Alja Jackson

ALJA’ “JESSE JANE” JACKSON



Imagine a young girl, raised on the sounds of soul and the streets, driving through the urban atmosphere of Jacksonville, FL, with her busy mother behind the wheel and a broken radio station, blasting only pop tunes. With colorful videos permeating her mind and musical styles blending in her brain, the little girl took it all it and made pretty pictures in her mind. Prince and Cyndi Lauper collided within her. The masters of sight and song became her family and as time passed and talent evolved, Alja’ would become Jesse Jane, too, an artist whose dexterity has no boundaries, whose talent knows no limit.



Now, Alja’ aka Jesse Jane is the “The Perttiest Girl,” whose first single is blazing up the internet and buzzing on every coast. Dance performances are all over Youtube and little girls everywhere have adopted her colorful “mix-match” fashion sense. She’s the newest star on Leftfield/Interscope Records and she’s got everybody talking about her eclectic musical taste and ghetto-pop style.



“When my mother would drive me around in that old Toyota Corolla, all we had was that broken car radio. It was stuck on one station and that only played pop music. I listened to that a lot and then we got home I listened to R&B and hip-hop. That’s the music I knew I wanted to do when I became an artist. I knew I wanted to be an R&B/soul star.” What she didn’t know is that pop music would make its influence known when she started writing and shaping her sound. Alja’ moved to NYC to be in the heartbeat of music and to be where she thought she would find fame and fortune. She sang background vocals for iconic artists like Maxi Priest and Sean Paul. She took meetings with labels, knowing that one day she would be a star. But NYC wasn’t the dream for Alja’ Jackson and the South came calling again. “I knew that I had to go home because I just wasn’t feeling the vibe. I knew that ATL was the new hotspot for music, so I moved.”



Alja’ was motivated but everyone wasn’t digging her sound. “It’s not that they didn’t like my music. They liked my music, but I didn’t have a sound. Every artist needs to know their own voice, their sound, and I didn’t really have one.” Alja’ took the wise advice of a producer who suggested that she write. “You have to take a minute to find out who you really are. A lot of artists don’t want to struggle, but that advice opened every door. I started working with all these producers and artists and it changed everything. Then, one day I was in the studio working with the Pussycat Dolls and the next day, I was in an artist meeting with Jimmy Iovine.” Alja’ slouched in the chair, sure that this was just another “we don’t get you and your style” meeting, but “Jesse Jane,” her vibrant alter ego, knew that this was it.



“Jesse Jane” was right. Interscope Records got it and signed her the next day.



“The Perttiest Girl,” which Alja did on Garage Band in its original version and posted to the internet, to surprising response that included people added their own spin and even their own verses and “Love on the Loose,” which she did with producer Ike Dirty, the son of soul man Isaac Hayes, were two of the songs that the fun-loving artist presented at the meeting and they show up on her debut project, a blend of hip-hop and soul, but coming together in the sound she calls “ghetto-pop,” a hip hybrid of all of the music that is Alja aka Jesse Jane. “ ‘The Perttiest Girl’ was a joke. It’s everything a guy would say to try to get at you, but it’s quirky and fun.”



Producers Mad Scientist, Ike Dirty and Chuck Cha-Lo (who handled “THE PERTTIEST GIRL”) worked with Alja’ to shape her eclectic sound and Da Runners and Jim Jonsin round out “The Perttiest Girl” project, where Missy Elliott (“she’s my mother” and she is featured on “Perttiest”) meets Cyndi Lauper (“she’s my auntie” and her 1 pop hit “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” is on the project). Prince and Andre 3000 all merge in the mind and music of this talented artist who’s not afraid to pay attention to music. She references Labelle (the recently reunited rock-soul-pop group) and Madonna in conversation without a pause. “There’s nothing new under the sun, but I feel like I’m unique because I am parts and pieces of everything I’ve ever heard, but I got it all. They all make sense when they come together in me.” Songs like “I’M BAD,” which is about empowering and strong womanhood and “WITHDRAWAL,” the ballad that will speak to anyone who has had love go away and you have to deal with “the absence of something that you are used to having,” make the debut of Alja’ aka Jesse Jane much anticipated. Club-bangers like “ON THAT DRANK” and “DRINK IN MY CUP” show that Alja’ just wants to have fun, but wants to push the envelopes of what people expect from an artist. “I take people forward by intertwining sounds. That’s why I call my music ‘ghetto pop.’ I use pop melodies over 808 tracks. It’s club. It’s quirky. The vocal arrangements are out of left-field. I just want to make music fun again. Even if I’m talking about heartbreak, I want it to be ‘AND WHAT!?’ If a dude is not doing right…MOVE ON! I want to be able to transition into deeper stuff but coming out of the box, I want to show that young women can be tomboys and still be beautiful and enjoy life. Plus, I want to change what can play on Hot 97. I want to prove that it’s playing in the clubs and hot as hell and it’s ghetto-pop.”



When she speaks on her style, I’m sure it “Jesse Jane” speaking when she says “I want to get it all out. We are gonna flood the world with me, so that people can get the full scope.” On her fashion flare, she adds “I make mix-match look good. It doesn’t matter about the brand. My mom took me to the thrift store and that’s how I found my look. I love patterns. Purple is favorite. I am the look not the logo. As long as I like it and it makes a statement, that’s Jesse Jane. I want to girls to be able to say ‘I WANT THAT!’ not ‘I GOT THAT!’ When my first video drops, I want everybody to say “WTF!?”



That’s Alja. That’s Jesse Jane. They are both about to take the world by storm!



ALJA’ AKA JESSE JANE SPEAKS ON HER “MUSICAL FAMILY”



On the interlude, “WHO YOU SOUND LIKE,” Alja’ AKA Jesse Jane, speaks on influences. Instead of bothering with comparisons, Alja’ draws her amazing “family tree.”



Missy Elliott:

“She is my mother. Man, she’s creative and innovative. She’s the SH*T! We have the same favorite color (PURPLE) and we’re both the same (zodiac) sign (CANCER). She wanted us to get the same Cancer tat, but I already have one.”



Prince:

“He’s my father. He’s just sexy as hell. He’s the epitome of “sexy” sells not just sex. But the good thing about him is he backs it up! I really like that he makes everybody uncomfortable when they watch him. Girls are warm inside and dudes don’t even know if they should look right at him. I love that.”



Andre 3000:

“He’s mix-match. He’s me. He takes any genre and puts it with hip-hop. He’s on his own terrain, his own planet. He’s one of the best rappers because he’s a picture-painter and his analogies, his allegories, are sick when he rhymes. I take after him. He’s my brother.”



Cyndi Lauper:

(SCREAMS) “She’s so colorful and not afraid to do anything. She’s stylish and her own person. She’s a character but she can really sing. She made people pay attention but they always got talent when they stopped to listen. She’s my auntie.”



Madonna:

“She’s an Icon and she’s still making music that people love. I aspire to have her kind of longevity. She’s got staying power and her fans have traveled with her. She’s my godmother.”



Michael Jackson:

“That’s crazy. He’s a little crazy, but he’s my favorite uncle. He’s crazy on stage and nobody can touch him. He is definitely the King and he still has those moves. I love how he took over the pop arena. Here’s this Black dude, taking over. I love it. He is THE most universal artist, ever.”



Tina Turner:

“She’s my grandmother. She’s amazing and the ultimate female performer. I don’t think she really gets her due; her vocals are sick and she has back-up dancers that can’t even hang with her. She kills it. I would love to meet her.”



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