Black Voices in NH Music: Stay True to Yourself
Being an R&B artist in New Hampshire has been challenging but also fulfilling. I grew up in the inner city of Roxbury, Mass., where I spent a lot of my childhood years listening to my parents’ Motown vinyl collection.
I would take Stevie Wonder’s “Songs in the Key of Life” or Michael Jackson’s “Off the Wall” album and play them on my Fisher-Price record player. I was in love with soul music, but I didn’t know hip-hop yet, as it was still a burgeoning art form.
In my pre-teen years, R&B and pop music were starting to show the influence of hip-hop with songs from Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston, who were embracing the art form, and I knew their songs by heart. In my late teens, the mix of hip-hop and R&B was undeniable with artists like Mary J. Blige and Lauryn Hill playing on the radio, which made a huge impression on my style today.
I attended college at UMass Lowell, where I was introduced to different forms of music such as rock and alternative, and I got into artists like Fiona Apple and Alanis Morissette. I loved their angst and vulnerability, and their styles ended up having an influence on my writing later in life. I started performing with a live band in college but stuck to my R&B roots. I thought nothing of performing R&B songs because it was a lot of what I knew, and the musicians I played with also knew the music.
When I moved to Nashua, NH, I found that fewer musicians knew or performed the R&B and hip-hop music that I grew up on and was familiar with, so that became a challenge. While performing, I’d always have someone ask me to sing a song in a genre that I wasn’t familiar with. I always tried to be open-minded and tasked myself with learning different genres of music to fit in, but I struggled with feeling true to myself. I used to feel self-conscious about it. Now I have come to realize that people should understand that different people grow up differently. That includes music, culture, food, etc. The good thing is that it forced me to build a repertoire of music and be well rounded as a performer.
There came a point when I even struggled with wanting to perform my own original songs versus singing cover songs. Writing music became a journey of finding myself, and I had to dig a little deeper and stick with my conviction to sing original songs that have meaning to me.
At first, I experimented with dance music before I released the R&B and neo-soul sound that I am known for now, realizing that I had to tell my own truth and be vulnerable. That took a slower, more serious approach. I started to study the greats in R&B as well as the early jazz singers such as Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Etta James. I studied their melodies, delivery and cadences, then incorporated some of that style into my own sound.
Staying true to my roots and putting in all the hard work has paid off. Recently, I have been recognized for my music, not just in New Hampshire but in New England, and that has special significance as a Black woman. It’s important to feel seen and heard and to know that my voice and point of view matter. In 2024, I was recognized by the New England Music Awards as the R&B Soul Artist of the Year! I was also recognized by the New England Songwriters Competition in the category of Hip Hop/Urban and R&B for my song “Thank You.” It was such an honor, because I felt appreciated and supported where I didn’t always feel that way in the past.
It is imperative for me to recognize other organizations that are highlighting Black voices and for me to connect with the Black communities in the area, especially with Black women. I have met so many important leaders and peers in organizations like Black Women in New Hampshire Social Club, the We Are One and the Concord Multicultural Festival.
Connecting with other Black women and organizations has allowed me to learn so much about myself and my history. I’ve learned that there are other people of color in New Hampshire who are using their voices to be heard and who are making history right now.
There are still so many people of all races and backgrounds that I have yet to meet, and I’m looking forward to doing so through music. It’s all about staying true to myself and knowing that my music will connect with the right people.
This article was featured in 603 Diversity.
603 Diversity’s mission is to educate readers of all backgrounds about the exciting accomplishments and cultural contributions of the state’s diverse communities, as well as the challenges faced and support needed by those communities to continue to grow and thrive in the Granite State.
