It’s been a lifechanging few years for Summer Walker. The Atlanta native went from cleaning other people’s homes and dancing in clubs to Billboard’s Top R&B Female Artist in just the blink of an eye. With collaborations from Drake, Usher and Bryson Tiller, 11 million monthly streams on Spotify and a highly successful debut album, the rise of Walker is only just beginning.
Here’s everything you need to know about R&B’s newest star.
Songwriting became her outlet
Before Walker even considered the idea of being an artist, she would channel the art of songwriting to try and overcome her sadness. Jotting down her thoughts and emotions, the songs would essentially write themselves and it wasn’t until Walker started sharing them with the world that she realised how many other people related. “It just happened over time. Writing is my way of capturing my emotion. It’s a safe place for reflection for me and my way of expressing my sadness.”
She’s a mum!
Earlier this year, Walker gave birth to a baby girl with her on-and-off again boyfriend and producer London on da Track. While the star has yet to share the official name to the public, nicknames ‘Bubbles’ and ‘Princess Bubblegum’ have interestingly been used by her in reference Instagram photos. Walker has been vocal online about Bubbles’ diet, publicly calling out “government processed formulas” and has only recently revoked her rule of showing the baby’s face on social media.
View this post on Instagram
She was discovered by someone with the same name
Summer Walker of the Love Renaissance record label was Googling herself when videos of Walker popped up. Loving the star’s soul and fresh feminist approach to R&B, she quickly signed Walker and the rest is history. We bet it’s even harder to Google herself now!
Drake is a massive fan
After Walker’s hit single ‘Girls Need Love’ (off her debut mixtape Last Day of Summer) started blowing up, it caught the ears of our favourite Canadian rapper and he immediately requested to jump on the remix. But his co-sign didn’t stop there. After the drop of her debut album Over It, the rapper DM’d Walker on Instagram to tell her that she just inspired him to write two songs at 7:30 in the morning and that he loved the album. Impressive much?
Speaking of Over It…
The 2019 debut from Walker became the highest-charting debut album from a female R&B star in the last decade, which isn’t that bad of an accolade when you’re just starting out. With hype building around the star before she even had a full-length album, it’s unsurprising that the world was itching for a complete body of work. A sex positive, soulful feminist record, Walker was praised for flipping the script on the male gaze and showing the point of view of the girls often sung about in Hip Hop and R&B.
View this post on Instagram
If you asked her, she’d rather be at home
Described by a lot of people in the biz as shy, Walker has been open about her social anxiety and prefers the company of her own to others. In 2019, the star cancelled 20 out of her 29 shows on her tour run, citing her anxiety as the issue, and she’s admitted that she’s not a huge fan of meet and greets or taking photos with fans on the street. As far as that works in the whole fame zeitgeist, she’s still struggling to accept the way her life has changed. “I still struggle with that concept of the ‘fame’ part. I wish it was just all about the music and not the other aspects that the industry requires.”
She learned to play guitar from YouTube
In amongst managing her own cleaning business and stripping, Walker used her downtime to learn how to play guitar and create music. The star would watch tutorials on YouTube before she finally had the confidence to upload her own covers that would eventually be discovered by Love Renaissance’s Summer Walker!
Her sophomore album is on the way!
In a hilariously casual video taken after she was refused entry into the BET Awards due to Covid restrictions, Walker took to a carpark to announce that if she had walked the red carpet, she would’ve shared some pretty exciting news. That news? Her second album Still Over It is coming 5th November. Watch her recreate the Over It album cover in the teaser trailer below.
View this post on Instagram
Liked this article? Sign up to our UMUSIC newsletter to hear more from us!
SEE MORE: DaBaby Collabs: Our Top Picks
