“I make like five songs in one day,” says Jessie Reyez. “So I’m not concerned about quality over quantity, because my quality comes out of my quantity.”
The Colombian-Canadian singer and songwriter is known as much for her own soulful R&B-laced sound as she is for her ability to churn out hits across genres, having cowritten songs for the likes of Dua Lipa, Kehlani, and Normani. For Reyez, making music is about remaining in the moment. “I kind of just vibe,” she says of her approach. “My process isn’t meticulous or clinical or intentional; it’s more like a reflex.” On March 28, Reyez will release her third solo album, Paid in Memories, which she says explores “the sweeter side of love.” The first single, “Goliath,” is a gorgeously raw reflection on total devotion, with her rich, sonorous vocals out front for maximum impact.
For this issue, Reyez assembled a playlist of emotionally evocative tracks that reflect her musical palette—a “rainbow, genre-less, and genre-bending” collection of songs that have shaped her into the artist she is now. Along with Sailorr’s breakout hit “Pookie’s Requiem” and Destiny’s Child’s breakup ballad “Emotion,” she included Lola Young’s “Messy,” a song about self-acceptance. “It pulls the curtain back on not being perfect,” Reyez says of Young’s track. “It’s totally vulnerable, but in a universal way.”
