Joey Essex released a cursed song before Love Island called Reem and it’s got a music video

If you don’t remember the bizarre era where Joey Essex was so powerful in the youth culture of the UK that he managed to singlehandedly popularise the word ‘reem’ to become wildly accepted UK slang, all I can say to you is that you just had to be there.  From his very first introduction on The Only Way is Essex, Joey Essex became a sort of de facto poster boy for everything that TOWIE stood for – the pinnacle of that early 2010s lad culture of pretty boy core meets fusey haircuts meets everyone wanting to be a club promoter. But what gets sort of lost to the 2011 ether is the fact that Joey Essex actually put a single out way before Love Island, called Reem, and it’s the worst thing I’ve ever heard with an equally atrocious music video.

Let’s take a walk down the abysmal memory lane of the Joey Essex Reem era – because no matter how cool he might be in the Love Island villa, you can never forget your corny roots!

Sorry, what the hell does reem mean?

As self described by Joey himself, reem basically means good. Looking reem is essential, and you could also have a lovely beverage and exclaim “Corrr, that drink is reem.”

It really caught on and if you were at school in the reem era you couldn’t escape lads saying it. You wouldn’t last an hour in the asylum where they raised me, etc.

The single

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Reem came out in 2011 and is honestly the most abysmal song I’ve heard in ages, whilst simultaneously ironically becoming my sound of the summer. Reem girl summer. The song features the girl group Miss Millionaire, who no one’s ever heard of, and they sort of sing about on it before Joey barges in with a “look reem, smell reem, be reem… REEM” refrain.

The video features some 12 year old lad as “Little Joey” who is of course trying to be reem, before heading to the club. The girlies in the video have framed pictures of Joey Essex and cling tight to it like it’s an ancient treasured relic and their most prized possession. Honestly, the whole ordeal is a fever dream.

A little browse of the video’s YouTube comments is hilarious – like a relic from a forgotten era of the internet. My two favourites? A diehard Joey Essex fan commenting “I don’t get how people can hate on this song. It’s brilliant. Simple, but brilliant. REEM <3” and even better is this very confused person who said “What does Reem mean I’m very confused… My name is Reem but in my culture it means gazelle?”

Joey Essex I beg you, perform Reem for the Islanders in the Love Island villa!

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Related stories recommended by this writer:

• From reality stars to models: Inside Joey Essex’s celeb-filled dating history

• How Love Island got great again: Even before Joey Essex, this series started with a bang

• Go on then, just how mega rich is Joey Essex? Here’s his exact net worth ahead of Love Island