Jorja Smith facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jorja Smith
Smith performing in 2018
Born	Jorja Alice Smith (1997-06-11) 11 June 1997 (age 28) Walsall, West Midlands, England
Occupation	Singer songwriter
Years active	2016–present
Works	Discography
Musical career
Genres	R&B pop trip hop grime UK garage
Labels	FAMM Sony/ATV

Jorja Alice Smith (born on June 11, 1997) is a talented English singer and songwriter. She grew up in Walsall, England, and started writing songs when she was just 11 years old.

In 2012, a friend uploaded Jorja's cover of Labrinth's song "Earthquake" to YouTube. This video helped her get noticed by a music producer named Guy Moot. After her first two songs became popular, she signed with Sony/ATV in early 2016. She then released two EPs (which are like mini-albums) later that year and into 2017.

Her first full album, Lost & Found, came out in 2018. It was loved by critics and reached number three on the UK Albums Chart. In the same year, Jorja won the Brit Critics' Choice Award. In 2019, she was named Best British Female Artist at the Brit Awards. She was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist. Her third EP, Be Right Back, released in May 2021, also received good reviews.

Early Life and Music Start

Jorja Smith was born on June 11, 1997, in Walsall, England. Her father, Peter, is from Jamaica and used to be a musician. Her mother, Jolene, designs jewellery. Jorja has a younger brother named Luca. She is also the cousin of football player Kemar Roofe.

Jorja started taking piano lessons when she was 8 years old, encouraged by her father. She earned a music scholarship to Aldridge School. There, she learned to play the oboe and studied classical singing.

When she was 15, a manager discovered her after she posted videos of herself singing cover songs on YouTube. Soon after, she began traveling to London for songwriting sessions. She worked with artists like Maverick Sabre and Ed Thomas, even while still in school. After finishing school, she moved to London at 18. She worked as a barista to support herself and continued to write songs.

Music Career Highlights

First Songs and Album

In late 2015, the artist Maverick Sabre publicly supported Jorja Smith. In January 2016, Jorja released her first song, "Blue Lights", on SoundCloud. This song used a sample from Dizzee Rascal's "Sirens". It quickly gained 400,000 plays in just one month.

Her second song, "Where Did I Go?", came out in May 2016. Drake even said it was his favorite song at the time in Entertainment Weekly. Because of the attention from Drake, Jorja caught the eye of Guy Moot, a music executive. He signed her to a publishing deal in late 2016.

In November 2016, she released her first EP, Project 11, which had four songs. That same month, BBC Music chose Jorja as one of the top 15 rising artists for their Sound of 2017 list. She ended up finishing fourth on the list.

Jorja Smith performing in 2018

Jorja performed as a special guest on Drake's Boy Meets World Tour in early 2017. She also sang on two songs from his mixtape More Life (2017). On International Women's Day, she released the song "Beautiful Little Fools". The title was inspired by the novel The Great Gatsby.

In May 2017, she was featured on Kali Uchis' song "Tyrant". This was the first song from Kali Uchis' album Isolation (2018). Jorja released her third song, "Teenage Fantasy", in June. Two months later, Jorja and grime artist Preditah released a song together called "On My Mind".

Jorja also opened for Bruno Mars on his 24K Magic World Tour in late 2017. In December, it was announced that Jorja would receive the Brit Critics' Choice Award. She was the first independent artist to win this award.

Debut Album and Recent Work

In January 2018, Jorja released the song "Let Me Down" with rapper Stormzy. She also helped write and sang the song "I Am" for Kendrick Lamar's soundtrack album for the movie Black Panther. Later that month, she performed at the BRIT Awards with Rag'n'Bone Man. In April, she made her first US television appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, singing "Blue Lights".

Her first full studio album, Lost & Found, was announced in April and released in June 2018. She had written the songs for this album over five years. The album was highly praised. After the album's release, Jorja started touring in Europe and performed at festivals in Japan. She also toured North America, with Ravyn Lenae joining her.

In 2019, Jorja announced a tour in North America with Kali Uchis. In August 2019, Jorja released the song "Be Honest" featuring Burna Boy.

In early 2020, Jorja started hosting a BBC Radio 3 show called 'Tearjerker'. The show explored how music can help people heal. She released two more songs that year: "By Any Means" and "Come Over" featuring Popcaan.

On May 14, 2021, she released her third EP, Be Right Back. This EP also received good reviews.

On May 11, 2023, Jorja released the song "Little Things". It reached number 95 on the UK Singles Downloads Chart. On May 18, 2023, Jorja announced that her next album, Falling or Flying, would be released in September 2023. On August 4, 2023, she released "Go Go Go", which was the third song from that album. On November 9, 2023, Jorja released a cover of East-17's 1994 song "Stay Another Day" as part of the Amazon Music Originals series.

On February 12, 2025, Jorja Smith and rapper AJ Tracey released the song "Crush". This song uses parts of American singer Brandy's 2002 album track "Love Wouldn't Count Me Out".

Musical Influences

Jorja Smith grew up listening to many types of music. These included reggae, punk, hip-hop, and R&B. She wrote her first song when she was 11.

She has said she was "obsessed" with Amy Winehouse's 2003 album Frank when she was a teenager. Amy Winehouse's honest songwriting inspired her a lot. Jorja believes her own songs often talk about important social issues. She feels that as a musician, she can make people listen and pay attention to these topics.

Jorja looks up to many artists. Some of her influences include Lauryn Hill, Adele, Amy Winehouse, Sade, Nina Simone, Alicia Keys, Mos Def, and the Streets. For fashion, Jorja says Rihanna is an icon who inspires her style.

Albums

• Lost & Found (2018)
• Falling or Flying (2023)

Tours

Headlining Tours

• Lost & Found Tour (2018)
• Falling or Flying Tour (2024-2025)

Co-headlining Tours

• The Kali & Jorja Tour (with Kali Uchis) (2019)

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Jorja Smith para niños