R&B Singer Joyce Wrice on the Role of Gratitude in Her ‘Gentle’ Hair-Care Routine
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Texture Diaries is a space for Black people across industries to reflect on their journeys to self-love and how accepting their hair, in all its glory, played a pivotal role in this process. Each week, they share their favorite hair rituals and products and the biggest lessons they’ve learned when it comes to affirming their beauty and owning their unique hair texture.
To lift your spirits, add Joyce Wrice’s new album, Overgrown, to your music rotation. The L.A.-based, San Diego–native singer captures the spirit of early 2000s R&B with her sultry voice and soulful beats on songs like “On One,” featuring rapper Freddie Gibbs, and “Falling in Love,” alongside New Orleans singer-songwriter Lucky Daye. “The album is really inspired by the people I grew up listening to,” Wrice tells Vogue over Zoom, name-checking artists such as Mya, Aaliyah, Brandy, and Mariah Carey, with a smile. “It’s a mixture of my feelings and experiences throughout 2018 and 2019. I took what was in my journal and made it into my art. I was able to gain clarity and wisdom through making it all. It was really like therapy.” In working through her emotions and facing them head-on, she was able to liberate herself. “I’m also at a point in my life where I’m realizing I’ve been getting in my own way,” she explains. “I’ve been letting my fears get the best of me, and I’m done with that. It doesn’t create any value. It’s overgrown and overdue for me to shine my light.”
Born to a Japanese mother and African American father and raised in Chula Vista, a small town south of San Diego, Wrice has been honing her voice since she was a young kid. “I spent a lot of time alone,” she says of being an only child. Her father also moved around a lot due to being in the military for more than 30 years. When he was home, the house was filled with R&B and reggae all the time, which had a big influence on her musical style. “I had a lot of time to hang out with my mom and also listen to music,” she explains. “I became really creative due to learning how to entertain myself. I would listen to Brandy and Tamia all day. I wanted my voice to have the same impact they had on me, on other people. I did a lot of karaoke with myself to practice.”
Spending so much time with her mother also allowed Wrice to soak up her loving spirit and confidence. “I never grew up not liking my hair because my mother loved it so much,” Wrice says, noting that while her mother didn’t always know how to do her hair, she always found a beautiful way to style it. “That’s what I think really never made me question my hair.” Around fourth grade, Wrice began experimenting with her hair for the first time, ultimately relaxing it. “I remember my mom telling me, ‘No, you’re going to regret it. Like, please let’s not do it,’” she recalls. “I begged her, and because she’s so loving and didn’t want to make me upset, she took me to get a relaxer the next day.” As for the final result, Wrice laughs, “It didn’t turn out as cute as I expected it to.”