A loss of perspective makes us feel many different emotions, but, sometimes, we can learn that it is ok to lose something to help us discover new doors in our lives. South London-based Queer artist Becky CJ reminds us with her song Losing Your Perspective that we should lose our perspective to finding ourselves. The song is about falling in love with your best friend because when she and her current partner lost their perspective, they started to explore their relationship again. The song shows Becky CJ’s velvety vocals and her music that blends glitchy electronics and soft hues. We also knew her from hilarious Tinder Nightmares TikToks that she created from the awful tinder messages of people. We talked to Becky CJ about her music, TikTok videos, and queer representation in the music industry. Please read our exclusive interview below to learn more about her.

Where are you based?
London!

Tell us a bit about your music. How did you first get started, and how have you developed your style?
My parents are both musicians, as well as a lot of my extended family, so music was always something that was probably an inevitable. I have always sung and started writing music when I first went to university at 18. I spent a year there and realised pretty quickly that music was what I wanted to focus on so dropped out to pursue music. Since then, I think my attention to detail has improved massively and I am much more into lyrics than I was 10 years ago!

You dropped your new single “I Think I’m In Love With My Best Friend.” Can you tell us a little bit about this song and what inspired it? Was this your way to tell your friend that you were in love with them?
I think it was basically a therapy session, ha. I was in love with my best friend but wasn’t ready to admit it to her yet. I knew that admitting it to myself first was the most important thing so I sat down one evening, with a glass of wine, and tried to be as honest as possible. This song just kind of fell out of me! I did send it to her when I wrote it but I pretended it was written about someone else.

You also recently released “Losing Your Perspective". Can you tell us a little bit about Losing Your Perspective? How was the creating process?
So I initially wrote this song about four years ago! I had been messing around with some production ideas and came up with the hook ‘I think you’re losing your perspective’. I couldn’t let the hook go and eventually when I started writing for my EP in 2020 I decided to develop the idea with my producer Olly!

Maybe sometimes losing our perspective is good for discovering something exciting and new but also it is intimidating. “Losing Your Perspective” is about exploring your sexuality and falling in love with your best friend. What is the story behind this?
I definitely view losing your perspective as a good thing! I think it’s when you see things differently that you actually learn more about yourself. “Losing Your Perspective” started as a rough demo around three years ago, written around the time I was getting together with my now girlfriend. I felt we were both losing sight of the people we thought we were by falling for each other and it was a very scary feeling!

What was the reaction of your partner after listening to “I Think I’m In Love With My Best Friend” and “Losing Your Perspective”?
She initially didn’t believe the songs were about her, but now, two years into our relationship she loves them and won’t hesitate to tell anyone she meets that they’re about her haha.

We learned that the forthcoming EP Woman is out later this year. Can you talk about it a little bit?
So the EP is out now! It’s a collection of four songs that I wrote whilst getting together with my partner. They are a celebration of the love I have not only for her, but all women.

Recently you have been covering some of your favorite LGBTQ+ artists over social media. What inspired this? Who are some of your favorites?
Ah so many! I love Dodie, Frank Ocean, Christine and The Queens, ABBA!! So many. I was inspired simply by wanting to celebrate the love I have for these artists and their amazing songs.

What do you think about the representation of queer people in the music industry?
I think there are some incredible queer artists out there like Sam Smith, Christine and The Queens, Frank Ocean and Janelle Monae. The representation has significantly increased in the last five years and I can only see it getting better. Of course there could always be more but I think we have done a brilliant job of championing queer music recently.

Your music blends glitchy electronics and soft hues. Do you have any role models or other influences that create your music?
I am definitely inspired by a lot of the artists mentioned above, specifically Frank Ocean and Christine and The Queens. İ think in general the queer representation is massively improving; however, it’s undeniable that there isn’t enough out there. I would hope that over the next few years, the number of queer championed artists increases massively and I would obviously love to be a part of that!

We loved your Tinder Nightmares videos! It is so funny and genius but also we saw your talent and how you convert a ridiculous message into a masterful cover. How did you start this and how was the reaction of people?
Ha thank you so much! Those videos have changed so much for me over the last year. I was unemployed in March when the pandemic hit and gigs were suddenly taken away so I had no way of connecting with and growing my audience. I wanted to find a way to build my audience despite the world stopping and so TikTok seemed like a great starting place. I followed trends and tried a few things out and the Tinder thing just happened to take off, quite significantly!!

Do these stories secretly make you happy that you date women?
Haha, what do you think?

Jejune loves that you helped to create a pot party to raise money for The Outside Project. Can you talk about this project and why you decided to get involved in it?
When I was promoting my EP I wanted to do that alongside raising money for a cause I was passionate about and The Outside Project seemed like the obvious choice. I support any charity that is doing their bit fort he queer community and The Outside Project really went above and beyond, especially during the pandemic.

How pandemic has impacted you and your art?
The most significant way I was impacted the pandemic was losing gigs and so being forced to find new ways to build my audience and share my music. In hindsight, I feel very proud of the way I handled the challenge and have actually managed to connect with my audience more over this year than ever before. I would say my art has had to change in order to make the most of the current situation, ie doing viral/trendable content, but that has been so fun!

What is your motto in life?
I don’t think I have a motto as such but I try to stay positive and try not to compare myself too much to other people and their journey. I think this allows me to stay focused on my own goals without getting distracted by whatever other people are doing!

To learn more about Becky CJ, please follow her via the below platforms:
Instagram: @beckycjmusic
TikTok : @beckycjmusic

Photography by Becky’s girlfriend, Sabrina: @sabrinafaithc

Becky CJ: Losing Your Perspective, Finding Yourself