or hint) her solo single on the day of the group’s 10th anniversary. And to be honest, it’s a little dirty, but this is the industry and her solo team is telling her to capitalize on whatever she can.
The drama is beneficial for both Little Mix and Jesy. It creates this competition which in turn is free promo. It’s like what used to happen back in the day with the constant comparisons between Little Mix and Fifth Harmony. Competition fuels drama which fuels relevancy.
It’s just sad that it ended this way for Little Mix because they truly did have an extraordinary friendship. I think the 3 girls are definitely hurt by Jesy’s decisions to give up on the group in the middle of a new era, their talent show, hosting award shows together, but at the end of the day, they understood that it was something that made her unhappy.
I just don’t think they anticipated that Jesy will bounce back this soon and on their anniversary.
What do you guys think?
I hope you guys enjoyed this post and I am looking forward to this upcoming drama. I’ve been enjoying Little Mix’s time as a three-piece and I’m interested in seeing if Jesy will bring anything worthwhile to the table.
Comment down below your thoughts and questions. You can comment anonymously so take advantage of that. I will be reading and replying back ;)