The 11th Annual Wall Street Project Economic Summit kicked off on Saturday January 5th at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers. While days are filled with panels based around finding economic equality for minority employees, consumers and entrepreneurs, the evenings are about great cocktails and music. Bombay Sapphire has teamed up with the Summit to provide 5 nights of relaxation and entertainment by some of R&B’s strongest talents.
Monday night was all about Deemi, a native New Yorker that shares the WSP’s message on overcoming odds and moving forward towards a positive future. A local underground favorite for years, Deemi is currently working on her Atlantic debut “Soundtrack of My Life” for an ’08 release.
Backed by just her DJ, Deemi opened with a snippet of “Little Girl”, which hit mixtapes featuring a Remy Ma verse last year. She then went into her anthem “Soundtrack of My Life”, which graphically portrays her struggle coming up poor in Brooklyn, being a single welfare mother and surviving an abusive relationship. Reminiscent of a young Mary J, Deemi has a powerful, emotive voice that can ride over a tough hip-hop beat. Towards the end of “SOML”, Deemi emphasized and repeated the chorus line “Keep your head up” for the audience. Before going into her third song, the Puerto Rican songstress shared her happiness to be part of such a positive event, and revealed that while she has made mistakes and struggled, she is progressing. It’s Deemi’s frankness about her past and the lessons she has learned that help connect her to her audience. Deemi balanced the gravity of “Soundtrack of My Life” with the lighter “Love Explained”; this time expressing her appreciation for a strong man that sticks around. To wrap up her set, Deemi shared a piece of her signature style with the crowd in an acapella verse. She always ends a performance with one, this night’s reflected how she is “so hood.” Vowing to always stay real, Deemi recalls her harsh past in lines like “used to have a warm heart now it’s colder” but is determined to keep moving on and share her story with the world.
Battling a less that stellar sound system and a receptive but restrained audience, Deemi kept her voice on point and the room’s focus on her. While lacking the stage presence of a road warrior like Keyshia Cole, Deemi’s growing confidence and effort to connect to her audience should aid her emerging reputation as a talent to watch. She also appears to be working on more than her music lately, showing off her curves in snug dark denim and an off the shoulder fuchsia top. Hair and makeup were on point to further polish her look. After her final verse, Deemi jumped off stage to greet her Atlantic team and took time out to talk to fans and take photos with panel participants, clearly making some new fans Monday night.
