Latest news with #JorjaSmith
Cosmopolitan
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Cosmopolitan
The ultimate festival packing list: What to take to Glasto, Reading or Leeds
So, you've snagged a ticket to the festival of the year (or maybe three), and you're already dreaming of glitter, tunes and late-night cheesy chips. But before you get lost in the lineup, let's talk about the actual main stage: your packing list. Festivals can be a chaotic blend of freedom, music, questionable hygiene, and core memories – but forget one key item and you'll be spiralling before the first headliner hits the stage. Because nothing kills the buzz faster than soggy socks, dead phone batteries or the realisation you forgot toilet roll. We've been there, done that and learned from our mistakes... So, take note of the following essentials you need to pack for those upcoming festivals (Glastonbury, we're looking @ you). You can thank me later. Want to be in with a chance of winning tickets to Forwards Festival? Enter our competition at Club Cosmo, where two winners will each win a pair of tickets for the festival that includes performers such as Olivia Dean, Jorja Smith, The Last Dinner Party, Barry Can't Swim, Confidence Man, English Teacher, Ezra Collective and many more. SIGN UP FOR CLUB COSMO FOR FREE HERE Aka: Don't leave home without these Aka: Main character energy Aka: If you've got room to spare in your rucksack Now go forth, dance all night, sleep a little, and above all, enjoy! Festival season is officially here! Lia Mappoura (she/her) is the Beauty Writer at Cosmopolitan UK. Covering everything from viral celebrity hair and makeup news to the latest trend predictions, she's an expert in recognising the season's next big beauty look (before it ends up all over your social media feeds). You'll usually find her putting TikTok's recent beauty hacks to the Hype Test, challenging the gender-makeup binary and social stereotypes, or fangirling over the time Kourtney Kardashian viewed her Instagram Story (yes, it's true). Find her also on LinkedIn.
The Guardian
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Jorja Smith review – mega-watt charisma powers ambitious new songs
As the crowd roars, and an eight-piece band gathers close, Jorja Smith appears cautious, maybe guarded. Even the singer's opening gambit Try Me throws up a challenge: 'I say your mind's made up on me,' she sighs, her voice silky. The Guardian's journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more. This is Smith's first UK tour since 2018, when, at just 21, her raw, atmospheric debut album won Grammy and Mercury nominations, Brit awards and a host of celebrity fans. Glitzy features with Drake, Stormzy and Burna Boy followed, but otherwise Smith resisted the playbook for sudden fame. She left London for home town Walsall, spent five years on her follow-up album, 2023's pointedly titled Falling or Flying, and only now, another two years later, is she touring those songs. Her searing, smoky voice is used sparingly to start, sometimes even drowned out by the power of the band's two drummers. But by Feelings, a duet with rapper J Hus whose verses are covered well by a backing singer, Smith drops the wall. She beams mega-watt charisma through the track's lyrically chilly push-and-pull, and slinks between risers, glamorously at ease. Falling or Flying expanded her sonic palette with serrated guitar, unusual textures, and a theatrical sense of scale. Tonight even her older tracks benefit from this new ambition. Backing singers bring lush, Solange-esque harmonies to a reimagined version of February 3rd, and there's a rich, bassy funk to Where Did I Go? The double-drummers inject pure adrenaline into Go Go Go, a rock track with a new wave swing that seems to unlock something in Smith: the intensity suits her. By now, those belting vocals are bringing the room closer, rather than holding the audience at a distance, and when Smith's singers join her centre stage for a closing run through her poppier, non-album singles such as flirty Be Honest and straight-talking bassline hit Little Things, it feels like a house party instead of a point to prove. Shining and loose, Smith coos to the front rows. 'I won't leave it so long next time,' she promises, with the confidence of a star who knows she can have this whenever she chooses. Jorja Smith plays Manchester Apollo, 29 and 30 May, then touring.
BBC News
12-03-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Mumford & Sons, Tate McRae, JADE, Jorja Smith and more to perform at Radio 1's Big Weekend 2025
Mumford & Sons, Tate McRae, JADE, Jorja Smith and more are set to take the stage and bring Radio 1's Big Weekend 2025 to an epic close on Sunday 25 May. Multi-Grammy Award winners, Mumford & Sons, will headline the Main Stage and BRIT winner JADE will headline the New Music Stage with Lola Young and Wet Leg also playing the festival. Mumford & Sons say: 'Liverpool, we really cannot wait to see you all at Radio 1's Big Weekend in May. We're counting this one as the start of the Summer, and that can't come quickly enough. Big thanks to Radio 1 for having us. See you soon, Sefton Park x' They join a host of incredible artists already announced including Sam Fender, Tom Grennan, Nia Archives, Blossoms, Confidence Man, Aitch, AJ Tracey, Wolf Alice, Biffy Clyro, Myles Smith plus many more. The line-up for Sunday 25 May (in alphabetical order): Radio 1 Main Stage Jorja Smith Lola Young Mumford & Sons Tate McRae Wet Leg Radio 1 New Music Stage FLO JADE Joy Crookes Self Esteem South Arcade With more big names to be announced in the coming weeks. The line-up for the other stages can be found on the Radio 1 Big Weekend website. Tickets for Radio 1's Big Weekend will be available from 5pm tomorrow (Thursday 13 March) and will cost £33 (plus a £4.50 booking fee per ticket). Keep listening to BBC Radio 1 and download the BBC Sounds app for more information. As with previous Big Weekends, tickets will be geographically weighted with an element of preference given to local residents: 50 percent of tickets will be reserved for those living in Liverpool; 40 percent of tickets will be reserved for those living in the surrounding areas; whilst the remaining 10 percent of tickets will be available for the rest of the UK. The booking process will be handled by Ticketmaster - the only official ticketing agent for Radio 1's Big Weekend. Radio 1's Big Weekend kicks off the UK's festival season by bringing some of the biggest UK and international artists to cities that may not otherwise host such a large scale event, shining a light on the local area and providing a major boost to the local economy. There is always a huge demand for tickets, with the festival selling out within minutes every year. This year, the BBC is working closely with Liverpool City Council to ensure that Radio 1's Big Weekend 2025 is a safe and secure environment for all those attending the festival. BBC Radio 1 will broadcast live from the festival site across the weekend, with performances and tracks available live and on demand across Radio 1's iPlayer channel and BBC Sounds. More: Friday - Tom Grennan, Katy B, Biffy Clyro, Nia Archives, The Wombats and more join the line-up for Big Weekend 2025 More: Saturday - Aitch, AJ Tracey, Inhaler, Wolf Alice and more join the line-up for Big Weekend 2025 FM2
Telegraph
23-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
TikTok effect gives Brummie accent ‘exotic' edge
The rise of social media platforms such as TikTok have made seemingly 'unsexy' accents the hottest new trend. The increased accessibility to regional accents has resulted in a 'perception shift' in their favour, according to a linguistics expert. Brit Award -winning musician Jorja Smith's viral hit Crush left people worldwide celebrating the sound of the artist's Black Country twang. Dr Danielle Turton, senior lecturer in linguistics at Lancaster University, said: 'What is different now is we're seeing a more sustained presence across different areas of culture. 'Not just TV and music, but sport, social media, things like TikTok just makes it more accessible, and we're just getting used to hearing a bit more diversity.' The 27-year-old Smith, from Walsall, features in a rapping segment on the new track which resulted in thousands of social media users responding to what Americans deemed her 'exotic' accent. Speaking to The Telegraph, Dr Turton explained: 'As soon as we start to have positive role models who speak with that accent, we see the perception shift, and we're seeing this with the West Midlands accent.' The changing attitude on social media marks a distinct about-turn for the popularity of Midlands accents after a 2014 YouGov poll finding Birmingham to be the least attractive accent in the UK. More recently, academics found that the 'Brummie monotone' is the least respected accent in the country and that 'pervasive accent bias' against it continues to act as a barrier to social mobility. However, the increased 'exposure' of the Midlands accents globally has meant it is 'finally having its moment,' according to Dr Turton. 'With the success of Peaky Blinders and the rise of artists like Jorja Smith and other cultural figures, people are loving the West Midland accent,' she said. The linguistics expert added that Smith's song is helpful in breaking down traditionally negative stereotypes associated with the accent. And it is not just the Midlands' range of accents we're softening to, with the theory applying all across the country and beyond, according to Dr Turton. She explained: 'Often what we hear in the media is a very certain type of accent, and when we do hear these more working class or regional accents, they might be unfairly portrayed as maybe criminals or negative stereotypes. 'So when we hear talented and charismatic people speaking with these accents, it challenges all stereotypes.' Once Smith's song was released, thousands of fans worldwide asked where the singer's accent came from. In response to the curiosity, Walsall-based TikToker Madson Hodgson said: 'Never in my life have I heard someone saying that Walsall is the most exotic accent in the UK.' He added that the accent usually receives 'slander' and that this marked a positive change that locals are proud of. Jorja Smith, who was born in Walsall in 1997, began writing songs aged 11 and was scouted by a music manager by the time she was 15. Dr Turton added: 'There's always been individuals with Midlands accents who've been in the media. What is different now is we're seeing a more sustained presence across different areas of culture. 'We're just getting used to hearing a bit more diversity.'
BBC News
19-02-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Jorja Smith putting Black Country hometown accent on map
Brit Award-winning musician Jorja Smith has made the Black Country accent go viral on social media. The 27-year-old from Walsall recently released new single Crush with AJ Tracey, which features her rapping. Thousands of fans across the globe picked up on her accent, with many saying they "love" it and were trying to find out where it was from. Walsall Tiktoker Madson Hodgson said: "Never in my life have I heard someone saying that Walsall is the most exotic accent in the UK." Mr Hodgson said it was good to see such positive comments about the accent online. "It's normally slander," he said. "'Eugh, where's that accent from?' I don't want to hear that no more - never again!" In Walsall, people are feeling "proud" their accent was being recognised globally. Libby Wood told BBC Radio WM of her thoughts about the news. "It's got a bad rep everywhere, people think it makes people sound stupid, that we're slow, but I think it's a really nice accent," she said. "It makes me think of family, I think it's very warm and friendly." Smith was born in Walsall in 1997 and began writing songs aged earned a music scholarship at Aldridge School in Walsall and was found by a music manager when she was Jenkins, who was a few years below Smith at school in Aldridge, said: "I think she's inspired a lot of people around here to sing to be fair."When I was at school, everybody was doing it. And obviously [it's] made people more confident in their accent as well." Meanwhile, Lisa Sweet from the area said: "It makes a nice change, because most people don't think our accent's very good.""I wouldn't say it's exotic myself, personally, but it's a nice thought."Smith's debut album Lost and Found spent three weeks in the Top has also won awards including the Brits Critics' Choice Award and Best British Female Artist. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
