Joy Philippou on The X Factor in 2007
Tribute to Joy Philippou, eccentric mystic, artist and author renowned for a rap act she used to try to encourage young people to stay out of trouble
Greek Cypriot Joy Philippou, MBE, artist, teacher and rapper, was born on August 26, 1928. She died on heart failure on February 23, 2018, aged 89.
Below is an extract from a tribute to Joy, renowned for a rap act that she used to try to encourage young people to stay out of trouble, published in The Times on 30 March 2018:
Traditionally, rappers have hymned the attractions of a life of lawlessness, narcotics abuse and promiscuous sex. Joy Philippou offered a more sober alternative. Claiming to be the world’s oldest professional rapper, she hoped that she could use the art to encourage young people away from delinquency and gang violence.
“If ya f*** with me/ The police are gonna hafta come and get me/ Off yo ass,” rapped NWA in a typical lyric from their celebrated album Straight Outta Compton. Such sentiments could not be farther from those embraced by Philippou. In one song she advises delinquent youth: “It ain’t no fun to carry a gun / And if you insist on carrying a knife/ You could lose your home and your child and your wife/ And what is even worse – you could lose your life.”
Eschewing the compulsive beat favoured by most celebrity rappers, Philippou delivered her raps at an ambling pace, accompanied by bongos and a hand-clapping audience.
She made it on The X Factor in 2007, entertaining the judges with her “nose violin”. Pressing one nostril closed with a finger, she produced a high-pitched nasal wail in approximation of a Hawaiian dance tune. “I don’t understand what you’re trying to do,” complained Simon Cowell.
Notwithstanding Cowell’s skepticism, Philippou made it to the “boot camp” stage. The experience was “absolutely horrific”, she recalled, complaining of the “concentration camp” conditions of the contestants’ hotel and referring to Cowell as the Fuhrer.
That did not stop her from competing on Britain’s Got Talent in 2011. Her aim was to promote her movement. “I want young people to start writing raps to show there are other things in life than antisocial behavior and being racist.”
She ran rap workshops for disadvantaged adolescents. One was held in the House of Lords as part of her work as the president of the Star Foundation, which honours individuals who have worked for their local communities.
She was born Margaret Joy Gadeloff in Jaffa in 1928 when the city was part of the British Mandate of Palestine. A degree of mystery surrounds her past, but she claimed Russian and Spanish heritage and enjoyed giving colourful accounts of her exploits.
As a young woman she moved to Cyprus, where she was a ballerina and taught dance. She married a teacher, Anton Philippou. She was 28, her husband was seven years younger. She described Anton, who died in his forties while undergoing surgery, as the love of her life. She is survived by a brother, Eli, and her companion of 20 years, Annie Rogers, an amateur musician.
Her friends remember her as an enthusiast and an eccentric. In conversation she would habitually break into song, mime and dance. She had a passionate nature and men readily fell in love with her. Her whimsical, ardent character is reflected in the varied career she had after leaving Cyprus.
She was an accomplished artist, art restorer and charity fundraiser, as well as an author and an expert in eastern mysticism. She also worked as a teacher and university lecturer. For a year she lived in Paris, in a garret in Montparnasse. “I was literally starving, absolutely broke.” She scraped together enough money singing in cafes (in ten languages) to hold a successful exhibition of her paintings. British tourists took her for a gypsy troubadour.
Her artistic output ranged from abstract painting to religious icons and murals for restaurants. She was taught to restore religious icons by an exiled Russian court painter and in the early 1970s she landed a job at the Grecian Gallery in London, where she helped to restore 14th-century Byzantine icons. Her work also took her to France, where she spruced up old masters for aristocratic families. On one such jaunt she stayed in a monastery with the Rubens painting she was restoring stowed under her bed.
Educated at a Catholic convent school, Philippou was an atheist for 15 years before a master’s degree in philosophy returned her to God. Her spiritual practice was eclectic: she was learned in Islam, Hinduism, Baha’i and Buddhism, as well as Christianity. Meditation was especially important for her and she believed that she had attained a state of spiritual euphoria.
An important influence for her was Swami Muktananda, the founder of the Siddha Yoga movement. She saw his photograph in Delhi and “instantly felt he was my guru.” When she met him, he blessed her prayer beads. She asked him to “put tons and tons of Shakti (cosmic energy) in them.” He replied: “You are already so full of Shakti, you don’t need any more.”
Her literary output included All You Need To Know About Angels and Yogic Power Secrets Never Before Revealed. She also wrote an erotic novel, an Arabic cookbook and a guide to English that promised to teach French speakers 10,000 words in a day. She also published a book of rap lyrics, The Rap Revolution. Friends say that she was unfazed by the thought of dying, so strong was her belief in the spiritual realm.