November 22, 2025
Artist Spotlight: Singer-Songwriter Joy Oladokun
By Naimah Gray
JOY OLADOKUN (she/they) is an alternative singer-songwriter who has created a sound that has influences from genres such as R&B, gospel, country, rock, soul, and folk-pop. Upon first listening to Oladokun, I was immediately sucked in. So, when we decided to do an Artist Spotlight, I knew immediately who needed to be the first artist I spoke about. I have rarely come across work as raw, honest, and reflective as the work I’ve heard from Joy Oladokun. Among the hardest times I’ve gone through this past year, I have found myself putting on songs of theirs such as QUESTIONS, CHAOS, and FAITH. There’s a level of grief that Joy puts in her music that I have found missing in other artists. There’s a range of emotions—from breakdowns and breakthroughs—I feel when I listen to her music. I feel as though I am transported into the world she sings of, experiencing the moments that are so brilliantly sung about.
Perhaps, it may come off a bit cliché—and they are both brilliant in their own right—but I cannot help but be reminded of Tracy Chapman when I listen to Joy, and learn about her. So, who is Joy Oladokun? That’s an excellent question that I cannot answer, but maybe one day I’ll be able to ask them and get back to you.
After listening to Oladokun’s album Proof Of Life, I found myself having the song Somehow on repeat. There was a lot that was changing in my life, and if I can be honest…I started feeling lost. I felt untethered by the amount of changes going on and felt like I was alone. There was a lot going on, and I found in her music something that I didn’t feel I had in my life. And that song? Specifically the chorus.
I know what goes up comes down
And if you stick around
Life can change with the weather
Oh, somehow things just get better
When the weather started changing here in Chicago, it brought back that song. Leaves fall from the trees as winter comes in, and the clouds cover up blue skies. The weather changes, and though things look bleak and dead… Spring will return. Life will come back.
Some things will remain dead, and some things will remain changed, this is true. Getting better doesn’t have to look like going back to how things were. Trees will never regrow the same leaves they shed. But life does continue, and Joy Oladokun’s music is a strong reminder of that.
She does not say, you must be perfect. Actually, in the song Somebody Like Me she sings “Somebody like me ain’t perfect, somebody like me needs care, In the moment, I’m heavy and hurting, Can anybody meet me there?”, and it is a striking, vulnerable and familiar plea. It says, even though things aren’t perfect for me, will I be met? It’s an aching familiarity to many, unfortunately.
That’s what I like about Joy Oladokun’s work. It breathes. It lives. It feels alive in the way that grief hitting you in the middle of a work day, and you still have to push through, feels alive. It feels alive in the way sitting on the side of the lake on a windy day, staring in a haze with a brisk wind hitting you feels alive.
I look forward to watching the growth and expansion of Joy Oladokun’s career. You could say, I would enJoy it. Okay, okay. Don’t be mad, they probably get that all the time.
This has been officially rated a Golden Star 🌟 by In the Gray Studios.
Until we meet again.