Jorja Rising

It’s International Women’s Day and Jorja Smith is on stage in Hackney, east London, performing an intimate set. In the audience, a few hundred women are singing her hit single Teenage Fantasy back to her. It’s a Gurls Talk x Boiler Room collaboration to celebrate all the girls of the world with a party hosted by supermodel, activist and Jorja’s good mate Adwoa Aboah.

The energy in the room is electric, and Jorja spends the night grinning from one gold hoop to the other. Of course, the formidable Ms Smith has a lot to smile about. The past four years have seen the 22-year-old make a meteoric ascent. Daughter of Peter, a benefits officer, and Jolene, a jewellery designer, Jorja grew up in Walsall, West Midlands. At just 18, she moved to London to live with her aunt and uncle, transferring her job to a different branch of Starbucks (‘I was so useless at making coffee,’ she says).

Black dress, £9,000, white shirt, £910, and glass earrings, £300, all DIOR. Black and white shoes, £545, MALONE SOULIERS. Black and sheer socks, £6.99 for two pairs, ELLE at SOCKSHOP. OPPOSITE Dress, shirt and earrings, as before, and shoes, £1,090, all DIOR

Then, in January 2016 – without being signed to a label – she released her first single Blue Lights. Dropping on SoundCloud, it had more than 400,000 listens within the month – Jorja Smith had gone viral. In the years since, she’s worked with Drake, Kendrick Lamar and Stormzy. Her debut album Lost & Found won her both Grammy and Mercury nominations. In February, she brought home the Brit for Best Female Solo Artist (the award now sits in her living room).

This summer she’s headlining Field Day and playing at Glastonbury. Add to this that she’s just been announced as the new Dior Make-up Ambassador, following Bella Hadid and Natalie Portman. And it’s fair to say that Jorja has had a spectacular rise. A week after the Boiler Room gig in east London, Jorja sits down – on a plush pink velvet sofa in her W10 flat – with her friend Adwoa to share the soundtrack of her life so far.

What follows is a conversation that covers confidence, crying and why a little more self-care is next on Jorja’s agenda.

A SONG THAT REMINDS YOU OF GROWING UP
Teenage Fantasy by Jorja Smith

ADWOA ABOAH: I remember when Teenage Fantasy came out, for me it was the epitome of young love. I related to it so much, and it still stands as one of my favourite songs. What was it like when you first moved to London at 18? Did you have a plan for when you got here? How was it for you, manoeuvering around the city and making friends?

JORJA SMITH: I didn’t really think about it – I just did it… I always kind of get on with things. I ask loads of questions, but I don’t ask questions of myself – I just go with it. I really love being in London. I like being independent, so I used to explore by myself. I was excited to get on the Tube. London is so different to where I’m from. I remember I got so gassed when I was on Oxford Street and saw the part where they ran down it in Adulthood.

AA: When you write songs, which do you do first – lyrics then melody?

Dress, £1,490, GIVENCHY. Shirt, £350, VIVIENNE WESTWOOD at FENWICK. Shoes, £885, MANOLO BLAHNIK. Earrings, £375, JENNIFER FISHER. Socks, £6.99 for two pairs, ELLE at SOCKSHOP

JS: I never write the lyrics before. I just sing and then write along to the melodies. It won’t really make sense at first, but I might repeat certain phrases or words, and keep doing that. I always record it on voice note on my phone, then go back.

AA: So what was the first song you released?

JS: The first song I put out was Blue Lights. But it seems like forever ago. I wrote that one when I was still in Walsall. I put it out because somehow it reminded me of home. And it went a bit mad, but I’d never put a song out before, so I didn’t know what was normal and what wasn’t normal. It did very well, so I put out another song, and another, then just kept putting out songs and videos… And now we’re here.

AA: Do you still write about whatever you’re going through?

JS: Yeah, totally. I wrote recently: ‘I’m constantly in awe of what you teach me’. Because I get really angry and my boyfriend [producer Joel Compass] is really good at being calm. So I said: ‘Teach me’. I want to stop getting so angry because I can shout and scream. I need to chill out, which I find so difficult.

A SONG THAT KEEPS YOU GROUNDED
Love Is A Losing Game by Amy Winehouse

AA: When you sing, it often makes me think of when I watched Amy, the Amy Winehouse documentary. There was a time when she sang songs that were so part of a time in her life, but then she had to continue to sing them all the time.

It was like she was being brought back to those situations. Are there certain boundaries that you put up in terms of not wanting to relive the past on stage all the time.

JS: I’ve actually watched the Amy documentary about four times… And I understand it – sometimes you don’t want to sing about the bad things you wrote songs about. But I’ve learned I’m good at acting as though things are fine. On tour last year – it wasn’t that I didn’t want to sing, but so much had happened in such a short space of time and I was working so hard – it was too much.

I’d come off stage and cry in between encores. I’d feel so shit, then have to walk out and smile and seem like I was having the best time. My fans don’t expect me to be happy, but they’d come for me, so I felt I needed to give them a show to remember forever.

AA: It’s something I find quite difficult. Your life around you changes and you’re like, ‘this is amazing’, but you can actually feel quite overwhelmed. Maybe you don’t really want to be in the spotlight all the time. Everything looks so great, which it is – it’s amazing. You’re grateful, but it’s also fucking difficult and some days you wake up and you would much rather just snuggle up at home and watch TV.

JS: It was a big learning curve. I’m not a fucking robot. I tried, and I can’t do it. Last year it was too much – interviewers asking me the same things, people being like: ‘You’re so amazing’. I just wanted a bit of normality, but that’s why I’m lucky with my family and friends.

Top, £995, ELLERY at SELFRIDGES. Sunglasses, £99, KOMONO. Earrings, £375, JENNIFER FISHER

AA: How important is it to keep solid people around you?

JS: You need honest, real people around you that have their own problems, and want to talk to you about them and not just about what you’re doing all the time. One thing that I get sad about is that when I’m really busy, I don’t have any time to see people. Last year I had no time. And then I’d have a week off and I’d try to fit in seeing all of my friends – I had to cancel because I was just too tired. And then I’d feel shit for cancelling. Luckily they’re all understanding.

A SONG THAT MAKES YOU FEEL BEAUTIFUL
Video by India.arie

AA: What does it mean to you to be the new Dior Make-up Ambassador? I know we’ve spoken before about what it means to grow up mixed race – and that with that comes responsibility. What would you hope that people will get from you being the face of a huge fashion house?

JS: Well it’s a new natural face. I’ve always looked like this – for young mixed-race girls at school to see me and be like, ‘Oh – I look like her!’

AA: Was there anyone you related to when you were growing up?

JS: Sarah-Jane Crawford – she worked on BBC Radio 1Extra, and she’s mixed race. She has these really beautiful lips and she used to wear bright red lipstick.

AA: What does being beautiful mean to you in 2019?

JS: It’s being comfortable in your skin, and knowing that your imperfections make you perfect. You have to realise that you’ve got flaws and they’re fine – they just make you who you are.

AA: Do you like to try out new beauty looks? I know that I feel the most comfortable when I look like myself. I’m always like: ‘Make me look like I’ve been on holiday, but I’m a bit sweaty after a run…’

JS: I really love foundation! And I like that Dior has skincare in its products. Normally I just do a skin base, with a nice highlight and bronzer, then sometimes blusher, eyebrows and eyes – I like looking like me. I like dewy stuff – I like looking glowy and fresh.

Right: Bodysuit, £540, stud earring, £300, drop earring, £280 (for pair), necklace, £550, and bracelet, £350, all DIOR. Left: Grill, Jorja’s own.

A SONG THAT MEANS ‘FASHION’
Clarks by Vybz KartelAA

AA: Something I completely admire about you is that – even at the Boiler Room night you did it – you will wear a mini dress but not with heels. Instead you’ll have a pair of trainers on. There are thousands and thousands of girls who are like: ‘Oh no, I can’t ever do that, I don’t feel comfortable in that.’ Have you felt more confident wearing certain things as you’ve got a bit older?

JS: Definitely, yeah. When I first moved to London from Walsall, I remember once telling my manager that I didn’t ever wear shorts or skirts. Photo shoots have kind of helped, because I do so many shoots where they only have clothes in sample sizes available, and I’m not sample size.

Having to deal with not really fitting into certain clothes taught me a lot. If I was 15, I would have been so upset. But you just have to wear what you’re comfortable in.

Black and white dress, £395, 16ARLINGTON. Gold-plated and pearl earrings, £420, ALIGHIERI

AA: The amount of times I’ve been on a shoot and they’re like, ‘Do you think you could get in these?’ You feel pressure to perform so you find yourself trying to squeeze in. You’d never do that in a shop or at home! It just doesn’t fit, so you leave it. Do you ever read if there are bad comments about you? I love when people don’t love my outfit, I’m really happy because I don’t like to feel like I’m fitting in. I’ve accomplished what I was aiming for.

JS: I don’t really read the comments. One thing that used to happen was, because my tummy’s not flat, if I wear tight things, it sticks out a bit. People comment: ‘She looks pregnant.’ People think that, because I have loads of followers, I don’t see things online. I’m training hard in the gym for someone to say, ‘You look pregnant’. So I don’t read them.

AA: Is there anyone who is in the public eye at the moment whose look you admire?

JS: I love your style. And I love Rihanna. What about you?

AA: I quite like a lot of boys’ style, I like how a lot of men dress. I love Rihanna, too. Every now and again I feel like dressing like her, but then I’m just a bit too lazy and I put a tracksuit on instead.

White shirt, £360, ALTUZARRA at MATCHESFASHION.COM. Black skirt, stylist’s own. Black, white and red shoes, £545, MALONE SOULIERS. Gold-plated earrings, £420, JENNIFER FISHER. Black and mesh socks, £6.99 for two pairs, ELLE at SOCKSHOP.

A SONG THAT MEANS BUSINESS
Bitch Better Have My Money by Rihanna

AA: What are some of the things you want to achieve this year?

JS: This year is going to be really fun. I’ve felt a lot happier in my presence and in my energy. I’m going to South America to play some music festivals, but I’ve got time off too, so I’m going to explore a bit. I want to read so much more this year. I only read one book in 2018 and started about four.

When I was busy last year, I lost a bit of my creativity. So I also want to get back into watching more cool films and getting references from them for songs or music videos. I really do love the new music I’ve released. Probably because it’s about the things I’m going through now, like being more open. I’m just learning more about myself. I overthink a lot and have battles with my own mind; it’s good to write about it.

AA: I know I definitely battle daily with the critics in my head. But actually they’re brilliant because they push me. Then sometimes when I’ve done the best I can I’m like, ‘Just shut up and let me live!’

JS: I’m really hard on myself, just like you are. Without it, I wouldn’t be who I am. I push myself every morning to do a shoot or a video or to do a recording. But if I mess up in a show, then the whole show is shit and I beat myself up.

I used to cry a lot, when all the doors were closed, when I did stuff wrong. I just got really upset. It’s now about finding that balance of being hard on myself but knowing when enough is enough. And looking at what I’ve done and being proud.

Hair by Zateesha Barbour using Angel En Provence. Make-up by Carol Lopez Reid for Dior Make-up using Dior Forever Foundation, Dior Backstage Eye Palette, Diorshow Pump ’N’ Volume HD, Dior Addict Stellar Shine. Nails: Isabelle Bellamy for Dior using the Dior Manicure Collection and Capture Total Handcream. Tailor: Solveig Ferlet. Prop stylist: Sarah Gobourne. With thanks to Lola the dog.