Joyce Wrice is a name I’ve been seeing and hearing a lot lately. Whether that be on music podcasts, the radio on Apple Music, or on my social media timelines. The algorithms have been hard at work because she has been on my screen frequently, and rightly so, she’s pretty amazing.
But who is she? And why did it take me so long to be acquainted, the quality of her music, spanning back as early as 2016 with her EP “Stay Around” makes me wonder. She isn’t a veteran, but 5+ years is a long time in the music industry. A deeper look into her as a person, her temperament instantly showed me why it took me so long to discover her music. Till, I would follow the noise, She prefers to be reserved and let her art do the talking. Similar to Moroccan artist Anfa Rose.
Born in San Diego, USA, to a Japanese mother and African-American father. Joyce is an only child. She moved from San Diego to Los Angeles in 2016, the same year her EP dropped. From conversations with people more familiar with the singer, she is considered a powerhouse on stage and in RnB as a whole. Comments I have no quarrel with or find hard to believe, her music speaks for itself.
Appearances aren’t important when it comes to music (not to me anyway) but, let’s not take anything away from the fact that Joyce is a beautiful woman. Standing at around 162cm (5’4), she’s petite (most likely the Japanese genes).
With her Japanese heritage, it was no surprise that Joyce is a lover of karaoke.
“I use to beg my mom to take me to Sam Goody to buy maxi singles because they had the instrumental or acapella versions I could karaoke to”.
-Joyce Wrice
Coming from humble beginnings has enabled Joyce to hone her skills and add real purpose to her work. It’s clear that making music has always been a desire and/or passion of hers. Parents are the first role models that a child has and it seems that the interests of her parents are the foundations of her music career.
“Being an only child, I had to find ways to entertain myself. I instantly gravitated towards music, my parents listen to a lot of Soul and RnB”
-Joyce Wrice
She has a smooth and strong voice, an excellent match for the genre she finds herself in. When I listen to her, I hear similarities between herself, Jhene Aiko and Aaliyah. Joyce mentioned that she used her love of karaoke to study the voices of some of the greatest singers to ever live… and it shows.
“I could be Whitney, I could be Tamia, I could be Mariah. I could hear the acappella and really understand the runs and then sing over the instrumental and do my own version”
-Joyce Wrice
Doubling back to the fact that many believe her to be a powerhouse, Joyce Wrice has collaborated with a handful of renowned names in the music industry. Wale, SiR, Westside Gunn and more recently Lucky Daye and Freddie Gibbs.
With Joyce’s debut album “Overgrown” set to drop on March 19th, I’m eager to see (and hear) how well the album will fare in terms of sales and impact. The singles that have already been released are brilliant, so it encourages me to believe that the album will follow suit.
I’ll be back to write another piece on the San Diego songstress if all things go well, that’s for sure.
-Dez
The song for today is: Blurred Lines – Joyce Wrice
The Rendezvous 
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