Joy Oladokun<\/b><\/a> is a kind of self-proclaimed \u201crare birds\u201d who didn\u2019t got down to change into knowledgeable musician. The incontrovertible fact that Joy now will get to write down, report, and carry out music for themself and different Black queers like them continues to be nothing lower than magic. \u201cMaybe it\u2019s my religious trauma, but I feel this responsibility as an artist\u2014and not in a heavy way, in a truthful way\u2014that if I\u2019m going to ask people to listen to me, I want to say things that matter,\u201d the 31-year-old, Nashville-based songwriter advised <\/span>For the Record<\/span><\/i>. \u201cI want to make work that builds a bridge.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n While dwelling in LA after school, Joy discovered a job singing background vocals for a rock artist, and from there started to write down music for low-budget videographers. The work snowballed right into a viral gig, and finally, a publishing deal. A number of albums, loads of singles, and an enviable variety of excessive profile collaborations later, Joy is now making ready to launch a brand new album after which go on tour with collaborator <\/span>Noah<\/b> Kahan<\/b><\/a>. To high it off, she was simply named Spotify\u2019s newest GLOW artist.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n GLOW<\/b><\/a> is our world music program celebrating and amplifying LGBTQIA+ artists and creators. We\u2019ll help Joy on-platform with a devoted hub and flagship GLOW playlist, and off-platform by way of billboards and different takeovers. The visibility, to her, is essential\u2014on-line in addition to in actual life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNashville reminds me of the small town that I grew up in, in rural Arizona. And it\u2019s really interesting being so Black and so queer in a place that, at least on the outside, wants to pretend that you don\u2019t exist. I think that there\u2019s this real ownership and identity for me that has happened here. Yes, it\u2019s a country music town, and I\u2019m not a country musician, but I feel just as at home writing songs and making music here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Joy at all times believed within the energy of storytelling and songwriting, and now, they’ve the chance and the viewers to inform their very own tales.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAs a songwriter, I got to a place where I could have written a song for an <\/span>Ariana<\/b> Grande<\/b><\/a> or a <\/span>Carrie<\/b> Underwood<\/b><\/a> and that could have been gratifying. But I also was looking around the playing field and not seeing anybody like me and not seeing anybody telling stories like mine in a way that I resonated with,\u201d they mentioned. \u201cThere are obviously queer artists, there are obviously Black queer artists\u2014thank God for <\/span>Lil<\/b> Nas<\/b> X<\/b><\/a>\u2014but I think for the kids who grew up watching too much <\/span>Star Wars<\/span><\/i> and listening to <\/span>Paul<\/b> Simon<\/b><\/a> and geeking out to the harmonies in <\/span>Crosby<\/b>, <\/i><\/b>Stills, and Nash<\/b><\/a> records, and also lying on the floor and listening to <\/span>Linkin<\/b> Park\u2019s<\/b><\/a> Meteora<\/span><\/i> because it\u2019s the best thing ever, I think I fill that gap. And I get to remind people that Blackness and queerness and womanhood and gender are not monoliths.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Listen to her tracks \u201csunday\u201d or \u201cjordan\u201d and also you may simply hear a Twenty first-century <\/span>Tracy Chapman<\/b><\/a> with hints of <\/span>Bob<\/b> Marley<\/b><\/a>, <\/span>Phil<\/b> Collins<\/b><\/a>, and <\/span>Peter<\/b> Gabriel<\/b><\/a>. \u201cThey used a lot of West African music and rhythms in what they did. My family is from Nigeria and West Africa, and their music feels like home. They reached out and created a bridge, musically, between a synth and a talking drum.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Jimi<\/b> Hendrix<\/b><\/a>, <\/span>Green<\/b> Day<\/b><\/a>, <\/span>Nirvana<\/b><\/a>, <\/span>Paramore<\/b><\/a>, and <\/span>Metallica<\/b><\/a> additionally made a big effect on the artist as a teen. \u201cMusic is the weirdest thing we do. We just make noise out into the void, hoping it connects with somebody. I can listen to a <\/span>Johnny<\/b> Cash<\/b><\/a> record and be like, \u2018I relate to this.\u2019 But if Johnny Cash and I sat down to dinner, it would just be awkward.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Maybe, however there\u2019s additionally a broad vary of artists Joy has already been capable of work and report with, together with <\/span>Manchester<\/b> Orchestra<\/b><\/a>, <\/span>Mt.<\/b> Joy<\/b><\/a>, Noah Kahan, and <\/span>Chris<\/b> Stapleton<\/b><\/a>. \u201cWhen Chris said he would sing \u2018Sweet Symphony\u2019 with me, I think I said, \u2018Are you sure?\u2019\u201d Joy has a photograph of herself crying after listening to their monitor collectively for the primary time. \u201cEveryone has been so cool and so open to this sort of weird world that I\u2019m building.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Joy refers to their work and dwell exhibits as a sandbox at a playground\u2014a spot the place lesbians dressed like truck drivers stand and sing their songs subsequent to precise truck drivers. But it\u2019s not at all times a day within the solar. \u201cI did this benefit concert in Tennessee because there\u2019s been a lot of anti-LGBTQ legislation here. And we were like, \u2018Hey, queer people live here! Imagine.\u2019\u201d One of the songs on the brand new report is about how no one got here to Joy\u2019s eighth celebration, however in terms of the temper, \u201cIt sounds as if <\/span>Radiohead<\/b><\/a> and the <\/span>Beach<\/b> Boys<\/b><\/a> had a baby. So I have a serious, innate desire to make beauty out of difficulty.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Joy goals to maintain her numerous fan base in thoughts and deeply values creating artwork that enables anybody to come back to the desk to search out themselves.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI want queer people to listen to my music and feel empowered to take up all the space that God made them to take up,\u201d they mentioned. \u201cI want people to feel like they can be sad or frustrated at the state of the world, or the way they\u2019re spoken to, and feel like they still have people who care about them and advocate for them. And I think music does that.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Listen to the singles from Joy\u2019s upcoming album, <\/span><\/i>Proof of Life, and look out for the discharge on April 28.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/storage.googleapis.com\/pr-newsroom-wp\/1\/2023\/04\/Joy-1-921x1024.png\"){kind=spacer}
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