Introducing: Becky CJ
Hometown: South London
Listen to: ‘Julia’, ‘Losing Your Perspective’, ‘L.A. is Burning’
Despite growing up with musical parents, Londoner Becky CJ didn’t start considering a musical career until she began a degree in drama. After gravitating towards songwriting, she dropped out of the University of East Anglia and pursued a songwriting course back in the capital. Ever since, she’s been writing and releasing music independently. And we are so glad she has.
With rich vocals underpinned by multi-faceted production and personal lyrics, Becky’s discography is a triumph, with her catalogue so far showing her range. ‘Julia’—written while Becky was coming to terms with her sexuality—is a euphoric celebration of women that’ll no doubt get you dancing. ‘L.A. is Burning’ is a solemn but beautiful description of an imploding world, written in the depths of the pandemic. And her latest release, the alt-pop masterpiece ‘Losing Your Perspective’, was written about falling in love with her best friend and showcases Becky’s textured production and song-writing at its finest.
From her meditative lyrics and soaring melodies, it’s no surprise to hear that her influences are some of the best songwriters of our time, like Susanne Sundfør and James Blake. But Becky also takes inspiration from those around her, like her parents, sister and girlfriend. “I find anyone who works hard at what they do inspiring,” she tells us.
Alongside her original music, Becky’s YouTube channel is full of covers, from BØRNS’ massive hit ‘Electric Love’ to NSYNC’s throwback ‘Girlfriend’. But sitting at the top of Becky’s most popular Spotify songs is a cover of the Venga Boys’ iconic ‘Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!!’, transforming the late-90s euro-dance anthem into a ballad, accompanied by a delicate piano and soft backing vocals. How does something like this come about? Naturally, TikTok. She began a series called ‘Unlikely Piano Ballads’ on her channel (@beckycjmusic), and the video is one of her most-watched with 354k views currently.
“It happened to work really well and people have been asking for it to be played at their weddings and all sorts now,” says Becky. “It was one of those random ideas that just seemed to really connect with people, it helps that the lyric is actually kind of sweet—before you get to the boom, boom bit…” She definitely succeeds in making it sound like wholesome love song and not about all that other good stuff—it’s a pretty impressive feat.
Becky CJ’s newest single will be out on 25 April, with her EP Woman coming out on 8 April.
Listen to Becky CJ on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube.
Follow Becky CJ on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and Facebook.
Words by Kat Smith
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