ESSENCE FESTIVAL OF CULTURE ISSUE
FOLLOWING THE RELEASE OF HER SOPHOMORE ALBUM, STILL OVER IT, SUMMER WALKER WANTS TO EMBRACE A NEW SOUND.
“It's just a good feeling.”
Summer Walker is describing soul music, a subgenre of gospel and blues she wants to further explore, when she utters those words. On wax, she tapped into it with the release of her 2019 EP Clear, taking a more stripped down, worship-like approach than she has on her most popular works. The effort provided listeners with insight into the world in which she’d rather exist.
She admits soul is her “favorite type of music” and “the one that resonates” with her the most, but the singer-songwriter believes others don’t view it as profitable enough to focus on. “I just don't get to do it as much because that's not what you get paid for, you know?” she says. She also thinks power players are reluctant to help “put it on the radio and give you awards like they used to back in the 2000s.”
Walker has had a difficult time heading home with the awards her fans say she rightfully deserves, with more pop-leaning acts beating her out in categories dedicated to heartfelt, gritty cuts. She doesn’t engage in targeted callouts, especially of the winners, maybe because she knows it’s deeper than that. The oversights are institutional.
Motherhood brings you the most joy in the world.”
I wish that I paid more attention to the person I procreated with. It's like you never really know anybody.”
Even with her ideas of how soul music is received, Walker credits it as a liniment for the heart. “It's just an overall life enhancement. I don't know what kind of life I would live if I didn't get to hear it.”
Six months into the year, Walker is still exhaling from the 2021 release of Still Over It, the follow up to her 2019 album, Over It. With her latest, she cleared out the remnants of a sticky old love, but if you’ve ever been in love before, you know that process is a motha. In just over an hour, we listened to the proclamations of a ride or die lover, a justifiably pissed ex and a vulnerable young woman who longed to make things work. Walker didn’t restrict herself from being any of the above. You can’t have the rhythm without the blues.
Walker was born in Atlanta, Georgia in the spring of 1996. By then, Freaknik had been commodified to hell and back. Platinum-selling natives Xscape, OutKast and TLC were kicking their sweet, funky flavor to all. And lust, love and lucre co-existed on the airwaves. The feel of the time and the eyeballs its success stories accumulated laid the foundation for some of modern music’s biggest moments, including the further dissemination of crunk (which was birthed in Miami and Memphis) and trap. The danceability of the former and the candor of the latter have directly impacted the favored sounds of today.
Walker, 26, spent the earliest bit of her young adulthood operating a cleaning business and working as a stripper. She was comfortable with singing being a private joy, but after a few song covers of hers exploded in 2017, she reluctantly slinked into the limelight. Love Renaissance, a record label that sits under Interscope, is her home. Together, they’ve produced a mixtape, two extended plays, and two critically-acclaimed albums. Her debut album became the most-streamed R&B project by a woman in history, topping Beyoncé’s Lemonade.
Now, with millions of records sold and a loyal host of supporters, Walker is taking on her first ESSENCE Festival of Culture. She will headline July 3 in Caesars Superdome, giving New Orleans a taste of her feminist fire. “It's cool...I'm glad that I can be a part of it,” she says of her upcoming performance. Walker’s been open about social anxiety and how it’s impacted her relationship with live shows. “I don’t really like performing,” she tells me. But she’s made a variation of peace with baring her soul to an audience.
The singer’s voice lightens when she talks about her 1-year-old daughter. “It brings you the most joy in the world. At the same time, it's really hard, it's really stressful, and it's really a lot of sacrifice. Sometimes, it’s like, is it worth it? Then they smile and make your day, and the answer is yes.”
The relationship that produced her child was tumultuous and very public, but the 25-year-old put the stress and strain into her music. She’s not regretful about the experience, but she is wearing the cloak of wisdom it brought.
Photographer, Micaiah Carter
Writer, Brooklyn White
Lighting Tech, Nigel HoSang
Fashion, Corey Stokes
Summer Walker Stylist, Haylee Ahumada
Stylist Asst, Timothy Garcia
Makeup, Baddie Couture
Props, Sinclaire E. Reddings
Videographer & Editor, Khomari Errol Flash
Producer, Katherine Prato
CREDITS:
ESSENCE TEAM:
SVP, Creative, Corey Stokes
Senior Creative Director, Allyson Brown
Creative Director, Nia Lawrence
Senior Entertainment Editor, Brande Victorian
Senior Photo Editor & Producer, Michele Brea
Contributing Photo Editor, Wendy Correa
Style & Beauty Editor, Blake Newby
Graphic & Motion Designer, Imani Nuñez
Social Media Director, Charisma Deberry
Video Producer, Yazmin Ramos
VP, Experiential, Branded Content & Video, Stephanie Dunivan
Senior Web Developer, Victoria Sumner
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CLOTHING CREDITS FOR METHOD MAN (IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE):
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BY Brooklyn White | PHOTOGRAPHY BY Micaiah Carter
“I wish that I paid more attention to the person I procreated with,” she says bluntly. “It's still like you never really know anybody. Even how long you can be with people, you just never really know. People be in long-ass marriages, and they just switch up and you'll be like, "Yo, what the fuck?" So, I guess you can just never really know.”
Walker’s debut mixtape, Last Days of Summer, spoke to people who were relieved to hear a reflection of their innermost desires. “Girls can’t never say they want it, girls can’t never say how, girls can’t never say how, girls can’t never say they need it, girls can’t never say now,” she sang on the chorus of “Girls Need Love,” her breakout track. The song’s topic is clear, but the magic lies in its sadly widespread applicability. Women's thoughts and rights are trampled on by society and the American government alike. Her directness is appreciated.
"She's so vulnerable and transparent in her music, I think this generation lacks that,” says Maliibu Miitch, a rapper and friend of Walker’s. “Music these days just seems like it's all a vain competition between artists...you know, just a bunch of people bragging about materialistic things that don't really matter and the average person can't relate to. Her music taps into people's emotions and real-life experiences.”
I go to the gym for my own peace of mind. I don’t do it to become someone’s sex symbol or a pinup on someone’s wall. I do it for me.”
SUMMER WALKER
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I'm not that controllable. My heart doesn't allow me to be. I have to have my own.”.” lane..”
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She's so vulnerable and transparent in her music, I think this generation lacks that.”
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I wish that I paid more attention to the person I procreated with. It's like you never really know anybody.”
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Walker doesn’t want to take up residence in her pain. She’s expelling the hurt, though it’s still tender. She’s regenerating with the assistance of “therapy and my religion,” she says. “I have a scholarly teacher and different people who are really good in their fields that are helpful with my healing.” She’s also in a new romantic relationship and doesn’t quite know if it’ll impact her music moving forward. In fact, she’s not really thinking about churning out anything new at all.
“I don't know, honestly. I really don't know,” she wonders, after I ask about how fresh love will color her work. “I haven't been focused on making any new music.” While fans will pine for more unearthing, newness, and the echoes of heartache by and by, I pray Walker will soon have no more grief to give.
I don't know what kind of life I would live if I didn't get to hear soul music.”
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The well-documented trials of Black musicians—imbalanced recording contracts, cultural appropriation and improper, racist categorizations—have been heavy weights on their ankles. It doesn’t feel quite fair that the freedom to express yourself comes with the industry's shackles. While there's no business like show business, entertainment could certainly use some ethics courses.
~ Maliibu Miitch
