Jessie Reyez Recruits Daniel Caesar For A Show-Stopping ‘Figures’
March 26, 2018
Jessie Reyez wrote her stark song "Figures" while "just… a mess," she told MTV News earlier this year in a revealing Push: Artist to Watch interview. The frustration comes through in the song, as Reyez sings it, though there's also a sense of relief in getting it all down in a piece of art.
When she performed it at the Juno Awards of 2018, Reyez — who also won Breakthrough Artist — enlisted the help of singer-songwriter Daniel Caesar to help bring it to life.
Reyez began familiarly, plucking the song's four chords and delivering the first verse and chorus with just her voice and guitar. But soon, she put the instrument down and walked the length of the stage, alone with microphone in hand as a backing band did the rest.
Caesar joined for a third verse, then the pair sweetly closed down the song side by side.
Caesar performed two of his own songs during the show and was nominated for five awards, including Artist of the Year, and won for R&B/Soul Recording of the Year for his album, Freudian. Caesar also helped Chance the Rapper premiere a then-new song on The Late Show in fall 2017 that later came to be titled "First World Problems."
You can watch the team-up above, then watch Reyez break down the genesis of "Figures" in the MTV News interview below.