Brit award winner Jorja Smith: My appearance has prompted abuse
Singer Jorja Smith has spoken out about the issue of body image, revealing she has received abuse about her appearance.
The Walsall-born star says she now rejects pressure to squeeze into clothes that do not fit and instead chooses outfits she is comfortable in wearing.
And she spoke of the overwhelming pressure in the media for young women to have a certain appearance, which is often unrealistic.
The singer-songwriter and Brit Critics’ Choice 2018 winner said she has encountered negative comments from people on social media, with some suggesting she looks pregnant because her stomach is not flat.
Smith, 21, said she has learned to become more confident by taking charge of her wardrobe.
She said: “Photo shoots have kind of helped, because I do so many shoots where they only have clothes in sample sizes available, and I’m not sample-size.
“Having to deal with not really fitting into certain clothes taught me a lot.
“If I was 15, I would have been so upset. But you just have to wear what you’re comfortable in.”
The music star, whose debut album Lost And Found peaked at number three in the charts last year before she went on to win the British female solo artist gong at the 2019 Brit Awards, said she has faced negative comments online from people remarking on her figure.
She said: “I don’t really read the comments.
“One thing that used to happen was, because my tummy’s not flat, if I wear tight things, it sticks out a bit.
“People comment: ‘She looks pregnant.’
“People think that, because I have loads of followers, I don’t see things online. I’m training hard in the gym for someone to say, ‘You look pregnant.’ So I don’t read them.
“When I met Stormzy, he said ‘if you like it that’s all that matters.’”
Smith, who was interviewed by model Adwoa Aboah for the June issue of Elle UK magazine, also said that finding fame over the past few years has been difficult for her.
The former Aldridge School student started performing when she was eight and began writing songs at the age of 11, amassing a broad catalogue of mostly unreleased tracks that skew from pop to modern soul.
She wrote a song called High Street, telling the story of shop closures in her hometown of Walsall during the economic recession of the late-noughties.
She later moved to London and her breakthrough came in January 2016, when she finally self-released her debut single, Blue Lights, which was a hit on local London radio.
The speed at which fame came was a challenge and Smith admits she has had to learn as she has gone on. She says her Black Country roots and the strength of family and friends is important. “It has been a big learning curve,” she said.
“I’m not a ******* robot. I tried, and I can’t do it.
“Last year it was too much – interviewers asking me the same things, people being like: ‘You’re so amazing.’
“But I just wanted a bit of normality, but that’s why I’m lucky with my family and friends.
“You need honest, real people around you that have their own problems, and want to talk to you about them and not just about what you’re doing all the time.” Smith, who is Dior’s new beauty ambassador, said the role means a lot to her because she can inspire others who are mixed-race.
On her new role, she said: “Well it’s a new face and it’s also a natural face.
“I mean, I wear make-up, but I haven’t done anything to my face.
“I’ve always looked like this – for young mixed-race girls at school to see me and be like, ‘Oh – I look like her!’”
