Summer Walker

Summer Marjani Walker (born April 11, 1996)[2] is an American singer and songwriter. She is signed to LoveRenaissance and Interscope Records. Her commercial mixtape Last Day of Summer was released on October 19, 2018.[3] Her debut studio album, Over It was released on October 4, 2019 and received universal acclaim from critics.[4] The album debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 chart with 134,000 album-equivalent units in its first full tracking week. Walker made history when her debut album earned the biggest streaming debut ever for a female R&B artist.[5] Walker also was the recipient for Best New Artist at the 2019 Soul Train Music Awards.

Summer Walker
Walker in November 2019
Background information
Birth nameSummer Marjani Walker[1]
Born (1996-04-11) April 11, 1996
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer
  • songwriter
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • piano
  • guitar
Years active2018–present
Labels
Associated acts
Websitesummerwalkermusic.com

Early life

Walker was born in Atlanta, Georgia to a British father and an American mother, who eventually divorced.[6] From 2016 to 2018, Walker had a small cleaning business, while she was simultaneously stripping in Atlanta. She taught herself how to play the guitar by watching tutorials on YouTube.[7]

Career

Walker was discovered by a woman who has the same name as her and works as the studio manager of an Atlanta-based label LoveRenaissance.[7] On October 19, 2018, Walker released her debut commercial mixtape Last Day of Summer, supported by her lead single "Girls Need Love".[8] Her album contained her thoughts on love, doubt, and womanhood.[9] In late 2018, she went on tour with 6lack on the From East Atlanta With Love Tour.[10] Following the success of her album, Apple Music named Walker as its newest Up Next artist in 2019, and became the number 8 R&B artist worldwide across Apple Music.[11] On January 25, 2019, she released her first EP titled Clear, consisting of four tracks of acoustic recordings.[12] On February 27, 2019, she released the remix to her song "Girls Need Love" with Drake.[13]

On August 23, 2019, Walker released "Playing Games" as the first single for her debut studio album, Over It.[14] The song, which contains an interpolation of Destiny's Child's number-one hit "Say My Name" was produced by London on da Track. On September 12, 2019, Walker revealed that Over It would release on October 4 via LVRN/Interscope Records.[15] Along with her album announcement, she shared the official artwork. Over It debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 with 134,000 units in its first week. Its debut week marked the largest streaming week for an R&B album by a female artist, in terms of on-demand audio streams.[16] The album also topped the R&B Albums chart for 14 nonconsecutive weeks and as of July 2020, has yet to chart below number seven.[17] She supported Over It with her accompanying The First and Last Tour, which kicked off on October 20.[18] Due to her social anxiety, Walker canceled the remaining 20 out of 29 dates on the tour committing to 9 of them.[19] On November 17, 2019, Walker won her first Soul Train Music Award for Best New Artist, she later received backlash from fans for her short speech and was accused of faking her social anxiety.[20] During early 2020, Walker collaborated with rapper 21 Savage on a song titled "Secret", and in April, featured on Khalid's remix of "Eleven". On June 29, 2020, Walker announced the release of an EP, Life on Earth, released on July 10. The announcement came a day after she performed "Session 32" and "Come Thru" with Usher at the 2020 BET Awards, where she was nominated for Best New Artist and Best Female R&B/Pop Artist.[21] Life on Earth debuted atop the Billboard Top R&B Albums chart, becoming Walker's second number one.[22] Two tracks from the EP charted on the Hot 100, "Let It Go", and "My Affection", featuring PartyNextDoor, at numbers 84 and 86, respectively.[23]

Artistry

Walker has said that she draws inspiration from Amy Winehouse, Jimi Hendrix, and Erykah Badu.[24] Her sound has been described as slow groove R&B.

Discography
Main article: Summer Walker discography

Studio albums
  • Over It (2019)

Mixtapes

Tours

Headlining
  • The First and Last Tour (2019)[25]

Awards and nominations

BET Awards

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2020[26] Herself Best New Artist Nominated
Best Female R&B/Pop Artist Nominated

MTV Video Music Awards

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2020[27] Herself Push Best New Artist Longlisted

Soul Train Music Awards

Year Nominee / work Award Result
2019[28] Herself Best New Artist Won
R&B/Soul Female Artist Nominated
"Girls Need Love (Remix)" Best Song of the Year Nominated
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References
  1. "Summer Walker Profile". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  2. "Summer Walker - BP Lyrics | Musixmatch". www-musixmatch-com.cdn.ampproject.org. Retrieved 2019-05-24.
  3. Johnson, Zoe. "Take A Walk With Summer Walker On The 'Last Day Of Summer'". Vibe. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  4. Wicker, Jewel (October 1, 2019). "Chartbreaker: Summer Walker Readies Star-Studded New Album After Drake Co-Sign". Billboard. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  5. "Summer Walker's 'Over It' Earns Biggest Streaming Week Ever for an R&B Album by a Woman". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media, LLC.
  6. "Girls Need Love, Too: 4 Interesting Facts About "Session 32" Beauty Summer Walker". 93.9 WKYS radio.
  7. Kennedy, Gerrick D. (2019-10-21). "Summer Walker went from housekeeper to R&B it girl — and she's still a mystery". Los Angeles Times.
  8. P., Milca. "Summer Walker Officially Arrives With "Last Day Of Summer" Project". HotNewHipHop.
  9. "5 Times We Fell In Love With Summer Walker on Her 'Last Day of Summer' Debut". Ones to Watch. Retrieved 2019-05-06.
  10. "6LACK Announces World Tour Featuring Tierra Whack, Boogie & More". HotNewHipHop. 14 August 2018.
  11. "Summer Walker Named the First Apple Music Up Next Artist of 2019". Broadway World. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  12. P., Milca. "Summer Walker Shares Soulful "CLEAR" EP". HotNewHipHop.
  13. Blistein, Jon. "Hear Drake Drop First New Verse of 2019 on Summer Walker's 'Girls Need Love' Remix". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  14. "Summer Walker Releases New Song 'Playing Games'". ratedrnb.com. Retrieved 2019-09-17.
  15. "Summer Walker Announces Release Date for Debut Album". ratedrnb.com. Retrieved 2019-09-17.
  16. Caulfield, Keith (October 13, 2019). "SuperM Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart With 'The 1st Mini Album'". Billboard. Retrieved October 14, 2019.
  17. Trevor, Anderson (July 17, 2020). "Summer Walker's 'Life on Earth' Debuts at No. 1 on Top R&B Albums Chart". Billboard. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  18. "Summer Walker Plots 'The First and Last Tour'". ratedrnb.com. Retrieved 2019-09-17.
  19. "Summer Walker cancels US gigs: 'I get tired, I get sad and it's just a lot'". BBC.
  20. "Summer Walker Addresses Critics Who Don't Believe She Has Social Anxiety". Essence.
  21. Ingvaldsen, Torsten (June 29, 2020). "Summer Walker Announces New 'Life on Earth' EP". Hypebeast. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  22. Trevor, Anderson (July 17, 2020). "Summer Walker's 'Life on Earth' Debuts at No. 1 on Top R&B Albums Chart". Billboard. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  23. "Summer Walker Hot 100 Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  24. "5 Times We Fell In Love With Summer Walker on Her 'Last Day of Summer' Debut / Ones To Watch". Ones To Watch. Retrieved 2019-05-06.
  25. "Summer Walker Announces 35-City Tour & Drops Sultry "Playing Games" Single". HYPEBEAST. Retrieved 2019-09-17.
  26. "BET Awards 2020: See who won at the BET Awards". CNN. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  27. Drake, Carolyn (23 July 2020). "Doja Cat, Pop Smoke, And More Are Nominated For VMAs' Best New Artist". Uproxx. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  28. "2019 Soul Train Awards". BET. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
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