Joy Denalane

Artist

Joy Denalane is a soul and R&B singer from Berlin who releases records in both German and English.

Since 2020, she is the first German singer to be signed to the famous US Motown record label.

She became known to a wider public in 1999, when she sang the duet Mit Dir together with Max Herre for the band Freundeskreis. In 2002, her debut album Mamani was released, which was her way of processing her impressions, experiences, and thoughts from her stay with her father's family in South Africa. On her record, she deals with themes such as family, identity, racism and sexism, which, aside from classic love songs, play a major role in her overall work. Further studio and live albums followed, alternating with successful tours and collaborations, with artists such as Youssou N`Dour and Till Brönner.

Denalane’s fifth and most recent studio album Let Yourself Be Loved was released on 4 September 2020, entering the German album charts at no. 5. The Süddeutsche Zeitung publication wrote the following about her artistic as well as commercial success: “In a pure vintage sound featuring a bubbling organ and blazing horns, her voice tells the personal story of her awareness as a black woman in Germany.”