The Atlanta singer critics once called the new Madonna, and the artist who helped birth the term neo soul.
MOODS · soulful · experimental · atmospheric · genre-blurring · southern · intimate · eclectic · warm · understated · boundary-pushing
BIOGRAPHY
Joi Elaine Gilliam is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer from Atlanta, tied closely to the Dungeon Family collective alongside Outkast, Organized Noize, and Goodie Mob. She is the daughter of former NFL quarterback Joe Gilliam and granddaughter of Tennessee State football coach Joe Gilliam Sr.
Her 1994 debut, The Pendulum Vibe, arrived on EMI with Dallas Austin executive producing. Despite heavy MTV and VH1 airplay for the single "Sunshine & the Rain," the album sold modestly. Joi has since worked widely as a featured vocalist across decades, appearing with artists including Outkast, TLC, Queen Latifah, George Clinton, Joss Stone, and Run The Jewels, and later launched a teaching program called Artisan Polishing.
WHY THEY'RE COOL
Joi's debut was influential enough to reportedly reshape Madonna's own direction on Bedtime Stories, and Madonna in turn helped Joi become the first Black model in a major Calvin Klein campaign, a striking crossover moment for an artist whose style was among the first tagged "neo soul." Beyond her own catalog, she has been a constant presence in Atlanta's Dungeon Family orbit and a sought-after collaborator, lending vocals to Run The Jewels, Big K.R.I.T., and countless other projects across genres, evidence of a career built on wide-reaching, low-profile influence rather than mainstream chart success.
GEORGE'S PLAYS
George has played this artist 2 times.
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