Jorja Smith, the London R&B phenom has blown up incredibly within the past year. Drake must really have the Midas touch because as soon as he featured Jorja’s interlude on More Life in 2017, the world has been heavily focused on Smith’s moves.

I have been following the singer since she dropped her EP, “Project 11,” in 2016. I would definitely say this project has shown tremendous growth while she still manages to stay true to the soulful R&B sound she produces. Her music straddles that very thin line between alternative R&B and pop, much like singers Adele or 6lack– but better.

She has certainly made a recognizable print on the music scene and this album solidifies her spot as a force to be reckoned with.  Unlike some of the problematic faves stan twitter chooses to place on pedestals, she has the range. This girl can sang.

Her album, Lost & Found, debuted at No. 15 on Itunes US Top Charts, which was surprising at first considering the Kardashian madness surrounding Kanye and his comments and the GOOD Music vs. OVO beef caused between Drake and Pusha T. Nevertheless, this album demands more attention.

It starts rather slowly with ‘Lost & Found,’ which gives listeners more of an understanding as to the album’s title and its overall deeper meaning. She’s taking us on a journey of her being lost and finding herself through her music and her life.

Her best song on Lost & Found, in my humble opinion, is Wandering Romance. I call it the best song because of its different sound in comparison to the rest of the album. Its got some dark undertones to show how a love gone wrong has negatively affected her, but it’s because of those of undertones that makes it stand out more than all the other songs listed.

The whole album has a huge 2000’s feel from the cover art to the songs. Her song, Blue Lights, which is currently sitting at No. 38 on the top 40 singles chart, detours into a pretty vivid image of a chase seen, much like the ones out of a movie, as a young boy runs from police sirens, when she turns the song to a DJ scratching. It’s very comparable to Frank Ocean’s ‘Channel Orange’ as far as debut albums go.

Both were incredibly impressive debut projects that have the potential to catapult artists into the limelight. Channel Orange was a great album– a great album with no skips. To this day, its still one of those albums that Frank fans reference when he releases something.

Jorja’s album is very similar in this sense. From tracks like Teenage Fantasy, The One, to Goodbyes and Don’t Watch Me Cry, all those songs could be released as singles and still do well on the charts. However, while that is high praise, it makes it very tough for her to release a follow up album any time soon because it will be heavily compared. In the past year, this raspy soulful singer hasn’t produced a track I haven’t liked, but I’m very interested to see how she follows this album. Let’s all just be hopeful that she won’t leave us for four years while we wait for her sophomore album.

stream her album here.