Crazy

Four° In Winter

Give Me A Reason (Extended Version)

Written by: Khamari
Produced by: Khamari, Trackside, Johan Lenox

Ain’t these supposed to be my glory days
Late nights, and I can’t even feel my face
Hate going out, but you said it was just a phase
I’m not sure that’ll ever change
Will it ever change
Red Bull and tequila keep me up right in the night
When I should’ve kept my ass inside
My friends wouldn’t let me, they know I

Most of the time I feel too much
So I try not to feel at all
Staring at the ceiling, I
Staring at the writing on the wall
Is there some type of 
Is there some type of pill I could take
That would make it all go away

Doctor, would you give me something
Would you, would you
Doc, I’m only 20 something
Would you, would you
I’m way too young to feel this numb, yea
Would you, would you

My eyes, I think they’re already going
Cause I don’t see things too clearly
Think I could use a little perspective from you
I do
Cause my mind’s always racing
And I’ve been trying to slow the pace with
Red Bull and tequila keep me up right through the day
When I should’ve kept my ass inside
But I gotta work this nine to five

Most of the time I feel too much
So I try not to feel at all
Staring at the ceiling, I
Staring at the writing on the wall
Is there some type of 
Is there some type of pill I could take
That would make it all go away

Doctor, would you give me something
Would you, would you
Doc, I’m only 20 something
Would you, would you
I’m way too young to feel this numb, yea
Would you, would you

[David Worrell - Khamari’s grandfather]
I don’t know Khamari, you’re putting a lot of pressure on yourself
But I, I don’t think it’s too much that you can’t handle
It’s just a matter of focusing on what you gotta do
And sometimes you know, you just have to, just relax and go with the flow
Things always have a way of working out, man
Just focus on what you’ve got to do, and you know what I always say
To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did
You have to take time to live
Tomorrow’s not promised to anybody

Doctor, My Eyes

dirty dancer

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Alt Therapy Session 2: Transformation

Magazines

When we hear a piece of music that heals us, we pull the song close to our hearts and bring the rest of the world with it. Emanuel is a student and creator of R&B that makes the listener shudder with passion, delight, or pain - sometimes all three - but his chief concern is getting the listener to experience the same curative transcendence that the music’s creation provided to him. This is the crux of Alt Therapy, the title of Emanuel’s debut album and his artistic manifesto; “The idea of healing in my music is the most important thing,” he says. “If I was on stage just to have fun, I wouldn’t take it as seriously. It has to be deeper in order to take me further.”

The Alt Therapy paradigm came to Emanuel when he was working in a hospital. “I made a pact with myself that I wouldn’t settle for anything but what I felt was my purpose.” To fan the flames of this first spark, Emanuel drew on the rich texture of his life’s soundtrack: As a child in London, Ontario born to Ethiopian parents, Emanuel was exposed to music from around the world and absorbed it all. His mother played songs from across the African diaspora, while his father introduced him to Western classics, specifically Motown. 

Emanuel learned how to sing with no formal training at age nine, huddled next to his family’s computer with YouTube and his sister as guides. Boyz II Men, Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter III, and Bob Marley were the foundation; projects like Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly made him want to make music that can live through us long after the song ends. “I would listen to these albums sometimes in my darkest moments,” he says solemnly, “Those songs would affect me powerfully. I don’t want to deify these individuals, but something special was happening while I was listening to the music.”

Session 1: Disillusion, Emanuel’s debut EP released on Juneteenth, is the first collection of songs that will appear on his full-length album Alt Therapy. It contains his breakout single “Need You,” a piano-driven ballad where the yearning drips off Emanuel’s voice like the sweetest honey suffered by the sharpest sting; “Thought It’d Be Easy” on which Emanuel cascades down dreamy guitars to recount how carnal encounters can never solve matters of the heart; and “Addiction,” a funk-infused groove about the ups and downs of drug-fueled debauchery.

Emanuel’s musical journey is inexorably tied to his upbringing. “Black Woman”, the lead single from Emanuel’s second EP Session 2: Transformation, is a love letter to the Black women in his own life and around the world. “I was singing about my mom when I was writing it,” Emanuel says, “and it branched off into me thinking about a more unified view of how Black women have affected history and the communities around me.” Emanuel guides the song from a luxurious sparseness into a swirling orchestra, recognizing the unrecognized and assailed caretakers, providers and warriors as acts of God, and asks them to absolve him of his own shortcomings. Instead of choosing to preach, Emanuel humbles himself before the listener, his voice a diamond-tipped tool that burrows into our heartstrings and consciences.

Magazines

EMANUEL

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