Jorja Smith, the 20-year-old R&B English wunderkind, stepped out onto the stage of the Great American Music Hall to the ecstatic cheers of a sold-out crowd last Thursday night. First gaining traction in 2016 with her hit single “Blue Lights” — at just 18 years old — Smith has now solidified her position as one of the genre’s rapidly rising artists with her most recent EP, Project 11 (2016), and her cameos on Drake’s More Life (2017). She took the stage with immense energy at the last stop of her most recent tour.
“Something in the way,” Smith belted over the cheers of audience members in her opening song, “Something in the way.” “Why am I crying for you babe?”
Somewhat Ironically, the singer sported a screenprinted t-shirt of her own face, blown up to massive proportions in black and white. From the first moment she appeared on stage, Smith’s energy was contagious. Her high ponytail swinging, she made sure to comment on the venue’s scalding temperatures and vocal, affirmative crowd.
Although the singer mostly performed tracks from Project 11, she announced that she would be dropping her official debut album sometime next year — and that “Lost and Found,” an unreleased track she performed live, would be the first on the work. Throughout her set, Smith mixed up styles and moods, oscillating between jokingly asking audience members to sing Drake’s verse in the soulful “Get It Together” and encouraging attendees to dance to a cover of T2’s heavily U.K. Garage “Heartbroken.” With every song, the U.K. singer’s quirky, charming personality shone through her impressive vocal chops — something reflected by the audience’s random calls of “You’re an angel!” and “I love you, Jorja!”
The highlight of the night, however, was Smith’s performance of an unreleased song, “Don’t Watch Me Cry,” during her encore. With nothing but a keyboard piano, Smith amazed the crowd with her wide vocal range and a voice practically cracking from emotion.
Finally, Smith wound the audience down with her single “Blue Lights,” ending the night in a haze of gorgeously rich emotion, sound, and light.
Written by Eda Yu