-Thank you. -And congratulations

on all of your success.

Congratulations on being nominated for a Grammy.

Congratulations on doing so well.

I mean, you-you seem like you've just come out of nowhere,

but you have been doing this

for a really, really, really long time.

One of my favorite introductions I've ever heard you give is,

you said, "Hi. I'm Jessie Reyez, and I write sad songs."

-(chuckles) -Is that how you see yourself?

Pretty much, yeah. I write a lot of sad songs.

But... it's-it's not, like someone play, like,

a little violin or something, like...

It's... it's just, I just happen to get

more motivated to write when I'm sad.

I write happy songs-- they're just few and far in between.

Right. But you-you... you're...

the songs that you've released so far, you know--

'cause we're still waiting for the album,

which is gonna be coming out--

but the songs that you've released

might have a sad tone to them, a sad feeling, but it's...

it sometimes feels like there's always an undertone of love,

there's always... there's always, like,

a dream that you're going for, there's always...

there's always a feeling of hope in the music itself.

Is that something that you've saved for the album,

and then, like, you write fun songs for other people?

I guess. That's funny.

Um, sometimes, sometimes when I...

make songs for others, it's kind of like if I made a sweater.

You know? And I knit this beautiful sweater,

and I'm like, "Oh, it's nice," and I try it on, and I'm like,

"This doesn't fit right," you know?

And then I give it to somebody else, and it fits them perfect.

But it might be hap... Like, I've given away sad songs, too,

but I feel like in life, when you're conscious of the fact

that, like, highs and lows, black and whites, up and downs

have to exist, then sad songs have a little bit of love,

and even love songs have a little bit of sadness,

'cause you know that that love can't last...

can't last, 'cause nobody gets out of love alive.

Like, we have to... You know?

-I know, it's... -Oof.

-(murmuring and applause) -Wow.

Wow. "Nobody gets out of love alive"?

Well, no, 'cause it... Well, 'cause...

What is love, the coronavirus?

(laughter)

Wow, Jessie. You just, like...

You just took us on that, like...

Do you really believe that?

Well, well, yeah, because think about it.

If... I mean, it's... Listen.

(laughter)

If you... if you fall in love

and you're lucky

and you happen to be the minority

that finds the love of your life...

-Uh-huh. -And statistically, no...

Like, statistically, someone's gonna cheat.

We've got Instagram. We got Tinder.

We got all this BS

that's, like, catered to lying to somebody

or catered to finding quick love

-and not what you work for. -Right, right, right.

So, suppose you... you get by all that

and you find the love of your life

and you guys are down for each other

and nobody lies and you make it till you're old and gray,

which is beautiful,

eventually, somebody has to die.

That's, like, the truth of human life.

(laughter and applause)

-Somebody has to die. -So you don't survive love.

You don't survive love. But you know what, though?

If you keep that in mind, then today you might not cheat.

If you know that tomorrow's your last day,

then today you might not be a jerk.

Today you might be authentically yourself.

Today you might confess something

if you know that tomorrow, it could be all over.

Wow.

(cheering and applause)

That's a... See, that's what I mean.

It-it starts out sad,

and then it becomes this beautiful inspiration,

-a story of hope. -(laughs)

Your-your story is one

that's-that's full of inspiration and hope

because, you know, you-you live in a family,

a family of immigrants who moved to Canada.

Um, I mean, Canada seems to be producing

so much musical talent right now.

It's-it's really insane.

-But you-you were busking at one point, you know? -Yes.

It's not like you had this immediate rags to riches story.

When you were doing that, did you think

that you were gonna see the blowup the way you have now?

Because you have fans like Billie Eilish, for instance,

who goes like, "I love Jessie Reyez."

-I love... -Which is... which is really amazing.

-In fact, you're gonna be touring with her. -I am.

-I am. -That just got announced, like, now. Today.

(cheering and applause)

I'm excited.

So, when-when you look at that journey

and-and what it's been,

what's-what's the story you tell yourself of your life?

That I'm blessed.

That I'm honored. That I'm lucky.

That-that my hard work's paid off,

and I can't really, like, stop.

-Mm-hmm. -I can't stop.

It's-it's not often that I kind of...

Like, it's-it's only when people ask me

that I'm like, "Oh, man, this is crazy."

I remember the days where I had to bartend

till, like, 6:00 in the morning, counting tips.

I remember the days that I made two bucks busking

because I couldn't get anybody to stop.

I remember the days I had to hand out mixtapes,

begging people to listen to my music for free.

I remember all those days, so when I think about that,

it kind of makes me more appreciative now.

And now when I'm tired,

if I'm on a tour bus, I just, like...

I look at...

Or, no, I'll give you a better example.

When I'm at home, I have my old...

It's like, Sobeys was our Publix.

So, you know how they have Publix in the States?

-We have Sobeys in Canada. -Mm-hmm.

I used to be a cashier there,

and I used to write songs on receipts.

So, I keep my name tag on my shelf

just to, like, click back in

that I'm like, "This life isn't normal."

Touring, doing what I love isn't normal,

so I got to make sure I stay on top of it,

stay grateful, stay focused, stay awake.

-(applause and cheering) -You...

You strike me as someone who...

You strike me as someone

who has-has a-a passion and a drive about you

that-that not many people naturally would possess.

You know, um, one of the things you said

that I found really interesting is...

I read you... you-you talked about Coachella.

And you're performing at Coachella for the first time.

-Yes, sir. -Congratulations.

-Thank you. -You're on the bill. -(applause and cheering)

But you said something really interesting.

You said, a few years ago, you had the opportunity

to go to Coachella, and you said, "No.

"I don't want to go to Coachella

until I'm performing at Coachella."

-Yeah, man. Yeah. -(laughter)

Well, it's kind of... It's-it's jokes. It's how I...

First of all, I have to thank my parents.

Like, that-that...

that uphill immigrant battle is a real thing.

-And watching my parents have to, like... -(applause)

-Hell, yeah. -(applause and cheering)

-Watching my parents have to, like, hustle... -Yeah.

hustle... hustle twice as hard for opportunities,

have to navigate in a world where they didn't speak the...

-Like, their first language is Spanish. -Mm-hmm.

Have to navigate in a world like that.

Have to just-just... work their asses off.

I feel like it taught me to make opportunities from failure,

make opportunities from-from any time

that something seems too hard.

So... so...

if friends ask me to go out to a club, in my head,

I'm, like, I think of my bartending days, and I'm like,

"I don't want to be there if I'm not making money."

So, Coachella was kind of the same thing.

I was like, "Do I really want to go if I'm not working?"

-You know what I mean? -You got to make that money.

-You got to make that money, baby. -You're doing it now.

I mean, you're gonna be on tour with Billie Eilish,

and then, you're gonna be on tour doing your own thing.

You are blowing up exponentially.

What is... what is the one thing you dream of doing?

Is there one collaboration?

Is there one place you want to perform? Is there...?

'Cause now, the sky seems to be the limit for you.

Um...

Hmm.

Well, 'cause I've had... I've...

I'm such... such a believer

in affirmations and of list of goals

and making sure you have a map, 'cause otherwise,

how do you know where you're going?

So a map is like your list of goals.

For a long time, I've had on there, go farm for my dad.

I've had a few accolades on my wall.

My mom, um, in Columbia, used to work with kids,

and my dad lost his mom very young,

so I want to work with kids that don't have that-that...

-like, a stable home base. -Mm-hmm. -(applause)

So I want to start an orphanage and name it after my mom.

Thank you. All this... This is so funny.

All this sounds like I'm this great human being.

Like, I-I drink, I cuss. Like, don't think

-all this is all like that, you know. -Hey, man.

-But... -If you drink and cuss and open orphanages,

-I think that-that... -It's balanced.

That more than balances things out.

Thank you so much for coming to the show.

-Thank you. -I'm so excited to see you perform.

-I think everyone's gonna fall in love with you. -Thank you.

Before Love Came to Kill Us will be available March 27.

She's phenomenal. You make sure you get this album.

Catch her on her headlining tour this Spring

and opening for Billie Eilish in March.