The Real Meaning Behind Jesy Nelson And Nicki Minaj’s ‘Boyz’

Staying true to the Diddy sample, the thesis, if you will, of Jesy Nelson’s “Boyz” is simple: She wants a bad boy for life. “Love a little bitter in the sweet,” she raps in the first verse, per Genius. “Bad boy, my recipe.” She continues this sentiment in the refrain: “Ooh, I like the tattoos and them gold teeth / Type to make me feel like I’m a baddie,” she raps. “I like the fire you’re bringin’ out of me / Baby, somethin’ ’bout him got me weak in the knees.”

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She then elaborates that she wants the kind of man of whom her mother would disapprove. “My mama won’t see what I see in ya,” she professes, “But I don’t want it if it ain’t bad enough.” If that wasn’t enough to convince you what kind of man Nelson wants, she repeats it in the chorus ad nauseam. “I like a bad boy / You know I like a bad, bad boy.” She continues, “I like a bad boy. You can’t stop me / I love bad boys for life.”

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While it may seem like Nelson is pulling a 2013 Miley Cyrus by attempting to shed her good-girl image, she insists her solo work better represents who she is. “My passion is R&B and hip-hop from the ’90s and early 2000s. That’s what I grew up on,” she told Vulture. “It’s the music I’ve always wanted to make, so it feels quite liberating.”