Joy Denalane was the third child and oldest daughter born to both a German mother and a South African father in Berlin-Schöneberg in 1973. A little later on the family moved to Kreuzberg where Joy spent her childhood with her five siblings.
At the age of 16 she left home and started focusing on music with first stage performances and the joining of the Reggae and Soul bands Culture Roots and Family Affair. At 19 she was signed to a major pop label but unfortunately the singer and her management couldn’t agree on what her music and image should be like and Joy soon asked for a release. Afterwards she moved to Stuttgart where she met DJ Thomilla and Tiefschwarz (two already well-known producers then) with whom Joy co-wrote and produced the club hit “Music”.
In April 2006 Joy and husband Max founded their own label Nesola Records. Simultaneously Denalane prepared the released of her second album Born & Raised, her first record in English language. Pre-programmed in Germany, the album was entirely recorded in Philadelphia and features appearances by American rappers Lupe Fiasco, Raekwon and Governor. While its lead single “Let Go” reached a moderately successful number number 40 on the German singles charts, critically-acclaimed Born & Raised (released on August 11, 2006) debuted at number 2 (behind Christina Aguilera’s Back to Basics) on the national albums charts, making it Denalane’s highest chart entry to date. Further singles from the album, “Heaven or Hell” and “Sometimes Love” failed to chart within the Top 100. In Spring 2007 Joy released her Single “Change feat. Lupe Fiasco” in the United Kingdom, but it failed to chart. The current UK-Release “Let Go” is being played as video clip on Bubble Hits
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