Nao Yoshioka

Nao Yoshioka possesses a graceful vocal style centered on refined R&B and has delivered assured renditions of material first popularized by Nina Simone and Jocelyn Brown. Her earliest U.S. recognition arrived after she journeyed from Osaka to enter McDonald's 2010 GospelFest, where she became the first Japanese solo female singer to reach the final round and earned runner-up honors at Amateur Night before an Apollo Theater audience. In 2013 she issued her recorded debut through Japan's Sweet Soul label, contributing the track "Make the Change" to World Soul Collective, Vol. 1 as part of the imprint's effort to unite independent R&B artists internationally. Later that year Sweet Soul released her debut album, The Light. Two years afterward the project reached American listeners via Nia Distribution and Purpose Music Group.