Jessie Reyez is coming to The Oak Cliff Assembly for a poetry reading.
John Jay
Jessie Reyez didn’t enter the music industry to make friends — but throughout her decade-plus-long career, she’s formed familial connections. Known for wearing her heart on her sleeve, Reyez bares it all in her songs, whether they be for her own projects or for the artists she writes and produces for.
Reyez’s raw lyricism on songs like “Gatekeeper” and “Mutual Friend” has earned the co-sign of musical heavyweights like Eminem, Beyoncé and Sam Smith. Her 2019 EP Being Human in Public earned a nomination at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards in 2020. But with her new poetry book, Words of a Goat Princess Vol. II: The People’s Purge, she pulls back layers and gives fans a deeper look inside the inner workings of her mind.
Born from an Instagram series in which Reyez took suggestions from fans on stories and songs to write about, Words of a Goat Princess is a compilation of Reyez’s life experience in the form of poems. Each chapter is preceded by screengrabs of fans’ suggestions for themes of the poems, symbolizing a labor of love between Reyez and the fans, who have become a lifeline to her over the years.
We chat with Reyez via email ahead of a sold-out poetry reading on Thursday, Oct. 16, at Oak Cliff Assembly, an intimate venue ideal for uniting fans and forming lifelong community.
What inspired the Words of a Goat Princess series?
I was itching to release music. The natural process of the creative is to make and release; however, the industry isn’t really conducive to that rhythm. You have to plan, you have to run logistics, you have to edit. Despite being a blessing to be able to work as an artist, I felt stifled. I ended up on Instagram voicing my grievances, as many of us do, but then a solution dawned on me and on my stories. I asked the world what they would want me to write a song about. After freely releasing miniature song after miniature song, I ended up asking the world what they wanted me to write a piece about instead, and mixed poetry in. Slowly, I started to see a tapestry of people’s human experiences, mixed in with my own. I love the ephemeral nature of them, but eventually, people started asking where they could get them as one project.
Which do you think allows you to be more vulnerable — songwriting or poetry writing?
Definitely poetry. Songwriting has boundaries within the context of whatever key the song is in, or the context of time signature, or the context of whatever emotional tone the chords are eliciting. Poetry doesn’t suffer those walls of restriction, therefore allowing for more raw vulnerability.
Artists talk a lot about the “sophomore slump” when it comes to putting out albums. Is this something you worried about with the second installment of Words of a Goat Princess?
Absolutely not. My responsibility is to make it. How it is received is out of my hands. Also, I’m already working on the third, so onwards.
The venues you selected for the tour are very intimate, which will allow you to foster closer connections with fans. What do you enjoy most about connecting with fans?
I enjoy not having a middleman and being locked into the present moment with everyone in the room.
You’ve been on the artist side and you’ve been on the songwriter side. Having been behind the scenes and at the forefront, what would you say is the key to maintaining longevity in the music industry?
I think there are three. A) Don’t lose enthusiasm in the face of failure. Understand that it’s going to come because that’s the rhythm of life, but your resilience will carry you through to the next season. B) Learn to objectively critique yourself and remain a student because the world is forever changing and everyone has something to teach you, whether it’s how to or how not to. C) Be a good person.
One thing I’ve admired about you is that you’ve been working with the same people to this day that you’ve worked with in the beginning. Eminem, 6lack, Lil Yachty, Calvin Harris and more have appeared on many of your projects — and you on theirs. How can you tell when someone is going to be a friend for life?
When we still talk even after the session is done. Also if we’ve laughed a lot during the session, chances are I’ve made a friend.
It’s a challenging time in the political landscape. And you’re very outspoken about the causes that are important to you. What advice could you give to artists who have felt silenced during times like these?
Your integrity is what is going to allow you to sleep at night. That’s the only North Star you should follow.
One of my favorite songs of yours is “Mutual Friend.” I love the lyric, “if you die tomorrow, I don’t think I’d cry.” Whether you meant it or not, I have to know: What is the most unhinged way you’ve gotten over a past love?
Every time I had to do something gross, like barf if I was sick, I would use Pavlov’s dog experiment as inspiration. I would imagine their faces so I could associate them with grossness. It worked.
What do you think is the most important avenue for music discovery in this day and age — social media, streaming, or live performance?
Maybe live? Because everything is heading towards tech and [A.I.], and by the laws of supply and demand, real-life experiences are going to become less and less available; therefore, a good live show might end up being a diamond.
What are you most looking forward to doing while you’re in Dallas?
I got family out here, so hopefully hugging some cousins.