Emmani Palmer: The Sound of a Beautiful Black Girl
Emmani Palmer on the set of NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert featuring Doechii.
By Ava Chand
The voices of over 50 singers merged together to create a harmony that was smooth like honey. The booming baritones harmonizing with angelic altos created a space of ethereal energy, reaching a point of pure, unadulterated euphoria. She closed her eyes and sensed the raised spirits of her colleagues, peers, friends, mentors, brothers, and sisters. Three deep breaths. In and out, in and out, in and out. This is the scene of Kanye West’s Sunday Service at the Kia Forum in October of 2019. This is where Emmani Palmer’s life completely changed.
Palmer is a singer-songwriter born and raised in Boston. With two Trinidadian musicians for parents, music was ingrained into Palmer’s DNA.
“Music has just been with me since I was born,” said Palmer. “While I was in the womb, my mom was like performing.” Music seemingly poured out of every window of her household, her mom often singing along with her older sister while her dad played piano.
On the small Caribbean island of Trinidad and Tobago, Palmer’s parents performed as bossonova, soca, calypso, and jazz musicians. Trinidadian music has a syncopated rhythmic beat translated through steel drums, piano, and horns. Music is the soul of Trinidad, and that soul carries over to all who live on the island, including the Palmers, who worked tirelessly, gig after gig, saving money to move to America and pursue music. Ultimately, their dream became reality, and the pair packed their bags for Boston to attend the Berklee College of Music, which served as their new home base.
While music was a huge part of her life, Emmani never imagined that it would turn into a career. She sang in high school but decided to take music seriously when she followed in her parents’ footsteps and went to the Berklee College of Music, which felt like an extension of high school, considering she commuted from home. However, she quickly felt humbled by the amount of talent within the school. Imposter Syndrome brewed as Palmer realized she was a “small fish in a big pond,” with everyone chasing the same dream. “You really realize, like oh, there's a lot of versions of me that exist here,” she said.
With 6,000 young musicians in attendance, Palmer was forced to look inward and discover what set her apart as an artist from her peers.
Amidst trying to figure out who she was as an artist, Palmer’s world turned upside down when she got pregnant in her third year at Berklee. Despite awaiting the arrival of her baby, Palmer had no intentions of giving up her career or school. In the fall of her senior year, just a few months after her daughter Ari was born, Palmer was back in the classroom. Drive and focus carried her through her final year of college as she navigated motherhood and her studies.
Just one month after graduating, Palmer decided to take a leap of faith and move to Los Angeles on her own in 2019. She conquered SoCal with the intention of creating a stable life for her daughter while still pursuing her dreams. She had to embrace the chaos of an L.A. lifestyle, “never knowing what tomorrow will bring.”
She said, “When I moved to LA, I was very much like ‘Hey God, I don’t know what I’m doing but you just take the wheel,’ and that’s what I’ve been doing, but it’s not easy.”
Little did Palmer know, her first big gig was just around the corner. That same year, Palmer got the opportunity to be part of Kanye West’s Sunday Service Choir. Palmer said her time with Sunday Service was both the most difficult yet most rewarding moment of her career. Surrounded by seasoned vocalists who had already worked with some of the biggest artists in the world, she questioned her worthiness and grew timid around her colleagues. But the doubt did not last long and eventually fueled her desire to rise to the top.
Being around such talent influenced Palmer because “Everyone was so high on that level that it made [me] want to constantly reach that level or beyond.” She said that being surrounded by this community of artists got her to “blossom as an individual.”
This network of artists continues to serve her today. Through shared experiences and connections, Palmer met her closest friends and shared some of her proudest moments. Palmer’s latest success has been performing with Grammy-winning artist Doechii on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert. She shared the joy of this viral performance with one of her best friends, Bren’nae DeBarge. Palmer and DeBarge backed Doechii up with their vocals, and an evident chemistry translated over to their harmonies.
DeBarge and Palmer together after their performance with Doechii on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert.
DeBarge and Palmer became fast friends when they both arrived in L.A. in 2019, DeBarge journeying out from Atlanta, Georgia. They had the commonality of being Black women in the industry while both navigating motherhood. “We can’t choose our blood, but if I could, she would definitely be my blood, my sister,” said DeBarge.
Despite being friends for years, Tiny Desk was the first big gig the duo performed together. An act of both fate and coincidence brought them to Doechii. A mutual friend of both Palmer and DeBarge, by the name of SlimWav, connected the two singers in his head by how similarly they laughed. Both DeBarge and Palmer were told the same tale by Wav, “If their laughs sound good together, no reason their singing won’t sound good together too.”
SlimWav brought Palmer and DeBarge to the attention of Doechii’s Musical Director and the rest is history.
They are now part of what many viewers regard as one of the greatest Tiny Desk Concerts of all time, currently holding over 10,000,000 views on YouTube. One viewer by the name of @Kinglovesqueen1 commented, “Her backup singers are dope asf and they have range as well. I love how she is not afraid to let them showcase their talents as individuals,” praising Palmer and DeBarge. Prominent chemistry between all members of Doechii’s group projected the energy of creative black woman power in a male-dominated industry.
Palmer, DeBarge, and other members of Doechii’s collective often discussed the power they hold as an all-black female group on a mainstream platform. “We’re all black girls, black women, in this room. We’re talented. We’re bright. We can influence someone we don’t even know. Even if that’s just one beautiful black girl who’s playing trumpet or wants to sing or whatever the case is,” Palmer said.
This Tiny Desk was a monumental moment in Palmer’s career and one in which she feels deep pride. Following the momentum of the Tiny Desk, Palmer decided to release a single for the first time in over four years. Palmer writes her music and produces it with her partner and father of her child, Doctor O. She dropped her first single, “Closer,” in 2021, but feels she has since changed and grown as an artist. Her sound has evolved as she gained more experience. Now, her new single, “Look Good,” feels more representative of how she views herself. She describes her sound as “sonic,” drawing from neo-soul influence. The song, which dropped on February 6th, has already received praise from her colleagues, friends, and family, including DeBarge, Doctor O, and SlimWav. She hopes that as her career expands, she will be able to immerse herself more in her sound and put out music that will make audiences feel something. “My music is like my own world. If you like it, you can stay in my world with me,” she said.
Palmer represents strength and power amongst black women and women of color throughout a male-dominated industry and a white male-dominated country. The importance of seeing black women pursuing and accomplishing their dreams is important for future generations to see. Success does not just appear in the palms of most people’s hands. Palmer embodies passion and determination in a world where women are constantly put down. Palmer’s resilience and craving to inspire “just one beautiful black girl” set up the framework for millions of girls around the world to pursue their dreams and stop at nothing to achieve them, just as Palmer did.
