Jorja Smith revealed she’s moved back to her hometown of Walsall after struggling with ‘pressures’ of fame as she stunned for PORTER on Monday.
The singer-songwriter, 26, candidly opened up about deciding to leave London to go back to the Midlands where she has lived since she was a teenager.
She told how the move was due to the pressures of fame and needing ‘balance’ in the life.
Jorja said of the big life change: ‘If I hadn’t moved back, I think I’d be finding the pressures of people’s opinions to be too much.
‘Now I’m back home, I have a bit of a balance.’
Opening up: Jorja Smith revealed she’s moved back to her hometown of Walsall after struggling with ‘pressures’ of fame as she stunned for PORTER on Monday
Choices: The singer-songwriter, 26, candidly opened up about deciding to leave London to go back to the Midlands where she has lived since she was a teenager
Honest: She told how the move was due to the pressures of fame and needing ‘balance’ in the life
She added of the levels of attention she gets: ‘People comment on me a lot. I don’t search for things, but if I’m on TikTok, I’ll see comments. It’s hard to deal with because no one teaches you about it.
‘You literally get thrown into it and you don’t know what to expect… When I was 18, I didn’t really care, but now I’m finding I feel pressure about what people think of me.’
After moving back to Walsall she launched a choir, named Blue Lights, for girls living in the local area.
She explained: ‘I really wanted to do a youth club or something big. But I haven’t been back home for long, so I felt like I needed to do it small to find out what it is that Walsall needs.
‘Young kids need a space where they can feel safe, make friends and talk about what’s going on at home.’
For the publication she posed in a series of stunning shots including a cut-out figure-hugging green dress and glamorous fur coat.
It comes after last summer FKA Twigs has revealed that she and Jorja are cousins.
The Tears In The Club singer shared the unexpected familial connection in the July/August issue of British GQ magazine.
Fair: Jorja said of the big life change: ‘If I hadn’t moved back, I think I’d be finding the pressures of people’s opinions to be too much
Taking control: The GRAMMY-nomination star added: ‘Now I’m back home, I have a bit of a balance’
Tough: She added of the levels of attention she gets: ‘People comment on me a lot. I don’t search for things, but if I’m on TikTok , I’ll see comments. It’s hard to deal with because no one teaches you about it’
Hard: Jorja said: ‘You literally get thrown into it and you don’t know what to expect… When I was 18, I didn’t really care, but now I’m finding I feel pressure about what people think of me’
The 35-year-old singer – whose real name is Tahliah Barnett – said she only found out that the London singer-songwriter was a relative after they teamed up on twigs’ song Darjeeling from her latest mixtape, CAPRISONGS, which was released in January 2022.
She explained: ‘I’d never met her before, and I jumped in her car with her… and I remember thinking to myself, ‘Gosh, that’s really strange. We’ve got exactly the same kind of skin.’
‘A few months later, I was on the road to go to LA and [Jorja] left me a voice note saying ‘you’re never going to believe this, but I’ve just spoken to my dad and he’s spoken to his sister and we’re related.”
Kind: After moving back to Walsall she launched a choir, named Blue Lights, for girls living in the local area
Project: She explained: ‘I really wanted to do a youth club or something big. But I haven’t been back home for long, so I felt like I needed to do it small to find out what it is that Walsall needs’
Thoughts: She added: ‘Young kids need a space where they can feel safe, make friends and talk about what’s going on at home’
Beauty: For the publication she posed in a series of stunning shots including a cut-out figure-hugging green dress and glamorous fur coat
Stunning: One look saw her in a chic all-black ensemble which she wore with a huge brown fur coat
