Uplift The World: Joyce Wrice Is Ready To Open Up

Let’s be honest, the “is R&B dead?” conversations are getting extremely boring, and when you have the likes of Joyce Wrice – whose latest music will have you soaking in that main character energy – quite frankly it’s irrelevant.

Following on from the successful release of her ‘Overgrown’ album last year, the LA-based songstress recently returned with an EP that steer’s away from her usual. Turning things up a notch ‘Motive’ will have you practicing that runway walk whether you like it or not; underpinned with a luxurious feel and peppered with sass, tracks like ‘Iced Tea’ and ‘Lookin For Ya’ will get those hips moving! Calling no other than hit maker Kaytranada for production on three of the tracks, ‘Motive’ eases the breaks and enables Joyce to truly let go and enjoy the moment. 

Clash got the chance to catch up with Joyce Wrice via Zoom whilst she was staying in New York for an in-depth chat about her latest project, working with Kaytranada, her recent Tiny Desk performance, and more. Tap in below to see what she had to say.

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I would love if we could start by going back to the very beginning. What was the young Joyce Wrice like growing up? 

I was just in Japan and so I was able to be with my family and they reminded me what my younger self was like. They said I was a bit sassy, but I was really fun, outgoing, and always spoke my mind! My mum’s cousin called me the “cool girl” but I was obsessed with music. I never really watched TV or movies, I listened to music religiously and watched a lot of music videos. 

What made you fall in love with music? 

My Dad listened to music a lot! He was in the Navy and was constantly travelling on the ship but when he was home, he would play music a lot and take me with him. Whether we were riding around in the convertible whilst he was smoking a cigar and play Biggie, 112, and even artists like Tamia and Brandy! (laughs) He exposed me to soul music, and I fell in love with a lot of the collaborative R&B / hip-hop songs that he would play. Hearing all of that made me want to do what they were doing, and I would start by trying to mimic them and that became a hobby of mine! I also loved Jay-Z growing up, I still do,  but his song with Mariah Carey; I loved dressing up super cute like Mariah but also being super cool like Jay-Z with the baggy pants! (laughs) 

Do you remember the first song that you wrote? 

I wrote a song called ‘Reflections’ (laughs) I bought this R&B ballad beat off this site before SoundCloud was around and a lot of rappers would upload onto there. I had just gotten out of a breakup so that inspired me but honestly, I didn’t really write too much I just covered a lot of songs! 

You’ve recently released your latest EP ‘Motive’ – before we get into the tracks, talk me through why you picked that as the title?

I’ve not been dating a lot recently; I was talking to someone last year and that was super fun but the dating scene in LA is not very exciting in my opinion. A lot of people can agree! (laughs) I’ve still been in a flirty mood but at the same time uneasily impressed. If someone is trying to approach me or be in my presence my mind state has been questioning, “What is your motive? Who are you? Why do you deserve to even speak to me or be in my presence?” that’s been my ego these days! With that in mind, a lot of these song are fun and flirty; after making them and trying to figure out what the title could be ‘Motive’ came to mind amongst me and my team. I also had a motive putting this EP out, the world has been through a lot recently so even though I felt like I couldn’t put a project out this year coming out of ‘Overgrown’ I wanted to challenge myself to do it. As an artist my responsibility is to uplift the world with my gift!

Following the success of ‘Overgrown’ did you feel any kind of pressure dropping the next project? I know you said this EP wasn’t necessarily the main plan… 

I definitely did! I am really hard on myself, and I always put a lot of pressure on myself. I really had to relax, do my best, and pull back after. There is a pressure of wanting to be great and fulfil my purpose in the best way possible; a lot of pressure of making another great project, feeding people, and keeping the momentum going. With social media people are always asking for new music so it’s becoming a lot harder but I’m learning not to feel pressured by the outside world.

And it feels like the project reflects that anyway – an “OK, and breathe…” type of moment.

I am so glad you said that because I agree and that’s what I wanted it to be! I put out my album last year so following through with something a year after I think is pretty good. And with ‘Motive’ being a little different to ‘Overgrown’ it’s refreshing and will be a nice little hold for now! (laughs)

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I know you’ve worked previously with Kaytranada, how did you find working with him? Did you learn anything or maybe he bought bits out of you that you wouldn’t necessarily feel comfortable doing?

When me and him worked on ‘Overgrown’ we had done it virtually. I followed him on Instagram and complimented his song with Lucky Daye, I love that song, so I posted myself dancing to it and tagged him. He said we should work on music and that was right around the time that I was wrapping up the album. Kaytranada sent me some beats and we worked on ‘Kaytra’s Interlude’ and I asked him to put some vocals on it. Once the album came out, we scheduled in sessions and the first one was ‘Iced Tea’; he played me the beat and I was riding on it with Mack Keane it was so organic. He’s a super chill person, very outgoing but also quiet and will speak his mind! He really supports the artist and whatever they want to do. He took me out of my comfort zone and from what I can tell he really wants me to get into my diva bag! (laughs) I learned to be extra and just let it go!

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Speaking of ‘Iced Tea’ let’s talk about the visuals – girl it’s a lot, they are insane! The choreography, the rain, the dancing, and the animated parts… how was it working on that? Did you have something in mind when you were recording the song? 

When I was recording the song there was whole other image; it was summertime, hot, sweaty, and sexy dancing. It was completely different to what it is now! I have an amazing team and creative director named Ashley Bone. When we sat down to come up with the creative for it, Ashley showed me a deck that incorporated my Japanese heritage with Aaliyah’s ‘Try Again’ music video. When I initially saw it, I thought “Ok, this isn’t what I envisioned but I like this!”, I wanted my music videos to a bit more narrative based. I wanted it to be a bit more dance heavy, act a little bit and do something that was unexpected. The hot and sweaty summertime video is cool, but we’ve seen it before! We worked with Xavier Tera, he lives in Japan loves the culture and actually worked on Kaytranada and Lucky Daye’s music video. It just tied together perfectly, and we made a pretty badass video!

Are there any tracks that you resonate more with now that it’s released? 

It always changes but I love ‘Lookin For Ya’ because I wrote that with Anthony Watts and Miraa May – that song is so sexy and aggressive! I also love ‘Bittersweet Goodbyes’, it’s written really well and easy on the ear. It’s a slightly slower feel-good record that I think was needed for the project because everything else was a bit more up-tempo.

I just got told that your ‘Tiny Desk’ dropped, how was that? That’s a big deal! 

Gurrrl! (laughs)I have been wanting to do a Tiny Desk performance for the past three years and I would even DM the people working there! (laughs) It’s never been the right timing but when they told me they wanted me to do one; they said they loved my album and knew I had music coming out with Kaytranada so it’s the perfect time and I was so shocked! I perform well in more intimate and stripped-down settings so to have my band and background singers for the first time it was so much fun! 

Putting the music aside, what makes you happy? What kind of things do you like to do in your spare time? 

I love spending time with my family and friends; the type of person I am, like I said I am really hard on myself, so I always want to be working, training and getting better at what I do. I love doing nothing! (laughs) I am in New York right now and I love the city life, so if I can sit on the train, not really go anywhere but still be going somewhere that is really cool. I love running, drinking wine, going out with my girls, and dancing in the bar or club! I love dogs, I can’t own one right now but if I could volunteer at a shelter that would make me really happy.

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‘Motive’ EP is out now.

Words: Elle Evans