South London Singer JGrrey Isn't Here To Prove Anything To Anyone, Except Herself

For Bustle UK's music issue, Noisemakers, we wanted to spotlight the new talent you're destined to find on your playlist in the next 12 months, as well as the industry heavy hitters you know and love. Bustle UK's social media editor (and all-round music super-fan) Charlie Mock scoured the scene to find the finest up-and-coming artists to take on the Bustle Booth. Read on to find out how JGrrey left her mark.

Over the years, R&B has slightly shifted its sound and meaning. When it once meant huge, bombastic voices singing over simple, soft melodies, we're now more likely to hear quietened vocals soaring over experimental productions. JGrrey is one of the denizens of R&B 2.0. Fusing jazz, blues, and neo-soul into a slick mixture, this South London artist is on the rise, and understandably so.

With "1994" tattooed across her fingers, JGrrey came up on the streets of South East London as part of a pack of creative, inventive millennials hoping to prove their talent to the world. "Music has always been a sort of escape for me," she tells Bustle. "If I’m happy, sad or unsure on how I feel... there’s an album to match somewhere." As March's EP Grreydaze showcased, it's now her own music that has the ability to put you into a trance or transport you somewhere beautiful. Her music has that uncanny ability to encompass the whole spectrum of feeling.

While she's drawing in more attention and admirers by the day, the biggest challenges have actually come far closer to home, with JGrrey citing "myself, and my expectations of other people" as her biggest obstacles. A fan of East London rapper Kojey Radical, JGrrey invoked his words — "these people are not your friends" — to make sense of the music industry. "I'm just here to make music," she says.

Blessed with a keen eye for style, JGrrey says that if she weren't making music, she'd probably be working in "something botanically involved" or perhaps interior design. While she's not getting to flex those muscles just yet, JGrrey is slowly but surely becoming a bit of a style icon in her own right. Dazed recently reached out to get some beauty recommendations from her, and when Bustle asked the same, she said that the humble Carmex lip balm was her absolute go to product of choice. "There's nothing worse than dry lips," she says.

Aside from adding her music to your summer playlists, JGrrey also recommends finding a place for the classically poppy band Parcels. But when this summer's over, what's going to be happening for JGrrey?

"More growth, learning, living, laughing, writing, collaborating, and more proving myself... to myself," she says.

This lady's in it for herself and the music only, which is why it makes perfect sense that her dream collaborator is, well, herself. That's right — right now, if she could hop on a track with anyone it'd be "myself in 20 years." With the track JGrrey's on right now, it doesn't take too much imagination to guess what that'd look like. She's destined for a huge career, and the JGrrey of 2039 will be able to look back on this time with fondness. Until then, check out her Bustle Booth answers below.