Born and raised in New York City, she performed in various singing competitions as a child and rose to fame in the early 1990s as a guest vocalist for Lil Louis on the number 1 Dance singles "Club Lonely" and "Saved My Life".
Her second album, Joi Cardwell (1997), spawned the top-charting singles "Soul to Bare", "Run to You", and "Found Love".
She worked as a back-up session singer for Melba Moore, Jermaine Jackson, LL Cool J, and The Pointer Sisters.
After graduating from New York University with degrees in English and Music in the mid-1980s, she studied voice for a year primarily to master control, as she had already developed and retained her own personal style.
Her close affiliation with Kashif led to an album deal with Arista Records in 1988 for her pop R&B girl-group, The Promise.
As a result, Cardwell decided to answer an ad in the Village Voice that read, "Epic recording artist looking for a background singer for a live tour."
He proved to be an early influence for Cardwell's sound, which melds a new dance beat with a thoughtful lyrical twist.
Cardwell creates material that sounds as though she's musing quietly about life while a dancing throng gyrates with joy nearby, and her lyrics are soulful, romantic, and thought-provoking.
Shortly after meeting Lil Louis, Cardwell conceived the single "Dancing in My Sleep", and within a week of penning it, she was in Chicago cutting demos and well on her way to a career as a dance-hall diva and R&B songstress.
Cardwell gleaned experience from the large overseas tour returned to the U.S. significantly more focused and ready to tackle a solo singing career.
Cardwell contributed guest vocals on the single "The Creator Has A Master Plan" for the Brooklyn Funk Essentials' album Cool & Steady & Easy.
The album's lead single "Soul to Bare" reached the top five on the Billboard Dance Club Play chart.
In November 1998, she released a two-disc compilation Clubland's Greatest Hits which features a few club mixes of her earlier singles on Eightball Records.
[15][16] The album spawned the singles "After the Rain" and "If You're Ever Lonely", which were released on her manager's label, Junior Vasquez Music.
In 2004, she participated in the Keep Hope Alive Project to benefit LIFEbeat, the music industry AIDS-awareness organization.
The album's lead single "Freedom" spent thirteen weeks on the Dance Club Play chart before peaking at number 7.
The album spawned the singles "Return to Love", "Feels Like Heaven", "Indian Giver", "Lucky Charm", "Shot through the Heart", and new remix of "Jump 4 Joi".
In May 2017, she re-released her business book titled "Keep Your Eye on the Game and Not the Fame",[30] which was originally released in 2001.
[35] On October 13, 2017, Cardwell was featured on the track "State of Confusion" from the debut album by DJ and producer Honey Dijon, The Best of Both Worlds.
[39] Barry Walters of The Advocate highlights her tone and timbre as particularly distinctive, described her voice as "more subtle, more ethereal and seductive.
"[40] Other critics praise her vocal abilities, with Larry Flick of Billboard saying she "proved her potential as a multiformat star with a funk version of "Jump for Joi" that exploded with Ella Fitzgerald-style scatting.