You Need To Know About Bangladeshi-Irish Singer-Songwriter Joy Crookes Like Right Now!

Not competent enough to sit idle and stare as the…

We keep being pleasantly surprised by the South Asian talent we discover every other day. Joining this list is singer-songwriter Joy Crookes all the way from London.

Born Joy Elizabeth Akther Crookes to Bangladeshi Bengali mother from Dhaka and Irish father from Dublin, today she is one of UK’s most powerful new voices, garnering comparisons to Amy Winehouse and Lauryn Hill. Her music looks to the past, the present and the future as she draws on her Bangladeshi-Irish heritage. Effortlessly blending genres like soul, RnB, trip hop and pop, Crookes uses her creativity as a tool to understand her own identity. Her writing is honest and raw, featuring mesmerizing love songs to London, to women and to herself.

She grew up listening to an eclectic mix of genres she told Primary Talent in an interview. “My dad wanted to give me a real education. From Nick Cave to King Tubby to all this Pakistani music, he used to play me everything. He’d say, ‘this is from your ends of the world, you should hear this.'”

This 22-year-old has been streaming thoughtful neo-soul tracks since her 2018 EP, ‘Influence.’ Her voice captivates the audience and exudes the warmth and huskiness of jazz’s great vocalists. Lyrics penned by Joy Crookes on tracks such as ‘Mother May I Sleep With Danger’ and ‘London Mine’ are truly soulful and show understanding beyond her years.

Not for nothing was she nominated for the Brits’ Rising Star award last year and placed fourth in BBC’s Sound Of 2020 poll! And the latest ad by Beats, the leading audio brand founded in 2006 by Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine features Crookes, stating difference is something that should be celebrated.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Beats by Dre (@beatsbydre)

Crookes is currently working on her debut album and recently shared about her recording experience on social media. She Tweeted, “The first song we tracked today was about how much my family had to go through to make sure there was a roof over my head and how grateful I am for what we have become. I doubt any of us expected me to end up in Abbey Road recording for my first album.”