Joy Denalane was born in Berlin-Schoeneberg as the third of six children to a German Mother and a South African Father. At the age of six the family moved on to Berlin-Kreuzberg, a more racially diverse part of the city, where Joy entered school and spent the greater part of her adolescence. At sixteen, she left home and began focusing on music.
The name Denalane is South African and means shining star (in Pedi); it is as if the young teen had no other choice but to muster the courage and follow her predestined path to eventual celebrity. Equipped with a mixture of political awareness, nurtured by an upbringing heavy on education, and self-acquired street smarts, the ambitious teen hit the Berlin music scene, playing with local soul and reggae bands.
After early workouts with established producers DJ Thomilla and Tiefschwarz Joy signed to Four Music (a sub label of Sony Music) and began working on her first Solo Album “Mamani”. The Album, produced by Max Herre and released in 2002, debuted at number 8 in the German charts and spawned 4 singles (“Sag’s Mir”, “Geh’ Jetzt”, “Was Auch immer” and “Im Ghetto Von maneuver their way through an array of genres and subject matters so wide ranging, Soweto”). And on top of all that Denalane leant her sweet and athletic vocal talents to Kanye West’s remix of Common’s hit single Go and released in the summer of 2005.
This time Denalane has teamed up with husband/producer Max Herre as well as songwriter Sékou Neblett, a long time friend and colleague and the result is ‘Born&Raised’ is a timeless mélange of late sixties soul, contemporary Hip Hop/R&B, Gospel, and heart felt ballads.
Features the current single, ‘Change’ feat. Lupe Fiasco.