Demi Grace is truly a triple threat!
After making waves in 2017 as the first Nigerian model and woman with locs to be featured in Pantene’s Gold Series commercial AND dancing for stars like Beyoncé and Solange, the 33-year-old set herself up for lifetime success thanks to her extraordinary talents.
This year, Demi released her first full-length album, Blackcurrant, in eight years, serving as the official follow-up to Forward Movement Only. Consisting of 10 tracks, Blackcurrant highlights what it truly means to be a woman, with songs that highlight incredibly vulnerable and personal topics, from romance to intimacy to self-esteem. In simpler terms, it’s absolutely incredible.
Focusing on what it is like to be a Black British woman from the African Diaspora in the United States, Demi Grace sat down with Celeb Secrets to talk more about her new project as well as the process behind creating her latest body of work.
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Towards the end of 2020, Grace put herself on a recording binge, which is where a lot of the tracks on Blackcurrant came from.
“I basically kind of just locked myself in the studio for about 21 days, and I just made myself record every day for 21 days just to kind of see what would come out,” she explained. “With no end to the pandemic in sight, I just felt like why not.”
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When asked about the meaning behind Blackcurrant, Grace revealed to us, “The name actually came to me really quickly. Ribena the drink is blackcurrant flavored, and I used to drink that all the time when I was growing up in London.”
Talking about a flavor that is almost unheard of in the United States not only helps highlight Demi Grace’s European roots, but also a way to honor her inner child. “I wanted to honor the inner girl,” she said.
“At the same time, I wanted to tie in the title with the style of the music. The style of the music is still very R&B, afrobeat, like a little bit of pop-fusion in there, and the name Blackcurrant captures this combination of genres perfectly.”
While all ten tracks have important meanings, her single “Clingy” highlights the themes of romance and intimacy that the album is truly all about.
“I just could not stop writing about those feelings when you think about love and romance and connection, and that’s how ‘Clingy’ came about,” she revealed to us. We love seeing this open and honest side to Demi Grace, and we hope she continues to pour her heart into any music she creates in the future.
As for what’s next, Grace confirmed that Blackcurrant will be accompanied by a visual album in the near future. This will help emphasize the themes of comparison, self-esteem and toxic media perceptions that she sings about within this album, and we seriously can’t wait to see it!
When asked about these tough topics, Grace hit us with some wisdom. “You don’t have to be who they want you to be,” she said. “We all have our own path, and you’ll know what resonates by how easy you feel about doing it, but you don’t have to be who they want you to be because it’s not always what they make it seem.”
Be sure to listen to Blackcurrant below and let us know which song you enjoy most by either leaving a reaction at the bottom of the post or by sending us a tweet at @celebsecrets.
You can learn more about Demi Grace and her music by watching our full interview with the superstar below.
