Bonnaroo 2022 Artist Spotlight: Joy Oladokun

Like we’ve been doing for many years now, we’re making it our mission to help you get acquainted with many of our favorite acts from Bonnaroo‘s 2022 lineup. And, for the first time in three years, we finally feel confident that there definitely will be a Bonnaroo this year, after a postponement then cancelation in 2020 due to Covid, and an unfortunate rainout of last year’s would-be September event. Returned to its traditional timeframe of June 16-19, this marks Bonnaroo’s 21st summer and 19th installment, and features a largely new lineup for the festival’s much-anticipated return!

As we dig through the entire schedule, we’ll highlight a spread of performers spanning across genres and stages, big and small, new and old, to bring you some of the most interesting, lesser-known, and most highly-recommended among this year’s crop of artists. And as our time at ‘Roo approaches, we’ll also be bringing you some special features and full list-style daily lineup guides, to help you plan your weekend ahead of the fest. While these previews won’t span every artist, and might omit some more obvious must-see acts, we hope they’ll serve as a way to help you navigate Bonnaroo’s gargantuan lineup, and to make the most of your busy weekend on the farm!

Grab your tickets right here if you haven’t already, and read on for our Bonnaroo Artist Spotlight!

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Born in Arizona to Nigerian parents, genre-bending singer-songwriter Joy Oladokun spent a stint in Los Angeles pursuing music after college, before eventually landing in Nashville, where she’s become a staple of the local scene in recent years (you’ll likely recognize her from our playlist, as well as from regular live performances around town, including at prominent events like Nashville Pride, as she rises to breakout national fame). Inspired to pick up a guitar at age 10 after seeing a video of Tracy Chapman, Oladokun’s upbringing was shaped by time in the church in her youth, and, ultimately, reconciling that with navigating her identity as a queer, Black woman in America, all of which has provided fuel for her incredibly earnest, confessional, and deeply personal songwriting style, honed over a debut EP in 2015, and three subsequent LPs. The latest, last year’s In Defense of My Own Happiness, which marks Joy’s major label debut, is actually an expansion on her 2020 independent effort, In Defense of My Own Happiness (The Beginnings), and feels like the perfect distillation of the talented artist’s lifelong affinity for folk, r&b, pop, rock, and country music, deconstructing her songwriting down to an essence that feels versatile enough to change styles and moods from song to song, and even within individual tracks, and featuring inspired guest spots from the likes of Maren Morris, Tim Gent, and Penny and Sparrow. Her songs, including some recent singles keeping buzz and playlist spots going, have been resonant enough to land placements on a variety of popular television shows, and have landed Oladokun performances on the late-night TV circuit, as well as a handful of other fests, but when she arrives at Bonnaroo, it’ll be for a prominent afternoon tent slot, easily one of the most essential performances of the weekend; don’t miss it!

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