Joi Cardwell sang for the pleasure of it before she turned professional and started contributing backing vocals for a list of other artists that includes LL Cool J, the Pointer Sisters, and Jermaine Jackson. A native of New York City, she stepped onto the stage at Carnegie Hall when she was five years old, singing Three Blind Mice as part of her schools performance there. Her teen years saw the dream of performing solidify, and she enrolled in New York University as a liberal arts major with a concentration in philosophy and literature. During her time at NYU, she entered a talent competition hosted by Harlems Apollo Theatre. She earned top prize a total of five times, the first time by belting out For Your Eyes Only.