Jorja Smith carries herself with grace far beyond her years. In an age when internet streaming and rampant capitalism has so often reduced pop music to cheap spectacle, the 27-year-old R&B singer wields a refreshing gravitas and a keen palette; she is capable of both ruminating on and dancing away her troubles.
On stage at The Anthem recently, she eschewed elaborate set design or dramatic choreography in favor of a big band arrangement that showcased the musical craft and emotional intensity of her songs. In DC for the first time in many years, Jorja’s heady songwriting and powerful voice moved fans to cry tears and shake ass in equal measure.
This show has been a long time coming. 2025’s Falling or Flying tour marks the British singer’s first proper North American tour since before the pandemic, when she performed at The Anthem in 2019 with Kali Uchis. Jorja first garnered attention as a teenager uploading covers to YouTube in the early 2010s. Her 2018 debut album Lost & Found was followed by a string of prominent pop collaborations including the likes of Drake (More Life’s “Get It Together”), Brent Faiyaz (the Sonder track “Nobody But You”), and Childish Gambino (“In the Night” from last year’s Bando Stone record). She rarely tours abroad, making this month’s appearance in DC a unique treat.
Jorja’s early neo-soul recordings still hit hard, a fact reflected in the bookend placement of Lost & Found standouts “Blue Lights” and “Teenage Fantasy” in the setlist in her return to The Anthem on March 13. These songs’ poignant songwriting continue to delight, as Jorja brought them to life with her belting vocals and unique arrangements including an extended bridge and salsa-flavored coda on “Teenage Fantasy.” Backed by an eight-piece band, including three back up singers and two percussionists, Jorja’s songs sounded even richer as the bassist and conga player locked into new grooves on each song.
Like any good soul singer, Jorja has her fair share of tear-jerkers and slow jams. She was first discovered by Irish crooner Maverick Sabre, who accompanied her on this tour and joined her on stage for duets of their songs “Loving You” and “Carry Me Home.” In these songs, she channels the emotional depth and commanding intensity of legendary vocalists like Amy Winehouse and Sade, whose songs have soundtracked the emotional highs and lows of our lives. One of my favorites was 2022’s bittersweet situationship anthem “Addicted,” which builds suspense over two slow-burning verses. As Jorja sang the chorus “the hardest thing is you are not addicted to me/ I’m the only thing you should need/ You should be addicted to me,” the girl next to me broke down crying, clearly overcome by the song’s emotional resonances. As Jorja launched into the slinky Afrobeats groove of the next song, the 2023 J-Hus collaboration “Feelings,” crying girl waded deeper into the crowd, drying her eyes and holding her phone aloft in hopes of getting a better shot.
Watch the official music video for “Feelings” by Jorja Smith on YouTube:
Jorja is also distinguished by her impeccable taste; across a large number of collaborations, her voice has remained at the forefront of global Black diaspora genres from Dancehall to Drill. Her stellar 2019 collaborations with Burna Boy presaged the later Transatlantic Afrobeats turns made by established American stars like Jidenna, Goldlink, and Janelle Monae. After an emotionally intense run of neo-soul originals, she closed out her set in DC with a string of hit singles which pulled everybody to the dance floor. This run included the bouncy collaboration “Come Over” with Jamaican singer Popcaan, the infectiously sexy “Be Honest” with Burna Boy, and the addictive “On My Mind” with British grime producer Preditah.
After demonstrating the impressive span of her career throughout the night, Jorja ended her set with her latest album single “Little Things.” Her band whipped up this flirtatious club banger into a quick tempo which got everyone in the crowd dancing. Jorja led the crowd in a quick call-and-response dance party before walking off the stage to massive applause. No encore, no gimmicks, just her band locked into a percussive groove which kept the dance party going for another precious minute. Hopefully we don’t have to wait another six years for the next appearance.
