Jesy Nelson has opened up on her upcoming album and one song that is particularly close to her heart.
The English singer and former member of Little Mix is about to release her first solo album since leaving the pop group (current members: Perrie Edwards, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Jade Thirwall) at the end of last year.
On debut single Boyz, the English singer will collaborate with Nicki Minaj, one of the artists she said to have inspired her alongside Missy Elliot, Beyoncé, Rihanna and Doja Cat.
The singer also decided to sample P. Diddy's original Bad Boy For Life on the hotly anticipated track, with the rapper rumored to appear in the music video.
Nelson spoke up about how the collab with Minaj and Diddy sprang from something extremely personal and painful.
Jesy Nelson Explains What Her Solo Debut Song 'Boyz' Is About
Asked about what kind of boys her single will focus on, the singer had no doubt.
"Always the bad boys," Nelson said.
"In a nutshell, I went through a breakup and it was probably the first time I've ever been heartbroken in my life. It was f**king horrendous," she added.
That breakup made her realize she might have an unhealthy penchant for problematic men.
"And I was lying in bed and I was like, 'Why is it that when I've been with really, really nice boys that I get bored, and as soon as I get with someone that's bad, I'm obsessed with them?'" she added.
"Why is it that most girls want a bad boy? I need to write a song about this," she continued.
Sampling P. Diddy's 'Bad Boy For Life' Felt 'Mental,' Says Nelson
She also explained how she got the idea to sample Bad Boy For Life, originally released in 2001.
"I was lying in bed and I was like, 'Hold on. It would be so sick if I sampled the original Diddy's Bad Boy For Life,'" she added.
Nelson then messaged her team and she put that out there, thinking it would have proved impossible to do.
"You're gonna think I'm mental, but I really, really wanna sample this song and write a song about why girls love bad boys and why I love a bad boy," she said.
"And that was the first song we wrote," she added.