Walsall singer Jorja Smith places fourth on BBC Sound of 2017 list
19-year-old singer Jorja Smith from Walsall has earned her fourth place on the BBC Sound of 2017 list, which aims to showcase the best new talent for the year.
The list has been compiled after around 170 influential music industry experts, including DJs, critics, broadcasters and, for the first time, international pundits, voted for their top three acts to watch from any genre in 2017.
Former names on the list include that of Adele, Ellie Goulding, Sam Smith and Years & Years.
Smith started making waves a year ago with a song about police injustice that sampled rapper Dizzee Rascal.
Her first song Blue Lights was aired on Drake's radio programme OVO as well as played at a Black Lives Matter protest in Birmingham.
She is now forging her career as an independent artist, filming the video for Where Do I Go? on her own on her aunt's stairs.
On the subject of her music on a BBC interview, Smith says she tries to write as honestly as possible: "I try to write as real as possible, even though I make things up. They're based on a truth that I believe.
"What I'm trying to give people is honesty. I listened to Amy Winehouse's Frank so much when I was growing up. And you can believe everything she's saying, everything is honest. It's almost like somebody's talking to you.
"If you listen to a song, you want it to help you with whatever's going on right now in your life.
