Digital Cover: John Glacier and the Case for Joy

On the brink of her second album, the Hackney artist makes joy a form of resistance.

The Hackney-born rapper, poet, and producer came up through London's underground — self-taught on Logic, SoundCloud demos, collaborations with the likes of Vegyn and Shygirl — before her 2021 debut SHILOH: Lost for Words turned her into one of the most singular voices in UK music.

Since signing to Young, she's expanded that world well past the booth, from a Burberry campaign to the Louis Vuitton front row. Now, on the brink of her second album, Lack of Joy Is Death, she makes the case for joy as radical resistance. "You can't kill the stories, you can't kill the dancing; you can't kill the joy, you can't kill the culture," she tells us.

We sat down with Glacier to talk identity, creativity, and building a lane that's entirely her own.

Read the full digital cover story via the link.

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