Today we’d like to introduce you to IMVNI (IMANI).
Can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today. You can include as little or as much detail as you’d like.
I’ve always wanted to be a musician, but I was too scared to admit that it was something I wanted to do because the truth is I didn’t have the skills to do it at the time.
Since I was a little girl, I have loved music. My love for music goes beyond my memory and I have the pics to prove it.
To get where I am today, I had to take baby steps. “Small changes every day yield big results.”- unknown
It’s hard to just jump out there and tell people you want to sing especially when no one has ever really known you to sing. I knew people would think I was crazy or worse tell me not to do it. That’s why I kept this little secret to myself until I could build up enough confidence to verbalize that I want to be a musician.
So how did it start?
I’ll take you back to my days in college. It’s the summer break and at this point, I’m already 3 years or so into school. I was a theater major. The school was about to shut down the theater department so either I had to transfer to another school, pick another major, or drop out. I told myself I guess I’ll do Mass Communications because I was good at it, but the truth is my heart wasn’t there.
Right before the next semester, I ran into my voice teacher Ms.Green in the store. Only a few people knew I had a voice teacher, it was another secret I kept to myself. I confided in Ms.Green about my concerns and the need to change my major. She replied, “Why don’t you change your major to music?”
I was shocked she made that suggestion! It felt good to think she thought I could actually major in music. I asked her “Do you really think I can do it?” With all the confidence in the world, she told me “YES”.
So I did it. I changed my major to music. It was pure bliss. I started looking at life differently. The colors seemed brighter as my vision for life became more vivid. My hearing became more sharp and keen as I am finally marching to the beat of my own drum.
I often wondered how many people were scared to even try.
With Ms. Green’s encouragement, I actually had the courage to TRY.
How did you get where you are today?
The love and undying support of my brothers/producers James and Keith. I’ve always thought they were so cool. They’ve been making beats since the days of dial up internet… who knows how they downloaded the software.
My oldest brother James produced “Before You Let Go” and my other brother Keith produced “Rollin” and “Make Love”. Prior to releasing those 3 singles I recorded a ton of unreleased music on their beats.
My earlier music wasn’t good. If I’m being honest, it sucked, but it had potential. My brothers heard my music’s potential and would encourage me to keep going. They always gave me constructive criticism and extremely honest feedback on my songs. I’m blessed beyond measure to have brothers that will tell me the truth and love and support me every step of the way. Having honest people around you that want to see you grow is imperative.
Has it been a smooth road? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It absolutely has not been a smooth road. Thank God for music because it’s been so therapeutic for me. I am able to address my feelings in my music and videos. I’ll say things in my art that I may be embarrassed or too scared to talk about.
I struggle with loneliness a lot and I mean A LOT. In my music video “Rollin” the character is trying to smoke all her loneliness, fear, and grief away.
In my song “Before You Let Go” I have a lyric the second verse:
“And I’m feeling broken baby. Save me. Save me. And I’m feeling lonely lately. Love me love me love me…..”
A lot of time I just want to be loved. It’s so hard to be so far away from my family and friends. During covid I felt so touch deprived. I just miss being around my day ones. I’ve made a lot of bad decisions and stayed in a lot of unhealthy relationships because of loneliness. I’ve also made a lot of good songs because of it so yeah it’s a double edge sword.
I am an independent artist and sometimes having to be everything for myself is daunting. I do everything on my own. I’m doing the marketing, booking, creating story lines for my videos, write my own songs,book studio time, and etc but that’s what it means to be an entrepreneur so I try my best not to complain. Don’t get me wrong I have fun and I love what i do, BUT it requires a lot of hard work and sacrifice.
It’s a struggle to keep going and I would be lying if I said I don’t think about giving up. Every time I think of giving up I remember my song and video “Maybe”. In that video/song I ask God for signs so that I can believe in something. Everytime without fail I’m given a reason to BELIEVE again.
Anything worth having is worth fighting for.
It took me damn near my whole life to decide I would actually try. I can’t give up. I owe it to myself to DREAM. We all owe it to ourselves to DREAM and to TRY!!! I pray you have the courage to try and keep trying.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a singer-songwriter. I am most proud of my song and music video “Maybe”. That video took a lot of hustle to create but with the help of my director Min Soo Park and my AD Ayan Vaid we made something amazing.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
Currently, I’m living in New York. What I love the most about New York is the access I have to everything and I can encounter every kind of person. What I hate about New York is the fact that the city never sleeps and it’s so hard not to get caught up in the constant hustle and bustle.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.imvni.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/imvni.music?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/9WeSsCTaj5w
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4kJqRoF0jG5KqcHceUzYqC
