Summer Dennis is her name personified. She is the embodiment of summer. The Afrocentric curly-haired singer was born on the first day of summer during the first solar eclipse of the summer solstice since 1948. With such obvious alignment, Dennis was born to be a star and use her talent to brighten the lives of those who listen to her music. She shined that light when she took center stage at MEFeater’s 2nd annual NYFW Fashion Girl Summit. Despite the crowd not being familiar with her music, she managed to captivate the audience with her voice and charisma. She gave a performance worthy of the ‘It Girls’ singing the ‘Pink Lotus’ Reggae remix out now.
We chatted with the multitalented Summer Dennis on her start in music, musical influences, and how she knows when she has a hit on her hands. Come with us into Summer’s world and her journey.
How She Got Her Start in Music
For Summer, music and singing have been a part of her for her entire life. Growing up she was surrounded by melodies and performances, with her mother being a huge influence.
My mom was in the praise team and she’s a big performer. She was cheer captain, best smile, all of that. When I got here, she was still young and singing a lot. I just came right up under her at church. I was a little praise team baby.
Dennis states that her roots are firmly grounded in the church participating in every play that they had. Her nature for performing was seamless and as easy as breathing. It wasn’t until she got to West Virginia University that she realized she wanted to seriously pursue music. At the time, Dennis was on scholarship as a gymnast and had the hard task of juggling being an athlete and a performer.
When you’re an NCAA athlete, they own your likeness, so I couldn’t promote myself at the time. It was a really interesting climb because I was doing the gymnastics thing and the singing thing.
Though passionate about both, the artist found she couldn’t pursue one without sacrificing the other.
I really wanted to major in music. But you can’t do a sport and do music because it’s the same practice times. And I needed my full scholarship.
Summer’s main goal was clear
At this time the singer’s main goal was clear: to get in the studio. She soon met a guy who would hopefully help her get to the next step in her career, but she soon realized that sometimes it’s best to achieve your dreams on your own. She took matters into her own hands and worked tirelessly to reach her goal.
I started dating this guy. He was a sound engineer and I used to be in a studio with him all the time. He was touring with Drake and Nicki Minaj at the time, and he would never expose anybody to my music. I was like, okay, having a boyfriend in this is not good business. I decided I’d get 15 jobs and pay for all this myself.
Over the years the artist took jobs as an IT Specialist and made wigs and started recording on her own dime.
I was really impressed to be able to do it by myself. Because along the way, you know, men just, like, ruin your career.
Things started to change for the singer when she met Bill. Bill is her business manager, and collaborator, and plays guitar with her on all her gigs. Introduced to Bill through her sister, Dennis found someone who shared her passion for music. Since then, Dennis and her manager have worked on five albums together.
Her Songwriting and Recording Process
For the ‘Pink Lotus’ singer it’s all about the feels. Her emotions carry her music, making it more than just a simple process.
Well, this is interesting. Me and Bill have been talking about this so much because I’m very feely. And Bill is super excited by theory. The chorus and the notes and the key it’s in and the tempo, he’s excited by putting those things together. Where as me, I usually have big emotion. I’m just, in the moment, I’m like, ah, this is how I feel. Then I start writing. So it’s very chaotic, I would say. Especially being an academically trained writer.
So I’m very critical of myself. Does this sound like something that someone would actually feel? Do these words make sense? Does this make me sound illiterate? So I’m always seeking the perfect combination of words, the perfect way over the perfect beat, the amazing syncopation. And it’s just overwhelming, with all the things you can do with music.
How She Knows She Has a Hit
Dennis can always feel when she has a hit on her hands. It’s like a spirit that moves her and takes hold of her. She had that exact feeling when she heard ‘Pink Lotus’ written by Grammy Award-winning writer Kaydence.
When I heard it, the beat was like knocking and you can’t stop saying certain parts of the song, and it’s like that earworm. When I heard ‘Pink Lotus’ for the first time, Kaydence did a little singing. Like she wasn’t singing real hard.
She had a little autotune on and just the way the beat was knocking and the words and the way it felt, I was like, boom, we got to do this. And it’s so crazy because we got picked up for a playlist really quickly and people felt that way too.
I’m always desiring music for women that doesn’t center on romance or grooming young women into chasing after these men who can’t even read and have no jobs. I’m always into music that tells a real story that somebody can really understand.
When they tapped producer Harmony Samuels for the Reggae remix Dennis knew they had something special.
When we got linked up with Harmony for the remix, the first note I heard, I was like, oh, this is it. I don’t know if there’s like a spirit in the song or something, but reggae is like such a part of me. And when the beat is perfect and, you know, it just sounds so good. When I heard ‘Pink Lotus,’ when I heard the beat, and when I heard how he had placed my voice before I even got in and re-recorded it, I couldn’t stop moving.
Her Musical Influences
When it comes to her musical influences, Summer has many. She applauds the greats such as Lauryn Hill, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Earth, Wind, & Fire, and Diana Ross. She also admires and respects the newer musical acts such as Coco Jones and hopes a collaboration with Megan Thee Stallion and Doja Cat is in her future. Her musical influences stem from a vast amount of exposure to different styles and genres during her upbringing.
Where She Sees Herself in the Next Five Years
I want to be on tour nonstop. I want to be in my tour band and fill in my dancers, and I just want to do show after show after show after show. I would love to do 100 cities, 200 cities. I’m not married. I just have these dogs. So, it’s like I literally dedicated my life to believing I could do this. It’s just being on that stage every other day, every three days, that would be the perfect life for me.
The Best Advice She’s Received in Her Career
You know what is the best so far is authenticity, and that is new.
Remaining authentic is exactly what the singer has done throughout her career. She refuses to let the industry change her and her core values to further her career. She is set on forging her own path.
I think the best advice is to be authentic and to be yourself and to sell that. I would say as we’ve leaned into that this year, my career has gotten better. I’ve gotten better feedback from my audience, which is wild because I thought people didn’t want to see who I am. The more I show who I am, the better that has worked for me. So, I think that’s the best advice.
The Most Rewarding Moment of Her Career
For the ‘Pink Lotus’ singer, the most rewarding moment of her career came when she performed at Rockwood Music Hall. A fan came up to her after her performance to express how touched she was by her performance.
So, I’m like super nervous. But when we were there, I did my thing on stage and the sound wasn’t even the best. I got off and I was about to cry because this girl was like, I am so glad I stayed. She was like, you are just amazing. She was like, I have to follow you on everything. And I’ve seen her liking and stuff, but she was like your voice and the words of your song.
I replay those moments in my mind when I’m ready to quit. Those moments where people say that I touched them, I touched their heart or they just love my voice that I’ve practiced so hard. I’ve been practicing so hard to be the best at this. When they say that they love the sound of my voice and they love my lyrics, it’s like the reason I’m alive. It’s such a good thing. I love that.
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