Summer Walker is an Atlanta-based singer-songwriter who has gained her popularity recently. The girl began her musical career in 2018. Summer became known online for her songs Girls Need Love, Playing Games and Come Thru. The talent of the performer did not go unnoticed. Artists such as Drake, London on da Track, Bryson Tiller, 21Savage, Jhene Aiko and more. In 2019, Summer Walker became the first female artist to have her debut album top the R&B chart in its first week of release.
Summer Walker's life before popularity
The full name of the artist sounds like Summer Marjani Walker. She was born on April 11, 1996 in the American city of Atlanta, Georgia. Her mother is American and her father is from London. Summer attended North Springs High School in the Fulton County area. Due to the fact that at school the girl was one of the few who was African American, she calls herself a "self-proclaimed introvert."
“I didn’t really talk to my classmates and other students at the school. They thought I was strange and told me about it all the time, ”recalls the performer.
However, she found herself in music. Every day, after returning home from school, Summer learned to play the guitar, listened to Musiq Soulchild or classical music CDs given to her by her piano teacher. Somewhat later, the girl continued to study audio engineering at the university. During her teenage years, Walker also recorded covers of popular songs and posted them on YouTube. The most creative influences on the girl were Jimi Hendrix, Erica Badu and Amy Winehouse.
“Music has always been in my life. My mother often listened to some old songs, when I was growing up, they literally surrounded me. That's when I fell in love with the feeling I got from music. This is a serious hobby with me from a very young age,” says the singer.
Before starting to play music professionally, Summer worked as a cleaner and dancer in a strip club for two years. In parallel, she learned to play the guitar from YouTube lessons.
“My life has changed dramatically in a year and a half. A year ago, I worked as a cleaner and undressed. Now I am almost financially free. I paid almost everything for the house and car, and it's all thanks to you. Thank you, ”the singer wrote on her Instagram.
The beginning of Summer Walker's musical career
For a while, Summer published her songs on SoundCloud. She began to be noticed after the release of her song Session 32 on SoundCloud in April 2018. In the first few months, the song garnered over 1.5 million streams. More and more new subscribers began to come to the girl's accounts on social networks. In 2018, Summer was spotted by the Love Renaissance label manager in Atlanta. The management of the company liked the work of the performer and they offered her cooperation.
Walker did not refuse and already in October 2018 she released her first mixtape Last Day of Summer. The album peaked at number 44 on the Billboard 200 and number 25 on the US R&B chart. The album consists of 12 songs, one of them is the single Girls Need Love, which hit the top 10 of the Billboard Hot R&B Songs chart. The song caught the attention of rapper Drake and he invited her to record a remix of the track, which they released in February 2019.
The release of the first studio album Summer Walker
In 2019, Summer Walker released their first studio album, Over It. A couple of days before the release, to promote the record, the singer installed payphones in several US cities, painted in the color of the cover. To listen to the record, it was necessary to enter a special phone number on the device. The album included the singles Playing Games, Stretch You Out and Come Thru. In addition to solo songs, you can hear tracks with guest appearances by Bryson Tiller, Usher, 6lack, PartyNextDoor, A Boogie wit da Hoodie and Jhené Aiko.
On making the album, Summer said: “I wrote a lot of the songs based on past experiences. I have been collecting these songs for a long time. I completely entrusted the post-production process to my producer. Also asked to do something that, in his opinion, could improve the sound. Writing for me is very personal. Music and words must pass through me. So, Over It is just the culmination of my life experiences.”
Over It peaked at number two on the Billboard 200 a week after its release. The album won the 2020 Soul Train Music Awards and was also the most streamed female R&B album of 2020.
Controversy surrounding Summer Walker
During the coronavirus pandemic, the singer's fans accused her of racism and xenophobia. Over the summer, Summer shared a video on her Instagram that allegedly showed the Chinese deliberately spreading the virus. The video contained the headline "People in China seen behind the spread of coronavirus among the population." But, in fact, the video was two years old and has nothing to do with the virus.
Fans immediately knew it was fake. It is worth noting that in the caption to the video, the performer added: “This is some kind of nonsense.” However, the video still aroused indignation among subscribers.
In the end, in her Instagram stories, the singer reacted to the negative in her direction, but only angered the subscribers even more. “People are so dumb, they say that I am a racist and this video was made a long time ago. Whether it was 20 years ago or now, it looks gross. It doesn't matter to me if a black, white, yellow or green person did it, it's still disgusting, ”she wrote. The singer also refused to publicly apologize to anyone who could be offended by the video.
Summer Walker's personal life
The singer is dating rapper, songwriter and producer London On Da Track. Summer and London began dating in 2019 after he helped her record Over It. London also contributed to the single Playing Games, which sampled Destiny's Child's Say My Name.
Relations between Summer and London became more complicated at some point and the couple broke up several times. In April 2020, Walker wrote in an Instagram post: “Officially single. In the end, you don't care about yourself. This is the absolute minimum for me.”
A few months later, Summer announced on social media that she and London On Da Track were expecting their first child. At the end of March 2021, the couple had a girl. Parents have not yet disclosed the real name of the baby, in social networks they affectionately call her “Princess Bubblegum”.
