Jorja Smith Porn
- Birthplace: Walsall, United Kingdom
- Age: 27
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Jorja Alice Smith (born 11 June 1997) is an English singer-songwriter from Walsall, West Midlands. She was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 2019.
Smith has released several singles since January 2016 and collaborated with other artists, including Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Kali Uchis, and Stormzy. She released her debut extended play, Project 11, in November 2016. In 2018, she won the Brit Critics' Choice Award. Her debut studio album, Lost & Found, was released in June 2018 and peaked at number three on the UK Albums Chart.
Jorja Alice Smith was born on 11 June 1997 in Walsall, West Midlands, to a Jamaican father and English mother. Her father, Peter, a benefits officer, is a former musician and sang in a neo-soul group called 2nd Naicha before Smith was born, and her mother, Jolene, is a jewellery designer. Smith has a younger brother, Luca, and is the cousin of Leeds United footballer Kemar Roofe.
She began taking piano lessons at the age of 8 at the encouragement of her father. Smith earned a music scholarship at Aldridge School, where she learned the oboe and studied classical singing, before taking music for her A-level exams. She was scouted by a manager at the age of 15 after uploading videos of herself singing cover songs on YouTube. Shortly after, she began travelling to London for writing sessions with Maverick Sabre and Ed Thomas, while still in school. After graduation, she moved to London at the age of 18 where she supported herself by working as a barista, and continued to write songs.
In January 2016, Smith released her debut single "Blue Lights", which samples Dizzee Rascal's song "Sirens", on SoundCloud; the song garnered 400,000 plays on the website within a month. Her second single "Where Did I Go?", released in May, was singled out by Drake as his favourite track of the moment in Entertainment Weekly in July. In November 2016, she released her four-track debut extended play, Project 11. The same month, Smith was selected as one of the fifteen rising acts on BBC Music's Sound of 2017 longlist, and finished fourth on the list.
Smith grew up listening to reggae, punk, hip-hop, and R&B, and wrote her first song at the age of 11. She describes being "obsessed" with Amy Winehouse's 2003 debut album Frank as a teenager and was inspired by the singer's raw approach to songwriting. Smith said her songs are about social issues: "When things are going on in the world, I think it's important to touch on them, because as a musician, you can make people listen. As soon as people press play, you've got their attention." She cites Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keys, Mos Def, and The Streets as influences. Her singing has drawn comparison to the likes of Adele, Amy Winehouse, Rihanna and Alicia Keys.