Joi Stubbs

This spring, vocalist Joi Stubbs arrives at Berklee from Olive Branch, Mississippi, bringing with her a passion for funk and an exceptional musical ability. The singer first appeared on Berklee’s radar through Stax Music Academy in Memphis, Tennessee, one of 45 City Music Network sites. She’s gone on to attend Berklee Aspire: Five-Week Music Performance Intensive twice, thanks to two consecutive City Music Summer Scholarships. Stubbs is excited to take the next step in her journey. Sporting her signature brownish-gold coils—a nod to her favorite genre—she is ready to make her mark.

Stubbs experiences music in a way that sets her apart from many of her peers. Like her idol, Stevie Wonder, she has synesthesia, a condition that allows her to perceive sound as color. “Growing up, I thought everyone saw colors when they heard music,” she recalls. “I was shocked when I found out that wasn’t the case! I thought, ‘Oh, y'all don't see colors? Okay, maybe it's just me.’”

Her two Five-Week sessions at Berklee were pivotal, each offering a unique experience. This year, she leaped from gospel and jazz ensembles to Pop, R&B, and Funk. Her final program culminated with a lead vocal performance at the 2024 Berklee City Music Scholarship Concert, where she shared the stage with eight instrumentalists. "I absolutely loved that because everybody got their chance to shine,” she says.

Her opportunities to explore new genres sparked a passion for funk, and she hopes to use this passion to further her songwriting and musicality during her time at Berklee. Though she has been writing music since childhood, she admits her early work was often heavy in theme, including one of her first songs about climate change and a call for peace. She says funk is more challenging to write than other genres, but it’s also a healing practice, forcing her to turn lemons into lyrical lemonade.

Her ultimate dream is to become a touring musician, and she’s confident that her Berklee education will help her realize that goal. She plans to keep writing and performing original music, but also dreams of one day sharing the stage with her idols. In the meantime, she’s eager to take full advantage of Berklee’s visiting artist programming, an opportunity she’s ecstatic about.

As she embarks on her Berklee journey, Stubbs is excited to develop her distinctive voice and connect with people who will push her to become the star she knows she can be.

Written by: Jacob Garcia