Jessi Malay
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Jessi Malay | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Jessica Allison Megan Fried-Watters |
| Born | July 25, 1986 Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Genres | R&B, pop, urban |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, producer, dancer, host |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Labels | Jive Records (2001-2005) Warner Bros. Records (2005-2009) The Compound (2010-present) |
| Website | JMalay.com |
Jessi Malay (born Jessica Allison Megan Fried-Watters on July 25, 1986) is an American pop/R&B singer, songwriter, entrepreneur, and host. She was also a former member of Jive Records' No Secrets and has since pursued a solo career in music. She currently is performing and making music as a solo-artist based out of Los Angeles, CA.
Early life and career beginnings[edit]
Jessi who is in Filipino descent was born and raised in Glendale, California. She began dancing at the age of 2 and took lessons in ballet, jazz, tap, and hip-hop. At the age of 8, she started singing, joined a professional performing group, and began touring Disney World, The Big Red Boat, and the Bahamas.
Life and career[edit]
2000-2005: No Secrets[edit]
In 2001, Jessi, then known as Jessica Fried, joined a girl group, No Secrets, singing lead vocals alongside Angel Faith. Jessica sang the lead vocal on about half the songs on the group's self-titled debut album. The other members were Erin Tanner, Carly Lewis, and Jade Ryusaki. Their first single, "That's What Girls Do", was very popular and was also used in The Powerpuff Girls Movie.
In 2002 after much success with the group, they toured alongside Aaron Carter on his "Oh Aaron tour" as apart of a jive records collaboration. they made an appearance at the fifteenth annual Kids Choice Awards, and shot 3 more music videos after this.
In 2003, the group recorded a cover of Atomic Kitten's hit single "Whole Again" without Angel, who then left the group to pursue a solo career. In early 2004, the remaining four members of No Secrets recorded "Once Upon A Dream" for the DVD release of Disney’s Sleeping Beauty and Disneymania 2. They parted ways shortly thereafter in the band's final year, 2005.
2005-2009: Warner Brothers, Jessi Malay and Cinematic Tour[edit]
Since the 2005 dissolution, Jessica changed her stage name to Jessi Malay. She signed with Reprise/ Warner Bros. Records in 2005 and recorded and released a number of songs with them, including a duet with Trey Songz. The majority of the tracks were written and produced by songwriting/production team TOJ (Andy Goldmark and Bruce Roberts), who have worked with artists such as Cher, Whitney Houston, 'N Sync, Donna Summer, and Elton John. Her other producers include Jonathan "JR" Rotem (Destiny's Child, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Sean Kingston, Jason Derulo, Rick Ross, Snoop Dogg); Oak (Jennifer Lopez, Chris Brown); and Stargate (Rihanna, Neyo, Wiz Khalifa).
Her first single was "Gimme", featuring Lil Scrappy. It was released in the clubs on August 22, 2006 and was released as a single on August 29. On June 28, 2007, Malay announced via her MySpace blog that her new single would be "Booty Bangs", featuring Yung Joc. Jessi,s official debut music video was for the song "Cinematic", produced and featuring DJ Felli Fel of Power 106, Los Angeles. Shortly thereafter, she released her fourth single, "On You". One of her songs, "Topsy Turvy", can be found on EA Games Sims 2: Pets in Simlish and is part of the soundtrack playing throughout the game.
Once nearly all of the tracks were finalized for her self-titled debut album, Jessi went on a mini-tour promoting her third single "Cinematic" and other tracks from the album. Her intended studio album was going to be titled Jessi Malay. It featured 12 different tracks and on the deluxe edition with 4 bonus tracks (the names of which were never released). The album was cancelled due to the fact that Jessi hurt her knee while on tour and needed surgery. So she went back to school to finish her needed studies at UCLA. 8 of the 16 intended songs on the album are released to date. The only factor Jessi still has from the Warner Bros. days is that she records her new music at the same studio (Larabee Studios).
2010-2012: UCLA, Dish Nation and WolfIskin Launch[edit]
Jessi, after four years with WBG took a hiatus to go back to college and finish her studies. After the short hiatus to finish her studies at UCLA, Jessi co-founded and signed with Wolfiskin Productions and got busy writing and recording new music for her comeback. Jessi began her musical comeback by planning the release of 2 back to back singles. "Role Play" and "Like You" both were recorded and shot with music videos in late 2010. Over the spring of 2011, Malay put her two new singles on pause. She was casted as a co-host for the first season of Fox’s TV show, Dish Nation on the L.A station. Jessi filmed a total of 26 episodes and then did not return for a second season. (to continue recording new singles). In July 2011, she released her new single and music video “Like You,” a collaboration with hip-hop artist and 7Lions MC, Prophet. This video got so many views that on the week of September 1, 2011 Jessi Malay placed at number 22 on the Billboard Next Big Sound Charts. she then spent fall 2011 touring L.A with Prophet, singing "Like You" and preparing the release of Role Play with a lot of promotion. In November 2011, she released the music video for "Role Play". This single inspired Malay to launch a contest titled "The Role Play Contest". It consisted of asking the fans questions and giving prizes to those with the best responses. It was featured via YouTube and Facebook. Along with the release of Role Play, a remix by DJ reflex was done on the song and it was featured in an Andrew Christian underwear commercial. Later Jessi took her music international by taking a trip to Brazil and making a guest appearance with the cast of Brazilian reality show "Viagem Sem Fim". Once 2012 came around, Jessi wrapped up her music touring and promo of the 2 singles and began production of her second album. Malay hosted several different events for Wolfiskin, including covering the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and fashion week in New York. By late October 2012, Jessi had made much progress on her new album, and she also announced her 7th overall single "Bougie". It was released along with lyric video and four comedic skits "Jessi Malay in bougie afternoons". The Song quickly gained attention on many Dance stations in L.A and in the east coast.
2013-Present: Bougie Tour, IHeart Radio Contest and second album[edit]
Soon after the major comeback with a release of two singles, Jessi began working towards releasing a second album. The album is intended for release in late 2013 but no official release date has been confirmed yet. Malay stated via Facebook the album is expected to have 13 tracks. A music video for her latest single "Bougie" has been produced. Alongside the progress of her album, Jessi also began her 2012-2013 U.S. Bougie club tour. Malay traveled along the west and east coasts, visiting major clubs and promoting her music, gaining more attention and allowing "Bougie" to be picked up by radio stations. In March 2013, Malay was selected to be 1 of 25 participants in the Macys IHeart radio rising star contest. Her profile included the role play music video as well as the full "Bougie" Mp3 and "Role Play (DJ Reflex Remix)" Mp3. After 20 days of voting, Jessi was placed as one of the star finalists. Another two weeks of voting continued and Jessi finished the contest as the runner-up, allowing her to get a lot of radio promotion.
Artistry[edit]
Musical style[edit]
Jessi Malay introduced a very new modern type of pop/R&B music. A lot of the tracks from her debut studio album Jessi Malay were a mix of slow ballads and upbeat dance tracks. her music is almost styled like Nelly Furtado, Mariah Carey and Jennifer Lopez. The sound is popular with many teenage to young adult audiences. also giving that her lyrics appeal to those audiences as well.
Featured songs[edit]
Jessi is featured in “Blessed,” a song on Twista's album Adrenaline Rush 2007. She is also featured in apl.de.ap's unreleased song "Dum" off of his debut studio album "You Can Dream" in 2008.
Discography[edit]
Studio albums[edit]
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales threshold) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | ||||||||||||
| Jessi Malay |
|
7 | ||||||||||
| TBA |
|
|||||||||||
Singles[edit]
No Secrets:
- "Kids in America"
- "That's What Girls Do"
- "Once Upon (Another) Dream"
- "Whole Again"
Solo:
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | |||||||||||||||||||
| August 29, 2006 | "Gimme feat. Lil Scrappy" | 23 | — | Jessi Malay | |||||||||||||||
| August 14, 2007 | "Booty Bangs feat. Yung Joc" | 11 | — | Jessi Malay | |||||||||||||||
| June 20, 2008 | "Cinematic feat. Dj Felli Fel" | 17 | — | Jessi Malay | |||||||||||||||
| April 5, 2010 | "On You" | 5 | — | Jessi Malay | |||||||||||||||
| July 12, 2011 | "Like You" | 34 | — | — | |||||||||||||||
| November 29, 2011 | "Role Play" feat. Prophet" | 40 | — | TBA" | |||||||||||||||
| November 21, 2012 | "Bougie" | — | — | TBA" | |||||||||||||||
| November 26, 2013 | "Here I Am" | — | — | TBA" | |||||||||||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||||||||||||
References[edit]
External links[edit]
- Official MySpace
- Official Youtube
- Interview with jizo-entertainment.com
- Official Facebook
- Official Twitter
- Official Instagram
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