Joy Oladokun

Joy Oladokun documents her life in songs. For as much as she examines her place in the world as the first-generation daughter of Nigerian immigrants and a proud queer Black person, she also celebrates the little details and the simple pleasures of being alive. Of course, the narrator’s humble demeanor belies the gravity of her extraordinary accomplishments thus far—from captivating audiences on sold out tours and late-night television to finding herself with a guitar in hand on the White House lawn in celebration of equality. After grinding it out for years, she reached critical mass with her 2021 major label debut, in defense of my own happiness. It graced countless year-end lists and led Vanity Fair to declare, "Her name is both prescient and redundant. She oozes energy that shifts a room’s center of gravity and makes you happy for it. It is charisma and she has it in spades. It’s the way she approaches her craft too.” Along the way, she’s delivered unforgettable performances on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, PBS’s Austin City Limits and NPR Music’s Tiny Desk (Home) Concert and more and captivated festivalgoers at Bonnaroo, Hangout, Lollapalooza, Newport Folk Festival and Ohana Festival. Not to mention, she’s also appeared on HULU’s Your Attention Please: The Concert and landed prominent syncs on CSI: Vegas, This Is Us, Grey’s Anatomy, And Just Like That and Station 19, to name a few. Plus, she has joined forces with the likes of Chris Stapleton, Brandi Carlile, Maren Morris, Lucie Silvas, Noah Kahan and Jason Isbell for collaborations. Now, she takes stock of the trip so far on her highly anticipated forthcoming full-length album, Proof of Life [Amigo Records/Verve Forecast/Republic Records].
On February 9th, 2021, Oladokun made her late-night television debut on NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.” This milestone is just the latest in a series of breakthrough achievements for Oladokun, who was recently named a member of the inaugural #YouTubeBlack Voices Class of 2021 as well as an NPR Music/Slingshot’s 2021 Artists to Watch, a Billboard LGBTQ Artist of the Month, Spotify’s RADAR US: Artists to Watch 2021, Amazon Music’s Artists to Watch 2021 and Vogue’s #1 New LGBTQ Artists To Listen to Now. Additionally, later this month, Oladokun will perform as part of HULU’s “Your Attention Please: The Concert.” Created in partnership with MSG Entertainment, the musical event held on February 18 will be hosted by Craig Robinson, directed by Matthew Dillon Cohen and will feature performances by five groundbreaking artists: 24kGoldn, Oladokun, Kiana Ledé, Lil Yachty and Swae Lee.


The acclaim builds on last year’s in” defense of my own happiness, vol. 1,” which Billboard named one of the “10 Best LGBTQ Albums of 2020” declaring, “shows the artist at her very best—baring her soul through emotionally resonant songwriting while simultaneously commenting on the state of our world,” while Vogue praised, “already been compared to Adele, Tracy Chapman, and Stevie Nicks, thanks to the rawness that runs through her mesmerizing hybrid of Americana, folk, and pop.” Additionally, vol 1.’s “breathe again” recently received a key placement on NBC’s “This Is Us” propelling the track to reach #3 on Shazam’s U.S. Top 200 while also charting globally.

Moreover, Oladokun’s new collaboration with Jensen McRae, “wish you the best,” was released last month to immense critical praise—Rolling Stone calls it, “an exercise in radical forgiveness,” while Vogue named it one of “12 new songs to help you beat the winter blues” asserting, “Joy Oladokun is a rare talent who manages to dissect Christianity, queerness, race and mental wellness with a delicate yet determined touch.”

After a breakout start to 2021, Oladokun is poised to release her newest LP this summer.