Her Own Way

A few moments before Jorja Smith and I sit down to talk, the musician is in full performer mode for the PORTER cover shoot, twisting her body with poise, pouting, angling her face towards the light, eyes sultry. Dressed in sensual faux furs, she looks goddess-like and powerful. Then, sliding onto a bobbly white sofa with a plate of food balanced on her lap, there is an instant transformation; a softening. She is a little whimsical, head in the clouds, and sincere in her vulnerability.

“I’m a romantic. And I’m very optimistic,” is how she describes herself. “I’m a dreamer. I probably take after my mum like that.” However, the past year has been a grounding time for the artist. Following a rapid ascent through the music industry in her early twenties, Smith has been working on making decisions that feel right for her; decisions that take her back to her roots, despite – but also because of – the fame she has found. “Don’t give yourself too much pressure,” she says of what she’s learned. “It’s a tricky one. It’s important to do what you think is right.”

At 26, she has just released her second album, Falling or Flying. She’s been making music professionally for seven years, beginning with the self-released Blue Lights, but she has been writing songs and performing since she was a child. One of the earliest videos that exists of her on the internet is a cover of On a Mission by Katy B, back in 2011. She is around 14, in her school uniform, and accompanied by a friend on the guitar. But her voice already carries the signature, rounded quality that has ferried her into the Top 40 chart again and again.

Indeed, her relationship to the album is tied intrinsically to this stage of Smith’s life; a time when she was figuring out what she wanted, coming into her womanhood and, presumably, moving away from former loves. There is heartbreak and pain stamped over some of the tracks, but it appears alongside a sense of flirtatious fun and personal empowerment.

“Did you listen to me before?” she asks, turning to me suddenly. “Before this album, I mean?” I did. “So, yeah, as you’ve grown, I’ve grown,” she says, shyly. “Do you hear that?”

“The growth? For sure,” I reply.

She moved to the capital at 18, living with her aunt and uncle in south London and working as a barista in Starbucks until fame caught up with her. “London’s not my home. It was great for… You know, like, people go to uni for three years and then they come back? I think I should have done that. But when I look back, everything happens for a reason. So, I wouldn’t change anything.”

“I really wanted to do a youth club or something big,” she explains. “But I haven’t been back home for long, so I felt like I needed to do it small to find out what it is that Walsall needs. Young kids need a space where they can feel safe, make friends and talk about what’s going on at home. I want to see what else I can do, from speaking to the girls.”

Having been one of those girls once is the thing that drives her. She describes a loving upbringing, working class, but where she wanted for nothing. Her mom is a jewelry maker who specializes in earrings, and her dad was formerly in the music industry and now works as a benefits officer. They still live in Walsall, not far from where Smith lives now, and she’s enjoying being closer to them.

Think back to those swirling sounds of Smith’s 2018 debut album, Lost & Found, as well as features on tracks from the likes of Drake (Get it Together, 2017) and then her 2019 smash hit, Be Honest (featuring Burna Boy). Thanks to those early co-signs, in some ways, her ascent has seemed swift; she became a globally relevant star almost overnight. By 2018, Smith had been nominated for a Grammy, and went on to win a Brit Award in 2019. It was only during the pandemic that she realized she was not ‘up and coming’ anymore – she was well established. “That kind of slapped me around the face,” she says.