Joyce Wrice, R&B Singer
Born to a Japanese mother and a Black American father, R&B songstress Joyce embodies the generation of mixed raced Americans who embrace and celebrate their rich dual cultural heritage.
She’s been a professional singer for more than 10 years. But Joyce Wrice has been singing all her life. Her fans first discovered her singing covers on YouTube and since then she’s worked with and performed with some of the most respected names in music including Westside Gunn, Free Nationals, Aminé, and more. She has released two EPs and toured and performed in the U.S., Japan, Australia, UK, and other European countries. Joyce was born and raised in San Diego and currently lives in Los Angeles where she continues to record music. Interview by Hyun Kim
TRENDVUE: It feels as if biracial people are often expected by society to claim one race. Not sure if this is the right way to put it but you seem to have struck a healthy balance of your mother’s Japanese culture and your father’s Black American culture. You have fans in Japan, you’ve toured there, you’ve been invited to speak by Asian American groups on college campuses. Did you ever feel the pull to pick one side?
JOYCE WRICE: I just see myself as a mixture of both. I really have so much gratitude towards my mom. I grew up going to Japan once a year, I went to Japanese school for five years as a kid every Saturday, she spoke Japanese to me and I was in a Buddhist organization that’s very diverse. And I would visit Flint, Michigan to see my dad's side of the family once a year as well. And although my father was in the military for the majority of my upbringing I was still connected to my aunt, his older sister. And I grew up around a lot of Black and Japanese kids. So because I saw a lot of people who looked like me and a lot of couples who were like my parents so I never felt like I had to choose one or the other.
T: How does it feel when fans who are also Asian and Black say things to you like, “It’s so great to see someone who looks like me doing what you do”?
J: Representation is so important. I think it’s great. Sometimes I do feel uncomfortable because it can feel like fetishizing. I don’t like that part of it. I remember growing up seeing Crystal Kay, a singer who is Korean and Black born and raised in Japan doing JPop R&B. She looked like me doing the type of thing I wanted to be doing and I was obsessed with her. I would print out the lyrics of her songs and memorize them word for word. Recently I connected with her and we might work together. Of course, I also loved a lot of Black artists like Brandy, Usher, Missy, Aaliyah too and I felt the same level of excitement for their music too.
I see myself as a mixture of both Japanese and Black. I saw a lot of people who looked like me and a lot of couples who were like my parents so I never felt like I had to choose one or the other.
T: Do you know the background of your fanbase?
J: I would say the majority of my fans are Asian. And they’re very supportive. A lot of people mistake me for Filipino. My fans have been supporting me since I was putting out YouTube videos in 2009. It’s all very sweet. I think more people in Japan are learning that I’m Japanese so I’m gaining more fans there too so that’s exciting.
T: You are very open about your Buddhist practice which of course isn’t strictly a Japanese thing but are there other elements of Japanese culture or upbringing that you think has influenced your personality?
J: A lot of people ask me that question and it’s an interesting one. Japanese people are very good at mastering one thing by sticking with it for a long time. So in that sense, if there was an R&B song that caught my attention I would just sing that song over and over and over again, Growing up I never had any training in music so practicing became my training. There’s this word in Japanese, hazukashii, which kind of means embarrassed slash shy and a lot of Japanese people are hazukashii so I think I picked up some of that vibe.
It’s important for brands to show people who haven’t been shown but it’s also important to show them as just normal human beings doing normal things that go beyond stereotypes. They need to start reflecting a more true narrative of the world we live in today.
T: Is that something that you think has affected the way you approach your career and business in general?
J: My manager and my mom can tell that I’m uncomfortable promoting myself and sharing on social media sometimes. I want to tell my story. I want to make people happy with my gift. But I also don't want to be perceived as being narcissistic or egotistical. At times I will dim my light because I want other people to win too. I’ve been told that when I walk into a room for a big meeting or a studio to work with a big name that I should just command attention and I’m just not comfortable with that.
T: You’ve worked with some big brands such as Levi’s, Nike, Red Bull, Vans and Mercedes Benz. Have you turned down any opportunities to work with brands and if so why and what would make you want to work with a brand?
J: I definitely would not work with a brand if I’ve heard from someone that I know that they had a bad experience working with them. I try to be careful with who I align myself with so a brand’s reputation, their values and mission statements matter to me.
T: Do you feel like brands are getting better at being more inclusive in terms of their messaging compared to when you were younger?
J: For sure and it’s great seeing different types of people in campaigns. Today a more diverse group of people are given more opportunities to be represented. Brands and media play such an important role in how people perceive different cultures and people of those cultures. So it’s important to show people who we haven’t been shown but it’s also important to show them as just normal human beings doing normal things that go beyond stereotypes. Brands and media need to start reflecting a more true narrative of the world we live in today.
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