Because of my love for (mainly 90s) R&B music, I’ve made a lot of musical friends over the years who are all professionally active within that side of the music business. They all have been posting about one new album.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a reasonably new, upcoming artist (to as far as I know) get all her peers mentioning her album, but Demetria McKinney managed to make an impression and it’s been flooding my social media feeds for a whole week now.
She’s mainly known as an actress right now and, apparently, she’s one of The Real Housewives of Atlanta, until she split up from her husband. I can’t check this, because I only saw a clip of this show when I was in New York, years ago, and let’s just say, it’s not my kind of TV show… I wouldn't even want to fact check this.
Anyway, now, it’s time to for her to make a new start and show another side of her: Her musical side. She's released an album called "Officially Yours" and immediately got honored with a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist. She's officially made an impression.
“Happy” was the first song that I’ve heard. I watched the video, which combined her acting with her singing skills. The music is the kind of R&B that I also like with its playfullness between the background and lead vocals. It's got a sense of jazz and neo-soul. I couldn't wait to hear more and luckily I didn't have to look that far to find it.
Her album is pretty diverse, which actually makes this one of the most interesting debut albums I've heard in a while. I really think all of the attention is justified.
It's been a busy year for Demetria. Besides starting her music career, officially (as it's been a side gig for her for many years), she's also playing one of the most influential women for soul music in a biopic. Demetria took on the role of Whitney Houston for the bio picture about Bobbi Kristina. While she'll be combining her acting with singing for now, Demetria has made it no secret that she would love to make the switch to becoming a full time singer soon.
