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Jorja Smith
Genre Milkshake
-Wess Nass
“I don’t like to write about myself. I like listening to people,” Jorja Smith explains. It’s true: the British sing- er-songwriter loves to study the world around her, us- ing everyday imagery to inspire some of her lyrics. One of the first songs she wrote, “High Street,” describes the emptiness of her town when all the stores close. Through the lens of a child, she recounts waking up suddenly only to shadows, living in a ghost town. Wal- sall, like its inhabitants, was inevitably dying with no way out.
Of course, Smith is one of the few to leave and suc- ceed on her own. It was always music that inspired her; like many stars, her talent was obvious from a young age. She was performing at 8 years old, and began writ- ing songs around age 11. Always precocious, her first song was titled “Life is a Path Worth Taking.” By the time the congregation heard Smith sing “Silent Night,” a star was born. That showstopping voice was already there, the smooth jazzy sound punctuated by a street- wise, confident London style. Smith’s father, a benefits officer and lead singer of a soul group called 2nd Naic- ha, couldn’t be more proud.
Combining her Jamaican father’s reggae, rock and soul influences with a personal taste for more synthetic genres and grime, Jorja has created a sound that’s both classy and smooth yet has room to experiment. To give her a better grounding in technical music theory, Jorja’s dad convinced her to pick up piano. Her skill on the keyboard eventually led to a music scholarship; thanks to this, Jorja enrolled at Aldridge school and learned oboe and singing. While a good pianist, it’s always been Smith’s voice that makes her stand out. In 2011, she covered the UK hit “Too Close” and was caught on film by a friend. The clip went viral, making Jorja a minor celebrity at school. It was all the encouragement she needed to pursue music: by graduation, she’d written
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100 songs.
After finishing her A-levels in music, Smith moved
to London to continue songwriting. She had already been collaborating with Maverick Sabre while attending school, taking the train up to London for weekend writ- ing sessions. Now, Jorja supported herself by working shifts at Starbucks. Every free minute was spent rushing back to her little flat, head stuck in her notebooks writing lyrics. Even breaks and lulls in the commuter rush would find Jorja on her phone, typing lyrics frantically.
A debut single in 2016, “Blue Lights,” announced Jor- ja to the music world. The track samples rapper Dizzee Rascal’s “Sirens,” slowing down the background for Jorja’s breathy vocals. Inspired by an English law (Form 696) that required venues to give a demographic breakdown of their audiences, Smith softly sings, “I wanna turn those blue lights into strobe lights...” The law, active until 2008, was often used to justify shutting down concerts, especially if there was a large minority presence. It’s not right, she muses. “If you’ve done nothing wrong, blue lights should just pass you by.” The accompanying music video gives faces to the faceless: in a town that could eas- ily be Walsall, black men bond over dominoes, and black children run around in front of houses. It’s a side of life law enforcement might not always get to see.
Another single followed in July, “Where Did I Go?” – which Drake described as “his favorite song right now.” In 2017 she joined Drake on his Boy Meets World tour, performing as a guest vocalist, and contributed tracks to his playlist “More Life.” Rappers in particular can’t