Today we’d like to introduce you to Joe Lyimo.
Hi Joe, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Joe Lyimo, and I create and perform under the name Forever Young Joy, or FYJ. I’m a Tanzanian-born musician, poet, and writer from Mwanza, now based in Vienna, Austria. My work brings together music, spoken word, and storytelling, but the thread connecting it all is a desire to make sense of life and connect with people honestly.
My creative journey began in Tanzania. Music and writing became ways for me to express what I was feeling and explore questions that were not always easy to speak about openly. Over time, that expression developed into a creative practice spanning hip-hop, Afrobeats, R&B, and poetry. I found that different experiences needed different forms: sometimes a song, sometimes a poem, and sometimes a story that could grow beyond the page or the stage.
As my work developed, I became increasingly drawn to themes of identity, belonging, love, resilience, and social change. These are not separate subjects for me; they connect to how we live, how we treat one another, and how we find the strength to continue. I want my work to leave room for difficult truths without losing tenderness, joy, or hope.
An important turning point came in 2025, when I came to Vienna through the Artists at Risk residency at MuseumsQuartier. Moving to a new country opened a new chapter in both my life and my creative work. It also meant navigating a different language, finding community, and learning how to build a life and an artistic practice in a new environment.
Today, I’m continuing to develop my music and poetry while exploring film and collaborative storytelling. One of the projects I’m developing is Water Carries Names, which is being shaped into a short film. I’m interested in how these different forms can speak to one another and create more space for stories about migration, identity, and human connection.
I’m still building, learning, and finding my way. I don’t see my story as a straight line or a finished success story. What has stayed consistent is my commitment to creating work that feels truthful. Whether I’m writing a song, performing a poem, or developing a film, I want to make something that helps people feel seen and reminds them that their stories matter.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
No, it hasn’t been a smooth road. One of the hardest challenges has been finding the freedom and safety to be myself while continuing to create. Growing up in Tanzania, I faced discrimination and experiences that affected my sense of belonging. Music and writing helped me process those experiences and keep moving forward.
Moving to Austria brought new possibilities, but it also meant starting again; learning German, finding community, understanding a different creative environment, and balancing everyday responsibilities with my artistic work. Having experience and ideas does not mean you immediately know where you fit or how to access opportunities in a new country.
Building a sustainable creative career remains a challenge. I’m still learning how to balance making meaningful work with the time and energy needed for applications, promotion, and finding paid opportunities. Through it all, I’ve learned to be patient with myself, ask for support, and recognize that progress is not always a straight line.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a musician, poet, and writer working under the name Forever Young Joy, or FYJ. My work brings together hip-hop, Afrobeats, R&B, and spoken word, and I’m also developing projects that connect poetry and music with film. I focus on identity, migration, love, resilience, and social change, drawing from personal experience while leaving space for others to recognize themselves in the stories.
My specialty is bringing storytelling into different forms without losing the emotional truth at the center. Some ideas become songs; others become poems or visual stories. Rather than limiting myself to one medium, I choose the form that best serves what I want to express.
I’m most proud of continuing to create through difficult circumstances and building a creative life across countries and languages. Winning my first poetry slam was also a meaningful milestone. It gave me encouragement to keep sharing my voice and developing as a performer.
What sets my work apart is the combination of my Tanzanian roots, my experience of rebuilding my life in Austria, and the way I move between music and poetry. I make space for vulnerability alongside strength and for joy alongside difficult subjects. I want my work to offer more than an account of struggle; I want it to create connection and show the complexity of the person behind the story.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
I would say openness, being willing to listen, learn, and reconsider my approach. I care deeply about my ideas, but I also try to recognize when feedback or a different perspective can make them stronger. That means asking questions, accepting that I don’t know everything, and being willing to revise rather than getting attached to the first version. For me, growth depends on taking the work seriously without assuming I already have all the answers.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/fyjworld
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_foreveryoungjoy
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/foreveryoungjoe
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-lyimo-718626202/
- Twitter: https://x.com/foreveryoungjoy
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@_FYJ
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/foreveryoungjoy
- Other: https://harmony4healthh4hafrica-stack.github.io/harmony4health_africa/
