Even though she’s been in the game for about a decade, it really feels like Joyce Wrice has finally arrived. The Chula Vista native has spent years building her reputation in R&B, working with artists like Kaytranada and Lucky Daye while developing a sound that draws from the music she grew up loving. Her 2021 debut album, Overgrown, executive produced by D’Mile, earned critical praise and introduced her to a wider audience. She later brought her voice to the theme song for Disney+’s The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder. Now, five years after her debut, Wrice is returning with her long-awaited sophomore album, MACHIKO.

Named after the Japanese middle name given to her by her mother, MACHIKO finds Wrice approaching relationships differently than she did on Overgrown. The project features production from D’Mile, Jay Versace and Lido, with songs like “Fly (Someone You Love),” featuring SALIMATA, exploring the excitement of new attraction. Elsewhere, “Break Me In” and “Crack The Code” offer different perspectives on romance, reflecting an artist increasingly comfortable examining her own behavior.

The years between albums gave Wrice plenty to consider. She spent time experimenting in the studio, traveled alone to Brazil and immersed herself in books and films that helped her better understand herself. Although the gap between releases was longer than she anticipated, Wrice believes the experience was necessary. “I didn’t intentionally take this long, and I didn’t take a break—I just took my time,” she explained. “And because I care so much and I have a tendency to be really hard on myself and self-critical and overthink a bit, I had to live some life.”

Wrice returns at a particularly exciting time for R&B, with artists like Kehlani and Leon Thomas drawing renewed attention to the genre. Ahead of the album’s release, she discussed the meaning behind MACHIKO, her evolving approach to love and why she’s already looking forward to her third studio project.

ESSENCE: Every time I see you, whether it be in interviews, whether it be on social media, you’re always smiling. Where does that happiness come from?

Joyce Wrice: Oh, thank you. Just gratitude for this life. I am just blessed with such an incredible community. And my best friend is my manager. We’re childhood best friends, and I have a very small, close-knit, familial team. I get to live truly authentically to who I am, and how fortunate am I, too, to be able to create music that people care about and love. And it’s felt so deeply.

I don’t know, I’m just grateful. I practice Buddhism, and I’m always reminded of how precious this life is and how precious we are individually. We all have a story to tell, and each of us is so gifted. So I’m constantly reminding myself of that and wanting to spread that. Yeah, spread that, spread that wisdom. So there’s days I’m bawling my eyes out, frustrated, upset, disappointed, all these things. But I’ve really learned it makes who you are, it makes you stronger, and it all has value, too.

Can you talk to me about the title of your album? What does that title mean, and how did you land on it?

JW: So my middle name is Machiko. My Japanese middle name is Machiko, and it means city girl in Japanese. “Machi” means city, “ko” means girl. And so I realized through trying to come up with the title for the album, after having all these songs that made sense, like, oh, I’ve actually got it. My family in Japan, they call me Joyce. But because this album felt so autobiographical, it just made so much sense for it to be a title that’s me. But self-titled Joyce Wrice didn’t make sense.

So through just brainstorming with the help of my friend Duckwrth, who came to my first writing camp last year, I brought it up and he was like, “You got to call it Machiko.” Yeah, I feel like another side of me has been activated, so it just made sense and it was so fitting. So I’m grateful that it came to the surface when we were exploring titles because I usually come up with album titles towards the end of the process.

So as far as timing, I know it’s been about four or five years since Overgrown. Why the hiatus, and why was now the right time to release this new body of work?

JW: Well, I didn’t intentionally take this long, and I didn’t take a break. I just took my time. And because I care so much and I have a tendency to be really hard on myself and self-critical and overthink a bit, I had to live some life, do a bunch of different sessions and experiment, get in with different producers and writers and really play.

Were the outlets strictly music-based?

JW: I read books. I enjoyed Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin. I loved watching certain films like this Norwegian film, The Worst Person in the World. And then I was able to take a solo trip to Brazil and just really reflect and look inward and get some clarity about who I’m becoming and what I want this next chapter of my life to feel like. It was very therapeutic. It almost felt like a therapy session with myself. And sometimes things come up to the surface that are uncomfortable, but also very rewarding for self-awareness.

So it was really a mixture of all those things, and I don’t want to rush the process and rush greatness. So yeah, it was just the journey. And I’ve been telling people, wow, it’s really true. Your timing and divine timing, it’s always about being in rhythm because I get to put my album out when R&B is having this resurgence. Kehlani, Leon Thomas, Sasha Keable, KWN, all these people. And so I’m grateful that I get to be in the conversation and I have something to contribute.

Absolutely. Absolutely. Also, when I was doing research on the project, I heard that you said that “you’re no longer writing from a heartbroken place.” I wanted to ask you, how did that affect the direction of this particular album?

JW: So someone had tweeted, “Can someone break Joyce Wrice’s heart so we can get new music?” And I realized, I’m like, “Oh, y’all don’t know the full story. I tend to be a heartbreaker.” (Laughs.)

My perspective came from… I have avoidant attachment style tendencies. I tend to like the chase more than the man. And I realized as much as love and falling in love and being in a relationship and dating is fun and life-changing in a positive way, to me, it’s also a bit dangerous territory because someone can have so much power over you. And I’m controlling, so when someone can have so much power over me, I’m like, “Uh-uh, not too much.”

So that’s kind of how this whole narrative and I guess understanding of what the album came to be, that’s how it all came together. That’s how it all happened.

You have an amazing list of producers on this particular project with you, but I wanted to talk about D’Mile specifically. What is it like working with him, and what does he bring out of you creatively?

JW: D’Mile is, he’s such a sweetheart. He is obviously incredibly talented, and he’s a vet. He knows how to really bring a refreshing sound, and he knows just how to create a cinematic song. Working with him is just like—I’m always leaving there feeling more and more wise when it comes to creativity.

So for me, I don’t have an executive producer for this album, but I just learned so much about how to create a project and steer the ship more on my own than ever. I’m excited for people to hear my growth with this project based on my experience with working with D’Mile on the first album and even just having his guidance for this second one.

So staying on your growth, is there anything that Joyce Wrice learned about herself while recording this body of work?

JW: Oh my God, I learned so much. Let’s start with the positives. I learned I deeply care. I truly, truly care about music, and just, I don’t take this shit lightly. I care, and I want to genuinely contribute. I don’t want to just make noise, add to the noise.

So I genuinely care, and I learned I’m so built for this, and this is truly my calling and my purpose in this life. And to have fun and let loose, don’t be too serious about it all, and to really enjoy the process and know that the result, the album, is definitely the gift, but the process and the journey are also what I think is so valuable in addition to that.

The journey is the reward, as they say…

Yes! So I learned that. I learned my tendencies and my fears and just how I tend to navigate with relationships and love and how I want to soften up. I can be a little tough, so I want to soften up, get into my soft girl era, and I would say not take as long as I did. I don’t want to take too long. Obviously, I’m not going to force the timing and what my journey is supposed to be, but yeah, definitely don’t overthink and tweak and tweak and tweak after tweak. I’m really excited to work on the next project, truly. I’m ready to take what I’ve learned and apply it and keep surprising myself and entertaining everybody.

Read the original article on Essence.