Singing is my drug: Jessie J

The 23-year-old British singer has been armed with songwriting skills to take the world by storm. The “Price tag” singer, whose real name is Jessica Ellen Cornish, began her career by penning lyrics for artistes such as Chris Broan and Miley Cyrus.
In fact, she was the one to write Cyrus’ song: “Party in the U.S.A” . Excerpts from an e-mail interview with the pop sensation, who loves to say things as they are:
In your song, “Nobody’s perfect” , you have used the word, ‘karma’ , in the line “I guess karma comes back around cause now I’m the one that’s hurting yeah” .How much are you aware of the implications of the word ‘karma’ in Indians? Do you have any India connect or plans to visit this country anytime soon?
The word karma in the song “Nobody’s perfect” is written in the way I see it. When an opportunity comes my way, I would like to.
In your song, “Do it like a dude” , you’ve used a lot of cuss words like ‘motherf**** r’ , ‘d** k’ and crotch. Has the moral police ever bothered you when you wrote lyrics like these?
It’s about equality, and the fact that no one should ever intimidate anybody into feeling like they can’t be someone or do something. There’s a lot of things that I think are stereotypical, that differentiates between men and women. For me, I’ve had a lot of male egos in my life that have made me feel like I can’t do things as well as them or they’re more powerful than me. Not just physically, but you have to emotionally feel like, “You know what? I can get up in front of 10,000 people and make a speech on national TV” , and you have to be able to do it. You don’t get training for it; you just have have the confidence to do it. “Do it like a dude” is my middle finger up to the industry. It’s fun, it’s a parody. It’s a tongue-in-cheek kind of song about girls being able to do it like dudes. There are a lot of things that guys do. Guys sleep around and say they’ve got this and that and cars and girls. If it were girls who were doing that, it’s totally a different story. So, that’s the point I wanted to try and make.
Having written “Price tag” about anticonsumerism , how important is money for you?
“Price tag” , for me, was definitely an insight into what I’m about as an artiste and the songs that I want to sing. It is also about the fact that I want my music to stand the test of time. “Price tag” is one of my favourites on the album. It talks about how too many people think that the world runs on money, but it doesn’t . It doesn’t have to be about how many cars you’ve got and how many necklaces you have. It’s about the values and morals you have and who you are as a person.
You’ve said that you are thankful to your early struggles and that helped you become the artiste that you are today. What was the most difficult struggle for you?
It’s just that I never really knew if I was strong enough to go through such a journey and be put in the public eye. Also, I was always tied between being on stage and being an artiste. It’s the pain and fight to reach who I am today.
Wikipedia mentions that you were banished from the school choir for being too loud. If this is true, how do you see your journey from that stage to today?
I was 11 years old and was told that I wasn’t allowed in the school choir. I was like, I will succeed . The song, “Who’s laughing now” , is to all those people, my music teacher or the guy that never believed in me. All the teachers that would tell me to shut up and all the kids who bullied me. People that would not be very nice to me and not really like my music. And, all of a sudden, when I was doing well, they would creep out and want to come to gigs and pretend to be my best friends. And that’s what that song is about, all the people that didn’t believe, the non-believers .
You’ve suffered a stroke when you were just 18, have had panic attacks on stage. How does all that impact you?
I’ve got a heart problem and it kind of affects me. Everybody should take extra care of themselves. Not just because I’ve got heart problem, but because life should be a healthy one. For me, I have to make sure I get sleep and I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I will never touch drugs and I have to make sure that I stay sane and happy. I see the people that I love on a regular basis because 80 percent of my life, now, is on the road. Singing is my drug, performing is my drug. If I don’t get it, I get antsy. I take care of myself to make sure that I’m always performing.