Jorja Smith Reimagines SZA And Kendrick Lamar’s ‘All The Stars’ As A Stripped Down Piano Ballad

2018 has been the biggest year to date for rising star Jorja Smith. First she appeared on the heavily acclaimed Black Panther soundtrack with “I Am,” a song she co-wrote with Kendrick Lamar, and a few months after that, she dropped her debut album, Lost & Found. Now the UK songstress has found a way to increase her footprint on the Black Panther soundtrack, by covering one of the songs she didn’t originally appear on.

Smith visited BBC Radio 1 on Monday, and she gave a performance that turned SZA and Kendrick Lamar’s smooth and energetic R&B banger “All The Stars” into a more intimate piano ballad. Smith’s dynamic voice carries the performance, which is both gentle and powerful, and an example that when a cover is done correctly, it can show off how versatile a great song is.

Smith told BBC host Clara Amfo, “I love this song. I love the chorus, how it’s quite big and then it goes down. We’ve done a nice little rendition of it.” Smith also performed “The One,” from Lost & Found, which she played in a similarly stripped-down style.

Watch a sample of Smith covering “All The Stars” above, or listen to the whole thing here, at the 2:10:00 mark. Also revisit our review of Lost & Found here.