2026 marks a new chapter for Dutch South African singer-songwriter Joya Mooi, with the Edison Award-nominated musician gearing up for new releases in the shape of an extended play, more singles, as well as shows in Mzansi. Following the drops of “Lookalike” and “Only Water” alongside Naija muso Lady Donli, we caught up with the songstress for a brief one-two.
Mooi talked about her early beginnings, before she ventured into music and her childhood.
“I grew up in a space where music was all around me. My father was good with the trumpet and my mother could sing, and I secretly haboured the desire to sing from a young age, but the problem was my shyness. Eventually I opened up to my parents and let them know that I wanted to be a singer. From then on I started vocal lessons, and then I took everything from there,” she said.
Joya Mooi | SUPPLIED
Joya recently released her single, “Only Water”, assisted by Nigerian songstress Lady Donli. Built on top of the story of Olympic gold-medallist and American diving icon Greg Louganis, Mooi shared a behind-the-scenes peek into the making of the song.
“I was already a Lady Donli fan before we worked together. When I reached out to her, I was hoping she’d be game to collaborate for the song, and fortunately, she was open to it. When it comes to the making of the song, it was a story I had been carrying around with me for a while. So when I got in studio and the producer put on the beat, I felt it was perfect. The production had a flow that first made me think of water, you know, fluidity. And I wanted to blend the music with Greg’s life story because origin stories of legends are normally overlooked and oversimplified. The song then became a way to look at this differently and to give more depth to his legacy and where it all started,” she said.
Mooi shared some of the plans laid out for the rest of the year, hinting at a body of work and live performances in Mzansi.
“More songs are on the way, most definitely. There’s an EP coming up, and I’m working on new songs in Paris again. I’m hoping to come down to South Africa at the end of the year to be back home with family and to do some concerts. A lot of things in the pipeline,” she said.
The singer-songwriter reflected on the fingerprint of her music as well as the influence she hoped to leave behind.
“I hope that through my music people feel I am telling stories they care about. I want my legacy to be a testament that you can stay true to yourself, to your topics, and to your themes. I feel like people in the music industry feel like they have to make commercial tracks, and that’s something I want my music to go against. I want my music to help people to stay true to themselves, their crafts, and their beliefs,” she said.
Joya Mooi | Credit: Aka Dre
Lady Donli | SUPPLIED109
She opined on her version of originality, emphasising the importance of introspection in the process of composing fresh music.
“I think it’s good to not listen to a whole lot of new music,” she said with a chuckle. “Because we often hear stuff that we end up copying on an elemental level, like hearing something and then wanting to put your own little twist to it. And I don’t feel like it should be that way. You should be able to center yourself. To listen to yourself, to tap into what’s within, and to draw from your own voice, where you find creativity and the voice of God.”
She shared what kind of music she wanted to explore more of in the future.
“I hope to do more house music in the future, but to be honest, I’m open to venture into anything. But because I like dancing, I’m probably going to tend towards music with a lot of BPMs,” she said, laughing.
