Maryland native Joezy tells inspiring stories over infectious 808 beats. He has been focusing on making and performing spiritual music, as well as highlighting other Christian artists. I got the chance to sit down on a Zoom call with Joezy to riff about his sound, inspirations, and life experiences.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
Sofia Armando: Introduce yourself as an artist, where you grew up, and tell us how you would describe your music
Joezy: I’m Joezy aka Joozy Joe. I’m from PG [Prince George’s] County in Maryland. I was raised by a single mother who was a Nigerian immigrant. I make Hip-Hop, Afro, R&B music that combines my experiences, faith, and poetic expression to put together music for the soul.
S: What was the role of music in the early years of your life?
J: I’ve always loved music. It has always been a part of my life. My mother exposed us growing up with lots of country music and lots of Elvis and Nigerian music too.
S: How did you learn to sing/write/play?
J: There was a year when I was in elementary school when I was in a children’s choir. Another then that a lot of it has been learning as you go. My mom is a writer. She writes poetry, she wrote a book called “Cloak of Dawn,” so maybe some of it might be a genetic thing. I’ve been trying to teach myself how to play the keyboard; I don’t play any instruments right now, my voice is the only instrument I have right now.
S: What was the first concert that you ever went to and who did you see perform?
J: Growing up in the DMV area, we used to go to the Go-Go’s…The first one I went to was in Oxon Hill called the Bron Manner. There were a bunch of bands that played. I think that’s the first Go-go I went to. Those were the live concerts we’d see growing up in high school.
S: Name an album that perfectly embodies the music you try to create.
J: Off the top of my head, the first album that comes to mind is More About Nothing by Wale. Wale is probably one of my biggest inspirations. We connect on so many different levels. His family is Nigerian. The fact that he was able to intertwine poetry and storytelling, and do it in such a creative way in that album where he intertwined different parts of his favorite show “Seinfeld” into the whole project…More about Nothing by Wale is probably my biggest inspiration as far as Hip-hop is concerned.
S: Who are your top influences?
J: One of my top influences is my mother. How she raised us, the culture and values she’s instilled in us, the guidance that she’s given us. She’s definitely one of my top influences. My relationship with Jesus Christ is a huge influence in how I go about everything: how I treat people, how I promote my music, how I choose to express my ideas, how I deal with heartache and stress…that’s huge. Musically I would say Wale is one of my biggest influences. When I first heard the “More About Nothing” album, it inspired me to start writing how I write now.
S: What’s your writing process like?
J: It’s usually a very organic process. I can pull inspiration from so many different things; and once I have inspiration I like to just write. I’m thinking about a poem I wrote where I was just walking by a park, and I saw these kids playing and I was like, “Damn, look how innocent they are. I was once that. What happened?” What changes from that innocent baby to the people that we see in the world that are hurting people or doing crime? So then I write just like that.
A lot of times, I realize a lot of my poems and songs are therapeutic. It’s also like a diary. It helps me release it helps me feel good. I might write about a situation, whether it’s about heartbreak, betrayal, or something that I’ve experienced. Sometimes it’s just a reflection on a period of life in the past. That’s as far as how I get inspiration a lot of the time. Or it can be very intentional, as far as music is concerned: when I wanna make a song, I’ll try and find a beat and once I hear an instrumental that moves me, I sit down and start writing.
S: Describe your process for directing your music videos.
J: All my videos are directed by me or co-directed. I really love film. Me and my brother Vito always share different movies…I have my ultimate movie list for whenever someone needs a movie to watch. I love the art of film…how you can convey certain messages with it. I feel like a music video shouldn’t be some guy standing in front of a camera rapping his lyrics. There should be some type of creative edge to it. I love storytelling in my videos. I’m very hands-on with my music video process, and I’m very selective with who I work with too. I look for certain videographers that can show some type of cinematic experience and convey my vision and story.
S: Favorite song you’ve written? Hardest song to write?
J: My favorite songs that I’ve written are probably “Life Holds You Down” and “Back Door.” Both are reflection songs. “Back Door” is a song that made me cry when I wrote it. I even cry when I perform it sometimes. It just takes me back to the emotional time period. Those are my two favorite songs.
The hardest one to write…I’m thinking of a song called “Dear Dad.” It was a reflection on the abusive relationship my father had with my mother. When I first wrote it and finished the song, I let my brothers hear it. They told me I didn’t dig deep enough, so I had to go back and find different emotions to put into the song. It’s a song that hit home with a lot of people. A lot of people opened up to me about their family situations that they grew up with that I didn’t expect to hear.
“It’s life music. That’s how I see it. It’s life music that’s intended to help heal.”
Joezy
S: Is there a difference between the feeling of performing a poem versus performing your music in front of a crowd?
J: There is a difference. One thing I’ve noticed as far as music compared to poetry is that you get a more unbiased ear when performing poetry. People usually gravitate towards artists and songs that they are familiar with. With poetry, you’re gonna get that undivided attention, and you’re gonna have a better opportunity to be heard and for people to appreciate what you’re saying. I feel like it’s easier for me to command a crowd when I’m doing spoken word; they hang on every single word I guess because there is no beat, there is no bass…there is nothing else to be distracted by. It’s just me and my words.
S: What inspired you to start your “Story Time with Joe” docuseries on YouTube?
J: I made an album in 2019 called “Story Time with Joe.” It was all storytelling hip-hip because that’s the type of hip-hop I love. I like when I can listen to a song and I envision what they’re saying. It’s weird as a musician…I’m not one who likes the spotlight. I don’t like that attention on myself. I’d rather give that attention to other people. I realized I had shared my stories, and that there’s so many other stories that need to be heard for people to relate to that go beyond my own experiences. So why not highlight other people and let them tell their stories so they can impact people in a way that I can’t? It was a very powerful series, and a lot of people resonated with the stories that were told.
S: You mention heartbreak, struggles with depression and mental health and faith in your songwriting. It’s very powerful, soulful storytelling, and lyricism. How hard is it to dive in so deep? How do you cope with digging up all those powerful emotions and ideas you put on paper? Do you ever need a break from it?
J: It is therapeutic. When I do write and feel inspired, it helps. But at the same time, it can be draining. A lot of times as an independent artist, you are your manager, your stylist…you wear all these different hats. That’s the part that can get draining. And it gets even more draining because I have less time to write or I’m not catching inspiration because I’m so caught up in all the business aspects of things. I’m then even further drained because my usual therapy, which is writing, has been neglected so I can do other things. But as far as the actual writing and expression, and vibing with people at shows…that part is rewarding for sure. Sometimes I might even take a social media fast and just disconnect. No promoting, no this, none of that…and sometimes that helps me.
S: How do you think the world today is receiving rappers who profess faith as opposed to concentrating on the secular (no religious or spiritual basis)?
J: I think it’s natural to push away and deny something that we don’t understand completely. A lot of times there’s emotion in faith-based music that’s construed as judgmental, or corny…whatever negative label you put on it. But a lot of the time, that’s not the case. It’s life music. That’s how I see it. It’s life music that’s intended to help heal. We all have wounds and things we’re going through. We all have problems that we’re facing, and we want to feel better about those things. Music is so powerful. It has the power to heal, but it also has the power to hurt and hinder. I think people might not receive it initially because they might have the wrong preconceived notions about what that music is. People might not be as receptive to music from the perspective of someone who believes in Christ because they don’t fully understand all it entails and how beneficial it can be.
S: How do you think the world today is receiving rappers who profess faith as opposed to concentrating on the secular?
J: I think it’s natural to push away and deny something that we don’t understand completely. A lot of times there’s emotion in faith-based music that’s construed as judgmental, or corny…whatever negative label you put on it. But a lot of the time, that’s not the case. We all have wounds and things we’re going through. We all have problems that we’re facing, and we want to feel better about those things. Music is so powerful. It has the power to heal, but it also has the power to hurt and hinder. I think people might not receive it initially because they might have the wrong preconceived notions about what that music is. People might not be as receptive to music from the perspective of someone who believes in Christ because they don’t fully understand all it entails and how beneficial it can be.
S: What’s next for Joezy?
J: Definitely have a lot of music lined up and ready to go. I plan on dropping some of it in the spring. I have a lot of shows coming with a couple of gospel bands. There’s a platform I created called “Different Wave” where we highlight Christian artists whether it’s R&B, Hip-hop, spoken word poetry…so those are the things people should look out for.
S: Anything else you want your fans/our readers to know?
J: Make sure you give your people roses while they can smell them. This life isn’t permanent, it’s temporary. It’s important to get right with God while we can, and it’s important that we show love to our loved ones while we can.
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