Joy Maureen Denalane (born 11 June 1973), known as Joy Denalane, is a Germa… Read Full Bio ↴Joy Maureen Denalane (born 11 June 1973), known as Joy Denalane, is a German singer-songwriter, known for her blend of soul, R&B, and African folk music with German and English lyrics.

Early Years

Joy Denalane was born to a German mother and a South African father in Berlin-Schöneberg in 1973. A little later on the family moved to Berlin-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 both the singer and the management weren't able to pass an unanimous resolution when it came to the conception of music and image 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 she co-wrote and produced the club hit "Music".

Debut and Mamani (2002)

Around the same time Joy came in first contact with Hip-Hop group Freundeskreis, who were looking for a female counterpart to lead singer Max Herre's voice on their track "Mit Dir" then. However, the duet was used as a single in summer 1999 and became a top 10 hit in Germany, Austria and Switzerland - pushed by the fact Denalane and Herre had become a couple simultaneously.

Afterwards Joy joined the FK Allstars, which also consisted of Afrob, Gentleman, Sekou and Brooke Russell among others, and went on tour with them for more than two years. Later on she signed a contract with Four Music (the label of Die Fantastischen Vier) and began working on her debut album Mamani, which was released in June 2002 and debuted at #8 on the German album charts. Inspired by African roots, the CD was primarily produced by husband Max Herre. In total Mamani spawned six singles, including first single "Sag's Mir", the socially critical track "Im Ghetto von Soweto" and "Kinderlied", a song dedicated to her oldest son Isaiah.

In 2003 Denalane went on a solo tour and finished collaborations with Youssou N'Dour, ASD and Till Brönner. She also performed in New York and Philadelphia for the first time and eventually received a Comet award for "Best Hip-Hop/R&B National" and three ECHO award nominations, including "Best Female Artist". Soon after she released a Live Edition of Mamani on CD and DVD, which was recorded during a special performance in Berlin's Tränenpalast and involved a set of previously unreleased remakes. In summer 2005 Denalane contributed vocals to the German version of Common's single "Go!".

Born & Raised (2006)

In April 2006 Denalane and husband Herre founded their own label, Nesola Records. Simultaneously Denalane prepared the release of her second album, Born & Raised, her first record in English. 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 forty on the German Singles Chart, the critically-acclaimed Born & Raised (released on 11 August 2006) debuted at number two (behind Christina Aguilera's Back to Basics) on the national albums chart, 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 one hundred. In spring 2007 Denalane released the single "Change" (featuring Lupe Fiasco) in the United Kingdom, but it failed to chart.

Present

In 2008 Joy Denalane worked with Tweet, Dwele and Bilal on the project The Dresden Soul Symphony in Dresden, Germany. They performed classic soul cuts like "Let's stay together", "Natural woman", "Its a man's world", "Ain't nothing like a real thing" etc. with the MDR Symphony Orchestra. An album and a DVD were released on October 24, 2008.

No more
Joy Denalane Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

It's time for you and me

Can time be made of money
And leave us time to spend
Can we keep on movin' forward
At the cost of where we've been

Can we still believe

When it's tearing us apart
Can we fight a war
With love inside our hearts

Tell me, 'cause I really need to know
Tell me, 'cause I don't think it's possible

No more
No more, can I turn a blind eye
Oh No
Oh No, to everything we justify
No more
No more, shall heroes take the lead
Oh No
Oh No, it's time for you and me

Can we really be the winners
When the winner takes it all
And can we really stand together
When I need for you to fall

Can we hesitate
And say we gave it all we got
Can we look inside ourselves
And be frightened of the dark

Hey, tell me, 'cause I really need to know
Tell me, 'cause I don't think it's possible

No more
No more, can I turn a blind eye
Oh No
Oh No, to everything we justify
No more
No more, shall heroes take the lead
Oh No
No No No, it's time for you and me

The night is always darkest
At the break of day
And when it comes to our own lives
It shouldn't be that way
And if we all just, if we all just realize
That every step will help us rise

No more
No more, can I turn a blind eye
Oh No
Oh No, to everything we justify
No more
No more, no more, shall heroes take the lead
Oh No
Oh No, No No, No it's time for you and me

It's time for you and me

Overall Meaning

In this song, Joy Denalane challenges the listener to question the traditional ways of thinking and to search for a new path towards progress. She asks whether time can be made of money and whether the cost of moving forward is worth leaving behind the past. Denalane also questions whether we can truly believe in something when it causes conflict and division within us. She asks if we can fight a war with love in our hearts and if heroes really deserve to take the lead. The chorus repeats the phrase "No more" as a call to action for change and a rejection of the status quo.

Overall, this song is a powerful message of hope and empowerment. Denalane encourages the listener to look inward and seek a better future, one in which we are all equal and compassionate towards one another. She speaks to the idea that progress requires us to question established norms and to push beyond our comfort zones.

Line by Line Meaning

It's time for you and me
It's time for us to take action and work together.

Can time be made of money
Is it possible to buy time?

And leave us time to spend
And have enough time for ourselves?

Can we keep on movin' forward
Can we continue to progress?

At the cost of where we've been
Without losing sight of our past?

Can we still believe
Can we maintain our faith?

When it's tearing us apart
Even when it's causing us emotional pain?

Can we fight a war
Can we combat negativity?

With love inside our hearts
With compassion and kindness?

No more
I refuse to ignore or accept the status quo.

No more, can I turn a blind eye
I will not ignore problems that need fixing.

Oh No
I refuse to accept complacency and indifference.

Oh No, to everything we justify
I cannot accept the rationalization of harmful behaviors.

No more, shall heroes take the lead
I will not rely on others to take a stand or make a change.

No No No, it's time for you and me
It's up to us to take responsibility and make a difference.

Can we really be the winners
Is it possible for everyone to succeed?

When the winner takes it all
When there is only one winner.

And can we really stand together
Is unity achievable?

When I need for you to fall
Even when it's tempting to bring others down?

Can we hesitate
Is it okay to pause and reflect?

And say we gave it all we got
And be satisfied with the effort we put forth?

Can we look inside ourselves
Can we be introspective?

And be frightened of the dark
Even when facing our fears?

The night is always darkest
The hardest times are often at the beginning.

At the break of day
But things will get better as time goes on.

And when it comes to our own lives
When it concerns our personal well-being.

It shouldn't be that way
We shouldn't accept negativity in our lives.

And if we all just, if we all just realize
If we all come to an understanding.

That every step will help us rise
That every effort we make will bring us closer to success.

Writer(s): Joy Denalane, Roberto di Gioia, Samon Kawamura Copyright: Hanseatic Musikverlag Gmbh & Co. Kg, Edition Brotherly Love, Fanfare Musikverlag Edition, Premium Blend Music Productions Gmbh

Contributed by Sarah O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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