The Evolution Of Music

British R&B singer and creator of new music genre wonky funk Neo Jessica Joshua (better known as Nao) talks about her bold and experimental sophomore album Saturn, participating in Afropunk SA and celebrating black identity.

- Shannon Manuel

GQ: For those new to your music, how would you describe your sound?

Neo Jessica Joshua: An eclectic mix of everything I listened to when I was growing up, from R&B to electronic, and from Motown and jazz to world music.

GQ: What do you love most about making music?

NJ: I love the creative process: sitting in a room with a blank sheet of paper, knowing that by the end of the day a new song will have been written that no one else in the world could have written apart from me. It amazes me every time.

GQ: How far is your music a reflection of your identity?

NJ: I’m a British artist whose music is heavily influenced by black-American and black-British genres. Where I grew up, we listened to garage, grime and funky house, which formed a huge part of my identity as a teenager. Knowing artists of black origin were beginning to find their way on the UK music scene was inspiring.

GQ: Your highly anticipated album Saturn was deeply personal. Why did you want to share this with listeners?