walking upstream…
Jorja Smith
photo: vbrunophotog · cc by-sa 4.0 ↗Jorja Smith
sourcesWikipedia · Vinyl Me, Please · Revolt
Jorja Smith grew up in Walsall, in England's industrial West Midlands, the daughter of a Jamaican father who had sung in a neo-soul group and an English mother who loved punk and rock. She started piano at eight, was writing songs by eleven, and uploaded a cover to YouTube that eventually reached the right ears; her self-released 2016 debut single 'Blue Lights,' built around a Dizzee Rascal sample and confronting police harassment in her hometown, announced a songwriter fluent in both British soul and the sound of UK garage and grime she'd grown up around. A deal with Drake's label followed, then the 2018 debut album 'Lost & Found,' a Brit and Grammy-nominated statement of unhurried, jazz-inflected R&B delivered in a smoky, elastic voice. She has kept expanding outward since, into dancehall and Afrobeats collaboration on 'Be Right Back' and 'Falling or Flying.'
the sound in question
2016
Blue LightsJorja Smith
walk the tributaries ↓
Amy Winehouse2000s · Soul / R&B / Jazz
Smith has described being obsessed as a teenager with Winehouse's 2003 debut 'Frank,' drawn to its unguarded, conversational songwriting, and critics reviewing 'Lost & Found' heard that lineage directly: Smith's voice takes on Winehouse's rasp and slight vocal edge on tracks like 'Where Did I Go?,' the funk undertow recalling 'Back to Black'-era Winehouse cuts such as 'Tears Dry on Their Own.'
listen: upstream & heresource: Billboard ↗
2006
Tears Dry on Their OwnAmy Winehouse
2016
Where Did I Go?Jorja Smith
listen forPlay 'Tears Dry on Their Own' against 'Where Did I Go?' — both ride a loping, funk-inflected groove under a voice that cracks and rasps at the edges of its lines, sounding conversational even when the melody is doing something technically difficult.
Lauryn Hill1990s · Hip hop soul / Neo soul / R&B / Reggae
Smith names Lauryn Hill among her key influences, and reviewers of 'Lost & Found' have pointed specifically to 'Lifeboats (Freestyle)' as a track where Smith directly channels Hill's 'Miseducation'-era voice — a half-sung, half-spoken cadence that turns social observation into something closer to a sermon than a pop verse, following a similar sparse, hip-hop-derived groove.
listen: upstream & here
1998
Doo Wop (That Thing)Lauryn Hill
2018
Lifeboats (Freestyle)Jorja Smith
listen forSet 'Doo Wop (That Thing)' beside 'Lifeboats (Freestyle)' — both let the vocal drop out of melody into a loose, rhythmic near-rap mid-verse, using that shift in delivery to land a piece of plainspoken social commentary.
Damian Marley2000s · Reggae / Dancehall / Reggae fusion
Smith's Jamaican father made her playlists of message-driven reggae, including Damian Marley, and she has cited him among her formative influences alongside Amy Winehouse and Lauryn Hill. That reggae and dancehall backbone resurfaces later in her catalogue on collaborative tracks like 'Be Honest' with Burna Boy, where a rolling, bass-forward riddim sits under her R&B phrasing.
listen: upstream & here
2005
Welcome to JamrockDamian Marley
2019
Be HonestJorja Smith
listen forLine up 'Welcome to Jamrock' with 'Be Honest' — both are carried by a heavy, syncopated dancehall riddim built to move a room, with the vocal riding just behind the beat rather than locking rigidly onto it.