Joy Crookes

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Joy Crookes
Crookes in November 2018
Crookes in November 2018
Background information
Birth nameJoy Elizabeth Akther Crookes
Born (1998-10-09) 9 October 1998 (age 22)
Lambeth, London, England[1]
OriginSouth London, England
Genres
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter
Instruments
  • Voice
  • guitar
  • piano
Years active2016–present
Labels
  • Speakerbox
  • Insanity[4]
Websitejoycrookes.com

Joy Elizabeth Akther Crookes (born 9 October 1998)[1][5][6] is an English singer-songwriter. She incorporates details about relationships, self-reliance, her culture, her South London roots and her identity in her music. Crookes has released three extended plays since 2017 and was nominated for the Rising Star Award at the 2020 Brit Awards.

Early life[]

Joy Elizabeth Akther Crookes was born in the Lambeth district of South London on 9 October 1998 to a Bangladeshi Bengali mother from Dhaka and an Irish father from Dublin.[2][7][8] She grew up in the area of Elephant and Castle,[9] where she spent eight years at a Catholic state primary school.[10][2] Crookes gained interest in singing after attending a jazz and blues workshop, and by the age of 13, had started publishing covers of Laura Marling and reggae to YouTube.[10] Whilst a teenager, Crookes taught herself how to play guitar, piano and bass, before writing her own music.[11] When she reached age 14, her parents separated, and she moved with her mother to Ladbroke Grove.[10] In April 2013, Crookes uploaded a cover of "Hit the Road Jack" by Ray Charles to YouTube at the age of 14.[12] The video gained the attention of over 600,000 viewers, notably including her current manager a few months later.[8]

Career[]

2016–2017: Influence[]

At the age of 17, Crookes released her debut single "New Manhattan" in February 2016,[13] as well as "Sinatra" in August 2016,[14] and "Bad Feeling" in June 2017.[15] "New Manhattan" is a love song that was named after the area in Brussels.[16] M Magazine wrote about Crookes at the start of her career, stating, "[She] may not be out of school yet, but what she lacks in experience she certainly makes up for in sonic dexterity."[17] When describing the aesthetic in Crookes' debut music video for "Sinatra", Pip Williams from Line of Best Fit wrote, "much like [her] sound, [the video] blurs the classic with the contemporary, blanketing the listener in nostalgia whilst teasing them with hints of something brand new."[18]

Crookes released her debut EP, Influence, with Speakerbox and Insanity Records in July 2017.[19][20] The five-track EP lasts less than 20 minutes and features "Sinatra", "Bad Feeling", "New Manhattan", "Mother May I Sleep With Danger?" and "Power".[19] Crookes performed "Mother May I Sleep With Danger?" along with her guitar player Charles J Monneraud on the global music platform, COLORS, in December 2017.[21] As of November 2019, the video gained over eight million views on YouTube.[21] She told BBC that she wrote the song by herself on New Year's Day of 2017 and began playing the song on tour, stating "When you tour a song you get to know it - you stay over at its house, you meet its mum, you get to know the sibling it doesn't like. So by the time we did Colors, it was a walk in the park. The video really changed everything. For about six months after that, everywhere I went people would say, 'Are you Joy from Colors?'"[11]

2018–2019: Reminiscence and Perception[]

Crookes in August 2018

Crookes released the single "Don't Let Me Down" with an accompanying music video in November 2018,[22][23] before releasing her second EP, Reminiscence, in January 2019.[9] Clare O'Shea from The Line of Best Fit described the EP as "a collection of five distinct tracks melding pop, R&B and soul."[9] The EP features "Man's World", "Lover Don't", "Don't Let Me Down", "For a Minute" as well as the song "Two Nights",[24] which was added to the BBC Radio 1 playlist in February 2019.[25] Crookes made her first appearance in Vogue in March 2019,[26][27] before releasing the singles "Since I Left You": "a hauntingly stripped back break-up song,"[28] as well as "London Mine" in April 2019. "The song celebrates the invisible people and how London belongs to no one but everyone," Crookes told The Line of Best Fit about "London Mine". "It's a celebration of immigrants who make up this country."[29]

Crookes performed on the Introducing Stage at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in May 2019,[30] before releasing her third EP, Perception, on the eve of June 2019.[31] The five-track EP features "Hurts", "No Hands", "London Mine", "Since I Left You" and "Darkest Hour".[24] Crookes made her first Glastonbury Festival appearance in June 2019.[32][10] In September 2019, Crookes self-produced released "Yah / Element" a medley of "Yah" and "Element" by Kendrick Lamar, before announcing her sold-out[33] headlining tour of Europe for October 2019.[34][35] She released the single "Early" with Irish hip-hop artist Jafaris in early October,[36] which later went on to reach No. 1 on the UK Asian chart. Crookes made her debut television appearance when she performed "Early" with Jafaris on Later... with Jools Holland in November 2019.[37] Crookes made an appearance on the Irish music TV series Other Voices in November 2019.[38] Crookes was shortlisted for Rising Star Award at the 2020 Brit Awards.[39] She was placed fourth in Sound of 2020, an annual BBC poll of 170 music critics who predict breakthrough acts for the coming year.[11][40] Crookes was praised her for her "South London stories filled with wit and romance".[40]

2020–present: Skin[]

In April 2020, Crookes released her first single of 2020, "Anyone But Me", which debuted atop the UK Asian Top 40.[41] The song is about her battles with mental health and how she feels that "there's another person living in [her] head."[11][42] In September 2020, Crookes released a cover version of The Wannadies' 1994 single "You & Me Song", which was featured in an O2 TV advertisement,[43] consequently entering both the UK Singles Downloads and the UK Singles Sales charts.[44][45]

In June 2021, Crookes released "Feet Don't Fail Me Now" as the lead single from her upcoming debut album, Skin. It reached #3 in the UK Asian Top 40.

Personal life and artistry[]

Crookes currently voices her anger at certain injustices and topics such as gentrification, racism, xenophobia, Brexit and feminism through Twitter.[9][46] As of August 2021, Crookes has over 211,000 followers on her Instagram account.[47] Crookes tattooed the name of her Irish grandfather, Frankie Crookes, onto her arm before he died in 2018.[38]

Crookes has cited Black Uhuru, Marvin Gaye, The Pogues, Sinéad O'Connor, Kendrick Lamar, Gregory Isaacs and Kate Nash as some of the names incorporated with her first experiences with music.[17][48][9][28] She told BBC about the music she was exposed to whilst driving with her father to her Irish dancing lessons, "My dad wanted to give me a real education. From Nick Cave to King Tubby to all this Pakistani music. He'd say, 'This is from your ends of the world, you should hear this.'"[11]

Discography[]

Studio albums[]

Title Album details
Skin
  • To be released: 15 October 2021[49]
  • Format: CD, LP, digital download, cassette, streaming
  • Label: Speakerbox, Insanity

Extended plays[]

Title EP details
Influence
  • Released: 21 July 2017[20]
  • Format: CD, digital download, streaming
  • Label: Speakerbox, Insanity
Reminiscence
  • Released: 25 January 2019[24]
  • Format: CD, digital download, streaming
  • Label: Speakerbox, Insanity
Perception
  • Released: 31 May 2019[50]
  • Format: CD, digital download, streaming
  • Label: Speakerbox, Insanity

Singles[]

Title Year Peak chart positions Album
UK
Asian
[51] 		UK
Down.
[44] 		UK
Sales
[45]
"New Manhattan" 2016 — — — Influence
"Sinatra" — — —
"Bad Feeling" 2017 — — —
"Don't Let Me Down" 2018 — — — Reminiscence
"Two Nights" 2019 19 — —
"Hurts" 19 — — Perception
"Since I Left You" 3 — —
"London Mine" 14 — —
"Yah / Element (Medley)" — — — Non-album singles
"Early"
(featuring Jafaris) 		1 — —
"Anyone But Me" 2020 1 — —
"You & Me Song" — 96 98
"Looking for a 10"
(with Fraser T. Smith) 		2021 — — — Produced By EP
"Feet Don't Fail Me Now" 3 — — Skin
"Skin" — — —
"When You Were Mine" — — —

Awards and nominations[]

Organization Year Category Nominated work Result Ref.
BBC 2019 Sound of 2020 Herself
Fourth
 [11]
Brit Awards 2020 Rising Star Nominated [39]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "Akther Crookes, Joy Elizabeth: Born 1998 in Lambeth, London, England". Findmypast. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c Mathews, Gabriel (27 November 2019). "Exclusive interview with Brit-nominated singer Joy Crookes". Stylist. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  3. ^ Webster, Cleo (9 April 2019). "Joy Crookes". Notion. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  4. ^ "Joy Crookes". Insanity Records.
  5. ^ "Joy Elizabeth AKTHER CROOKES - Personal Appointments". Companies House. Retrieved 8 January 2020. "Date of birth: October 1998" "Nationality: Irish" "Country of residence: England"CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  6. ^ @joycrookes [confirmed account] (9 October 2018). ""It's my birthday. Progression is one way of looking at it…"". Instagram. Archived from the original on 4 December 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
  7. ^ Joshi, Tara (12 January 2019). "One to watch: Joy Crookes". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b Dos Santos, Vanessa (31 May 2017). "Joy Crookes: Turning Bad Choices into Summer Jams". gal-dem. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e O'Shea, Clare (22 March 2019). "On The Rise: Joy Crookes". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Fishwick, Samuel (23 October 2019). "Joy Crookes: the soulful singer who's taken over 2019". Evening Standard. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Savage, Mark (6 January 2020). "Sound of 2020: Joy Crookes grabs fourth place". BBC. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  12. ^ "Hit The Road Jack-Ray Charles (cover by Joy and Paulo)", YouTube, 12 April 2013, retrieved 8 January 2020
  13. ^ Buck, Courtney (6 February 2016). "Joy Crookes shares impressive debut single 'New Manhattan'". The 405. Archived from the original on 9 February 2016. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  14. ^ Darville, Jordan (10 August 2016). "Joy Crookes Plays With Fire On Trip-Soul Single "Sinatra"". The FADER. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  15. ^ "Premiere: Joy Crookes - "Bad Feeling"". Wonderland Magazine. 6 June 2017. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  16. ^ Murray, Robin (4 February 2016). "Introducing... Joy Crookes". Clash. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  17. ^ Jump up to: a b "30 seconds interview: Joy Crookes". M Magazine. 18 November 2016. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  18. ^ Williams, Pip (29 September 2016). "Joy Crookes drops video for nostalgic pop masterpiece "Sinatra"". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  19. ^ Jump up to: a b Blanchet, Benjamin (24 July 2017). "Joy Crookes Unlocks Soul, Class on 'Influence'". Respect. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  20. ^ Jump up to: a b "Influence EP by Joy Crookes". Apple Music. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  21. ^ Jump up to: a b "Joy Crookes - Mother May I Sleep With Danger? | A COLORS SHOW". COLORS Studios. 21 December 2017. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  22. ^ Ramos, Chuck (30 November 2018). "Don't Let Me Down – [Joy Crookes]". Lyrical Lemonade. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  23. ^ Dunn, Frankie (30 November 2018). "london singer joy crookes channels lakshmi in her new video". i-D. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  24. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Reminiscence - EP by Joy Crookes". Apple Music. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  25. ^ "Joy Crookes is the latest addition to the BBC Radio 1 Playlist