After her latest single ‘Anyone But Me’ came out in April, fans are awaiting Joy Crookes’ debut album which is currently is the final stages of completion. In the meantime, the singer has given her followers plenty to watch, releasing acoustic mood-setting covers of her previously released songs. The second in the series, released on 1st June, is from her 2019 ‘Reminiscence EP’, groovy R&B track ‘Two Nights’.

On her personal YouTube channel with thousands of subscribers, the singer-songwriter shared an intimate performance of the song to support and inspire people during the lockdown which has been implemented to protect from the Covid-19 pandemic. Besides this, Crookes is using her platform to encourage her followers to stay at home in order to slow the spread of the virus and save lives. The video for ‘Two Nights’ has already reached 12,000 views, while the first instalment ‘Anyone But Me’, has over 400,000.

As the singer moves to help out anyone who is struggling in this difficult time, she has also created new series named after the song ‘Anyone But Me’, in which Crookes talks to friends and family members about mental health. “Just a conversation” between friends, the episodes allow guests to discuss freely and openly, with the ultimate goal to raise awareness for mental health and to provide healing.

Besides mental health, Crookes has been speaking out about the Black Lives Matter movement through social media, using her platform to educate fans and bring change to the world. Sharing screenshots of tweets from Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khanm regarding racism and her own personal message, Joy Crookes wrote to fans: “My Black brothers and sisters, I am sorry that the system continues to fail you. I would not be the artist I am without your music, your art and the fight you have endured every single day to pave the path for the rest of ethnic minorities to live in freedom. “

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My Black brothers and sisters, I am sorry that the system continues to fail you. I would not be the artist I am without your music, your art and the fight you have endured every single day to pave the path for the rest of ethnic minorities to live in freedom. As for white and non Black POC as @thebrownhijabi has put so well, we NEED to do more. South Asians, it’s time to address the anti blackness in our community now more than ever. If the conversations are painful, HAVE THEM! Disrupt. Correct. Reflect. Interrogate yourself and your family – as @donfeeble said today: “none of us will ever do ‘enough’ – enough implies finite capability, it says “my work stops here”. Why limit yourself? What you’re capable of doing is ever evolving.” Please donate, support Black owned business, continue questioning yourself, protest and practice what you preach. If you are taking this stance online – carry it offline. Link in bio for a google doc of organisations to familiarise yourself with and where to donate. Melanin is not your enemy. Ever. Black lives matter, now and forever

A post shared by Joy Crookes (@joycrookes) on Jun 2, 2020 at 12:20pm PDT

The 21-year-old has been out in London joining protests this week, as well as sharing links and information on her Instagram story showing how others can help, and continue to help the black community.

Growing up in South London, Joy Crookes spent her teen years playing in bands with friends and learning guitar. When she posted videos of her music to YouTube, she caught the attention of the music industry and released her debut single in 2016 at the age of 18. Since then, she has put out three EPs and many more singles, performing at numerous festivals. This year, Crookes announced that she would be supporting Harry Styles in ‘Love On Tour’, which has now unfortunately been postponed due to coronavirus concerns. Information on this can be found on his website.