Neo Jessica Joshua was content to remain in the background and teach singing until the mid-2010s, when she and her collaborators began to cook up a mix of airy, heartfelt ballads and off-center grooves that sounded progressive and accessible yet willfully out of step with commercial sounds. 

Terming her hybrid sound "wonky funk," the remarkably skilled vocalist, songwriter, and producer gained a foothold as Nao in 2015 with a pair of well-received EPs and a highlight contribution to Disclosure's Caracal. She was already a MOBO nominee by the time she released her Top 20 U.K. album For All We Know, a full-length debut that led to her being shortlisted for the BBC's Sound of 2016 and a Brit Awards nomination for Best British Female Solo Artist. High-profile soundtrack placements -- two songs appeared on the television series Insecure -- and featured appearances on recordings by the likes of Chic, preceded the 2018 release of Saturn, which was nominated for the Mercury Prize and a Grammy for Best Urban Contemporary Album. The third Nao album, And Then Life Was Beautiful, followed in 2021.