Joy Crookes details her struggles with self-doubt and horrific experiences of racism as she poses for striking shoot with Glamour UK

Joy Crookes revealed she still doubts herself in the music industry and detailed her horrific experience with racism in a new interview and photoshoot with Glamour UK. 

The British singer, 26, rose to fame in 2021 after her debut album, Skin, garnered widespread praise. 

And although she has 2.5 million monthly listeners on Spotify, Joy admitted she still faces the typical anxieties we all go through. 

Detailing her struggles with the publication, she said: ‘I sometimes worry I’m not interesting enough for this industry. 

She continued: ‘Men don’t have to be that interesting to receive a lot of attention and praise, and then I look at the greats like Lauryn Hill and see how she was treated in the industry and worry about my future.’ 

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Joy Crookes detailed her struggles with self-doubt and horrific experiences of racism as she posed for striking shoot with Glamour UK 

The British singer, 26, who rose to fame in 2021 after her debut album, Skin, garnered widespread praise, looked radiant as she posed for a stunning spread with the magazine

Elsewhere in the interview, Joy revealed that when she left school at 16, she went to work in hospitality. However, she was treated poorly by ‘racist’ customers. 

Discussing working at a Polish restaurant near her family home, Joy recalled: ‘That was one of the most racist experiences of my life, actually. 

‘I would pass customers the cutlery, and they would look at me, and then they would clean it.’ 

Yet she left hospitality to pursue her successful music career – which saw her nominated for the Rising Star Award at the 2020 Brit Awards.

Joy, who was born in Lambeth, South London, in 1998,  started uploading cover versions of songs to YouTube at the age of 13. 

She released an EP in 2017 and was nominated for the Rising Star Award at the 2020 Brits. 

Her debut album, Skin, features a collection of soulful R&B songs exploring relationships, her Bangladeshi-Irish heritage, and the changing face of south London, which received significant critical acclaim. 

Now, Joy has delighted critics once again as she announced on Thursday that she is releasing a new album. 

Joy’s interview comes as she delighted critics once again on Thursday as she announced that she is releasing a new album, Juniper, which is due for release on September 26

Joy will support her new album with a UK and European tour of the same name this winter. Tickets for the tour are set to go on general sale at 10am local time on May 30

Juniper, the highly anticipated follow-up to her debut album Skin, is due for release on September 26, 2025. 

According to Stereo Board, the album includes 12 tracks, including her previously shared singles: Pass The Salt featuring Vince Staples, Mathematics with Kano, I Know You’d Kill, and Carmen. 

Joy will support her new album with a UK and European tour of the same name this winter. 

The highly-anticipated UK tour will kick off in Dublin on November 3 before making stops in Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Bournemouth, and Bristol, and concluding at the O2 Academy Brixton in London on November 18. 

She will then jet abroad to perform a string of shows in Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, France, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. 

Tickets for the tour are set to go on general sale at 10am local time on May 30. 

Glamour UK unveiled the covers for its Sound of the Summer issue, featuring Joy as well as singers Darkoo, 23, and CMAT, 29.

This issue will be the first under the new Head of Editorial Content, Kemi Alemoru, who took the reins of the publication earlier this year.

Glamour UK unveiled the covers for its Sound of the Summer issue, featuring Joy, Darkoo, 23, and CMAT, 29, on Friday (CMAT pictured)

Spotlighting phenomenal female music talent, the Sound of the Summer issue celebrates artists hailing from London, Nigeria and Ireland respectively (Darkoo pictured)

Read the full interviews in the Glamour UK May Digital Issue online now.

In her first editor’s letter as Head of Editorial Content, Kemi Alemoru said: ‘I believe wholeheartedly in the power of magazines and media companies at large to actually make sure people are plugged into what the hell is going on around us,

‘To regularly tap into a range of fandoms, communities or underrepresented voices to reflect what women today are experiencing, creating and also consuming.

She concluded: ‘I’m honoured to lead a talented team of journalists into this magazine’s bright future.’

Spotlighting phenomenal female music talent, the Sound of the Summer issue celebrates artists hailing from London, Nigeria and Ireland respectively, all concentrated in London and emblematic of the broad range of tastes that audiences in the UK relish.