“Wear what you feel comfortable in and what suits your mood.”
― Jorja Smith
“I didn’t look like Rihanna. I was a bit chubby. I had puppy fat. I had a moustache. I didn’t want to have lips; I didn’t want a bum. I grew out of it, but I feel like everyone went through that phase of wanting to be skinny.”
― Jorja Smith
“I like a performance, a live performance, so I like little mistakes because that’s what makes perfect – the mistakes.”
― Jorja Smith
“I’d like to be a role model.”
― Jorja Smith
“Chill? I can’t chill. I find it so difficult to sit still.”
― Jorja Smith
“Independence is doing what you want to do, knowing that you’re happy with the decisions you’re making and that it’s the best for you.”
― Jorja Smith
“I was born in June, so I like summer, and my favourite part of a sunny day is when the sun sets.”
― Jorja Smith
“Maybe I am a bit of a siren.”
― Jorja Smith
“I used to watch a programme about Route 66 in America, and it looked so fun.”
― Jorja Smith
“I overthink everything, and one thing I find difficult is to actually be in the moment.”
― Jorja Smith
“I want to be worldwide, international, in everyone’s ears, and everyone listening to what I’m saying, because I think I say some good stuff.”
― Jorja Smith
“Michael Jackson was a Gemini. Kanye, Lauryn Hill, a lot of people that are amazing artists are Geminis.”
― Jorja Smith
“I just like wearing whatever makes me feel comfortable and confident. I wear what fits my mood.”
― Jorja Smith
“Paris is such a beautiful city.”
― Jorja Smith
“One Christmas, I wrote a nativity play. But nobody turned up on the day of the performance apart from my brother and my cousins, so I just read the whole script onstage and made my brother pretend to be one of the animals at the inn.”
― Jorja Smith
“I left Starbucks in 2015. When I was younger, I remember looking at Justin Bieber and wishing I had all these fans, but you know what? Everyone has their path, everyone’s path is different, and this is where mine’s going. I just didn’t want to work at Starbucks. I wanted to be writing music all the time.”
― Jorja Smith
“When I found ‘New Chain’ by Col3trane, honestly, I couldn’t stop playing it. It’s a good road trip song because the beat just drives on.”
― Jorja Smith
“A road trip in Cuba is probably top of my list.”
― Jorja Smith
“With make-up, I much prefer my natural face. I’m confident with myself like that, but when I wear make-up, I like to look like myself. I love dewy skin, a matte lip, and a bad highlight!”
― Jorja Smith
“Music is an outlet, so I’m not going to get things out that aren’t true. Sometimes I do exaggerate – but only a little bit.”
― Jorja Smith
“I wanted to be pale. I didn’t wanna go in the sun, because I was in school with a lot of white girls. I remember one girl said to me, ‘You look better pale.’ And I was like, ‘Well, you’re tan!’ She was like, ‘It’s not the same.’”
― Jorja Smith
“I’m not good at talking, but I can write a good song and tell a story.”
― Jorja Smith
“Because I’m on a tour bus, it’s so hard to wash your face – we have to use, um, water bottles. But you know what? It’s not about looking cute – it’s about staying hydrated.”
― Jorja Smith
“My dad will always criticize me. He doesn’t care if it hurts my feelings. If I start acting a certain way, he would be like, ‘Who do you think you are?’ So many people can tell me, ‘You’re amazing,’ but I don’t think it. I’m really hard on myself.”
― Jorja Smith
“For me, it’s about touching as many people as I can and helping as many people as I can with my music.”
― Jorja Smith
“I make music because it helps me. I feel better after I’ve written a song. I listen to my own songs, and they make me feel and think about stuff I’d done or someone said to me, and I feel a bit better.”
― Jorja Smith
“I want to be someone for young girls to look up to, for fathers to want their daughters to listen to me because I’m not rude, and I’m actually talking some sense.”
― Jorja Smith
“Drake brought me out at the O2 in London and Barclays Center, and I’m on ‘More Life.’”
― Jorja Smith
“I write all of my music.”
― Jorja Smith
“I’m not going to do a song just because it’s with Drake.”
― Jorja Smith
“I’ve got far to go. There’s always more to be done.”
― Jorja Smith
“I just make my music. It’s not too complicated.”
― Jorja Smith
“I love anything about love.”
― Jorja Smith
“I don’t like setting goals – I don’t like to be disappointed.”
― Jorja Smith
“It’s very special that I can go through things – and write them down and record them – and so many people can relate. Not everybody can get out who they are and really feel better after they write.”
― Jorja Smith
“I’ve got so many melodies in my head.”
― Jorja Smith
“Sometimes I feel people try to be too complex. Some of the greatest songs are so simple. The simplest phrases.”
― Jorja Smith
“I don’t think about being a public persona too much – I just get on with what I’m doing.”
― Jorja Smith
“Most of me expressing myself comes through my music more than what I wear.”
― Jorja Smith
“I used to like loads of boys and get rejected all the time.”
― Jorja Smith
“There’s this issue where I’m really doing well and got hate ’cause I’m too light-skinned. I understand why people say that – throughout history, the lighter you are, that’s how it’s been. But it’s not my fault. My mom and dad had me! I look how I look.”
― Jorja Smith
“Sound has always followed me. A lot of reggae when mum was cooking. I’d write songs with my dad or play him anything I’d worked on.”
― Jorja Smith
“Obviously I’ve grown up around YouTubers, people getting millions of hits, but I was never anywhere near that.”
― Jorja Smith
“I remember watching somebody called Esmee Denters doing covers that were really popular and wishing that was me. But I’m glad it wasn’t. Things have worked out OK.”
― Jorja Smith
“If you want to hear good music, good music will always be found.”
― Jorja Smith
“My favourite number is 11.”
― Jorja Smith
“When we used to walk to school, I used to read off the walls, graffiti and stuff, everything. I used to write stories, but I’d never finish them. I wrote poems.”
― Jorja Smith
“I used to go to London by myself when I was 16. I think I got it from my mom. My mom was the type to just always just go off somewhere, wherever. She’s a goer.”
― Jorja Smith
“When I put my first song out, I didn’t put out any pictures. I just wanted people to hear my music.”
― Jorja Smith
“The people who are the most powerful and have the most money sometimes don’t value other people.”
― Jorja Smith
“I don’t like to write about myself. I like listening to people.”
― Jorja Smith
“So many people can tell me, ‘You’re amazing,’ rather, but I don’t think it. You know, so, I don’t go around thinking this. I’m really hard on myself. I think that’s quite good.”
― Jorja Smith
“I need to get a tiny bit more ‘woke.’”
― Jorja Smith
“My voice makes the genre because I sound like me on all my songs – I’ve made my own genre: Jorja Smith.”
― Jorja Smith
“I’m not gonna just disappear after one album.”
― Jorja Smith
“Before I put ‘Blue Lights’ out, I deleted my Instagram and everything and started again.”
― Jorja Smith
“I express my thoughts through my music.”
― Jorja Smith
“I know I can sing; I can sing, and I like how I sound.”
― Jorja Smith
“I believe a voice is a voice. I could wear a box on my head and still have a good voice.”
― Jorja Smith
“Did Amy Winehouse have a hit single from ‘Frank?’ I love ‘Frank,’ but people didn’t really pay attention to her until ‘Back to Black.’ So no, I haven’t had a hit single. I personally am not bothered about that.”
― Jorja Smith
“I write what I want to write.”
― Jorja Smith
“With a label, pressure is added. Being independent, you don’t feel a lot of pressure.”
― Jorja Smith
“That’s what records are for: not to be skipped.”
― Jorja Smith
“The first song I wrote was when I was 11. It was called ‘Life Is a Path Worth Taking.’”
― Jorja Smith
“I’ve always loved music since I was 11. I used to play keyboard, and I would write music. So since 11, I’ve been falling in love with music.”
― Jorja Smith
“A lot of stuff doesn’t faze me. I think it’s because I was brought up in a small town, and normally, when you’re from a small town, when you see a famous person, you’d be like, ‘Oh my god. This never happens,’ but I’ve always kind of been like nonchalant.”
― Jorja Smith
“I love SZA. She’s great.”
― Jorja Smith
“I met Sade! I performed ‘Blue Lights’ at one of Drake’s shows in London, and I met her backstage. She told me her son is a big fan. That was a moment when I was like, ‘Wow.’”
― Jorja Smith
“I get so many people coming up to me being like, Aahhh! And I’m like, what the hell? I’m just me!”
― Jorja Smith
“When I first moved to London, I used to pretend to be on the phone. I used to talk about stuff that was going on out loud. To my phone! I don’t do that anymore!”
― Jorja Smith
“I’d like young girls to be able to listen to my music and take something positive away from it.”
― Jorja Smith
“I was a bit late on Erykah Badu, but I don’t think you can really be late on music. You discover it whenever; music is timeless.”
― Jorja Smith
“I used to blame myself for a lot of things, and I apologise loads. I don’t do it any more, but when I was in the studio – and it was my song – I’d say ‘sorry’ every time I got a note wrong.”
― Jorja Smith
“I’ve listened to ‘Frank’ so many times. She was so honest and herself. I think one of the hardest things for an artist to do is tell the truth, but that’s what Amy Winehouse did, and it’s what I want to do – if you want to write songs that connect with people, I think they really need to believe what you’re talking about.”
― Jorja Smith
“I like a new challenge.”
― Jorja Smith
“I’m not with a label, so I haven’t ever felt pressure to be a certain way. I’ve got a cool team who just love music.”
― Jorja Smith
“Sometimes I observe stuff I haven’t been through and write about it. I used to walk my dog with these 50-year-olds, and they’d tell me stories I could use.”
― Jorja Smith
“There’s always been music in my house growing up. In the kitchen, there’s a speaker, and we’d always have my mum’s iPod in it – she never makes food without listening to music. And I used to watch ‘Top of the Pops’ with my dad.”
― Jorja Smith
“Both my parents have been big influences on me wanting to do music. My mum’s always been, ‘Just do it. Just sing.’”
― Jorja Smith
“I did classical singing at school. I did exams in that. I’d sing soprano, and we’d sing in German; we’d do Schubert for my pieces, in Latin, French… I really enjoyed that. I kind of miss it.”
― Jorja Smith
“When I’m writing, I like to have a tiny bit of fact and then exaggerate it and turn it into something more people could relate to.”
― Jorja Smith
“I like live-sounding things.”
― Jorja Smith
“I want to be a voice people listen to and feel good or sad or whatever.”
― Jorja Smith
“I get loads of messages from people telling me they’ve been helped through some bad relationship when they’ve listened to my song. That’s what I want to do.”
― Jorja Smith
“I like being someone else. ‘A Prince’ is not about me, but I can pretend for the three minutes of the track. It’s great being able to do that, ‘cos I enjoy telling stories.”
― Jorja Smith
“When I’m writing, I’ll just say random stuff that doesn’t make sense, and then a certain word that I keep saying will stick out, and I’ll write from there.”
― Jorja Smith
“I come from quite a creative family; everyone’s just doing their own thing!”
― Jorja Smith
“I’ve been singing most of my life. There’s nothing better I could wish to be doing.”
― Jorja Smith
“There’s always so much energy from me and my band. Lots of fun and twists in each song.”
― Jorja Smith
“I listen to all types of music.”
― Jorja Smith
“I like to write about what I’ve seen and experiences I’ve been through.”
― Jorja Smith
“Good music is timeless, and if you create with that honesty, it will last.”
― Jorja Smith
“My songs are classics.”
― Jorja Smith
“I say what I’m feeling, and a lot of people feel the same way.”
― Jorja Smith
“When I am writing music, I sometimes envision a video playing alongside.”
― Jorja Smith
“A dream of mine is to write a ‘Bond’ theme tune.”
― Jorja Smith
“I started singing when I was 8, and then when I was 11, I started writing my first songs.”
― Jorja Smith
“I hate re-recording. I like singing, but I don’t like recording a song over and over, making it too perfect.”
― Jorja Smith
“We are all beautiful in our own individual and special ways.”
― Jorja Smith
“I’m honest.”
― Jorja Smith
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