Joy Oladokun Wants to Highlight the ‘Everyday Human Being’ on Her Forthcoming LP

Joy Oladokun wants her music to be a real portrait of life. On Friday, with the release of her soft single “Changes,” the songstress revealed that she will be releasing her project Proof of Life on April 28.

On the new single, backed by breezy guitars, Oladokun sings candidly about “keeping with the changes” of life and how challenging it can be to do so.

“This album is evidence of how I live,” Oladokun said in a press release of her record. “I hope these are helpful anthems. I started making music because I wasn’t hearing from the ‘everyday human being’ on the radio. I hope this resonates with anybody who feels normal and needs a little musical boost to get through the day. I’m average.”

She added, “I do this job because I love what I do. I put so much care, craft, and intention into it. I’m making music to live to.”

Proof of Life is set to feature several major collabs for the songstress, including “Friends” with Mt. Joy, “Sweet Symphony” with Chris Stapleton, “Revolution” with Maxo Kream, and “We’re All Gonna Die” with Noah Kahan.

The album is set to release while she supports John Mayer and the Teskey Brothers as an opener on their respective tours.

Paired with the release of her 2021 LP In Defense of My Own Happiness, Oladokun spoke to Rolling Stone about the lessons she’s learned while navigating the music industry as the child of Nigerian immigrants.

“That’s been a huge lifeline for me this year,” she said then. “I’m learning different ways that I can decompress and de-stress and get out of town and stare at a waterfall for a few hours. Yes, the world can be a mess, yes, my job can be difficult to navigate, but I’m okay and I’m alive. And part of that wrestling is the blessing of this life.”

“It cannot be an accident that I am this person during these times,” she added. ”The hope is that if there’s some immigrant kid in some farming town somewhere that plays guitar and reads too many comic books, they’ll see me and be like, ‘I have a shot.’ ”

Proof of Life tracklist