Blue Lights

Jorja Smith is 2019’s voice and face of music, so #TeamCLEO shines a spotlight on how she became “The One”.

It began with a dream, and involved a whole load of hard work. British artiste Jorja Smith started her life in music from a young age, and that conviction got her from YouTube covers to now, award nominations and being a superstar in her own right. While she mentions she didn’t have a real plan in place, her headstrong ethos meant she went with the flow and never looked at others for comparison: “I work hard and just get on with things.” At the time of writing, Jorja was nominated in the International Female Artist of the Year category at the NRJ Music Awards 2019, and notably, she was announced as Dior ’s Global Make-up Ambassador.

With a voice packed with emotion, and versatile in a range of styles, Jorja can take you on an emotional melodic ride like in “Goodbyes” and “The One”, then be edgier in tunes like “Be Honest” which features Burna Boy. There’s even more coming up as we found out, and here, Jorja goes into when she started out, how she was discovered, what beauty from within means, and how quitting music is out of the question.

Tell us your story as regards to your career and what advice would you give aspiring artistes today?