Jorja Smith and Burna Boy try to beat the heat in the video for their new song “Be Honest.” The track marks the first new solo music from the British singer since her acclaimed 2018 debut album, Lost and Found.
“Be Honest” was produced by Izy and Cadenza (who previously helmed Smith’s 2016 song “Where Did I Go?”) and finds Smith unraveling an enticing vocal performance over a slinky groove that still has plenty of bump to it. “Be honest,” Smith sings during the hook, “You want this/But I can be heartless/Regardless of my conscience.”
“Be Honest” also arrives with a music video directed by Amber Grace Johnson. The clip follows Smith and her friends around London as they try to stay cool in a heat wave, whether it’s taking a late night swim or speeding down the street on a motorcycle.
“For ‘Be Honest,’ Jorja wanted to create a film that embodied the spirit of Summer — pure wild fun,” Johnson said in a statement. “We wanted to invite the world in, to experience a different side of Jorja. Free and full of light, and some ‘Hot Girl Summer’ energy.’ While writing in my AC-filled apartment in Brooklyn, I thought about how there’s nothing quite like summers in the city. You’re caught between concrete high rises, sweating from heat delirium, with our makeshift fire hydrant beaches. Yet despite it all, there’s a contagious air that floods the city, and your imagination becomes infinite.”
While “Be Honest” marks Smith’s first solo song since Lost and Found, she’s recently collaborated with English MC Loyle Carner and singer-songwriter Maverick Sabre. Smith also collaborated with Burna Boy on “Gum Body,” a track off the Nigerian musician’s new album, African Giant.
