Jorja Smith

Jorja Smith fuses a soul-stirring vocal presence with unvarnished lyricism and an instinctive command of shifting sounds that range from contemporary hip-hop soul to garage and alt-pop. Her rapid ascent unfolded across the second half of the 2010s. After her atmospheric, MOBO-nominated first single, “Blue Lights” (2016), registered on the British indie chart, the follow-up “On My Mind” (2017) climbed close to the upper reaches of the U.K. dance listing; three further MOBO nods later paved the way for the Top 40 ballad “Let Me Down” (2018). In the same stretch she lent her voice to Drake’s More Life playlist and the Black Panther soundtrack, moves that heightened expectations for her own debut album, Lost & Found (also 2018). That Top Five British success earned three Brit Award nominations and a Grammy nod in the Best New Artist category. Subsequent releases included the 2021 EP Be Right Back, fronted by the Top Ten hit “Be Honest,” and the broader sophomore set Falling or Flying (2023), introduced by the up-tempo club cut “Little Things.” The additional dancefloor single “High” surfaced in 2024.

Immersed from childhood in reggae, soul, and hip-hop, Jorja Alice Smith received early encouragement from her father, himself a musician. She began performing at eight and soon turned to writing her own material, eventually securing a music scholarship. Following her studies she issued her recorded debut in 2016, the hip-hop soul track “Blue Lights,” whose lyrics addressed racist police conduct. Released on her own FAMM imprint, the single reached number 22 on the U.K. indie chart and earned a MOBO nomination for Best Song. By year’s end she had added the Maverick Sabre duet “A Prince,” the stark “Where Did I Go?,” and the five-song EP Project 11.

Her global visibility grew in 2017 through appearances on Drake’s More Life playlist. Both “Jorja Interlude” and “Get It Together” registered across several territories. A series of solo releases—“Beautiful Little Fools,” “Teenage Fantasy,” and “On My Mind”—appeared throughout the year, the last of them peaking at number five on the U.K. indie chart and number 54 on the pop listing. Those efforts brought MOBO nominations for Best Female, Best Newcomer, and Best R&B/Soul Act.

Early in 2018 she unveiled the conflicted ballad “Let Me Down,” featuring grime artist Stormzy; the track eventually reached number 34 on the U.K. chart. Around the same time she contributed “I Am,” a collaboration with Kendrick Lamar, to the Black Panther soundtrack. That momentum culminated in the June release of Lost & Found, her first full-length project. The album entered the British chart at number three, prompting Brit Award nominations for Album of the Year, Breakthrough Act, and Female Solo Artist; in the United States it peaked at number 41, while Smith received a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist.

In August 2019 she returned with “Be Honest,” a Burna Boy collaboration that reached number eight in the U.K. Additional singles, among them a reinterpretation of St. Germain’s “Rose Rouge,” preceded the June 2021 arrival of the eight-track EP Be Right Back. Three of its songs appeared on the U.K. pop chart, and during this period Smith joined forces with Afrobeats producer GuiltyBeatz on the co-billed “All of This” and guested on Sasha Keable’s “Killing Me.”

Throughout 2022 she maintained a schedule of featured appearances while shaping her second album. Credits on FKA twigs’ “Darjeeling,” Ibeyi’s “Lavender & Red Roses,” and Calvin Harris’ “Somebody Else” hinted at the stylistic breadth she would pursue on the proper follow-up. After issuing singles that traversed contemporary R&B, garage, and alternative pop, Falling or Flying arrived in September 2023 and again charted at number three in the U.K. The reimagined version Falling or Flying (Reimagined) followed in 2024. Smith then teamed with Childish Gambino and Amaarae for “In the Night” before releasing the standalone dance track “High.”