Joy Crookes has had a steady rise to fame, most prominently emerging on the British music scene when she was nominated in 2020 for the Rising Star Brit award. Crookes has a long list of releases (including 3 Extended Plays) predating her long-awaited 2021 full-length debut, Skin. At the age of just 23, her lyrical ability shines on Skin, (and) Joy’s storytelling resonates in a way that is nothing short of extraordinary and has rightly garnered much critical acclaim. Crookes takes her listener on a rollercoaster with her mature, powerful yet heart-wrenching compositions, of which this album has plenty.
Crookes’ heritage runs as a core motif in Skin; as a British-Irish-Bangladeshi woman, her truth is engrained within the lyrics in songs such as the political jibe ‘Kingdom,’ the feminist number ‘Power’ and her affectionate ode to her grandmother’s London flat – ‘19th Floor’. Joy’s multiplicity of identities is explored throughout the album as she laments the deeply problematic aspects of her daily life that she is forced to endure as a woman of colour from South London, such as oppressive gender roles, racism, and classism.
Posted from: https://nouse.co.uk/2021/12/07/review-joy-crookes—skin
