Karyn White
Karyn White Takes the World by Storm
Karyn White has found a great deal of success in the realm of music. She’s twice been nominated for a Grammy, and her self-titled debut album went platinum. White proved herself to be no flash in the pan, however, as the song “Romantic” from her sophomore offering Ritual of Love topped the Billboard Hot 100 charts. Then, for a while, White disappeared, taking time off to raise a family. Fortunately, she’s back, and “Superwoman” hasn’t lost a step. Recently, she starred in the film Gale & The Storm, which was directed by Derrick Muhammad. The film, in many ways, reflects White’s own personal journey. I spoke with White, who has an extraordinary spirit, about her career, and more.
Karyn White
You've had a very interesting career...
Tell me about it.
So your brand new movie is set to release in September. Tell me about your role.
I am Gale Storm, a force of nature. She's a legendary pop singer who stepped away from the business. She had some bitter feelings with her lover and her label so she just said "screw it." She walked away and then 17 years later - not 17 years later, that's my life - a short time later, she hooks up with this revolutionary music producer who is moving and shaking. He kind of coaches her to get back. He starts out with her working with a group and eventually she falls back in love with music. Then they agree to do music her way and on her terms. Its closely based on my life. It's a great feel-good story, a good come-back story. And there's a soundtrack that goes a long with it! I was so excited when I heard Childish Gambino’s (aka Donald Glover) "Awaken My Love." It was very funky. Hopefully we would be able to bring the funk back, because he was doing that and he was such a force with "Stay Woken" and some of the other music. It was a way for me to musically get out of the pop box. If you were to go see me live most people are kind of surprised because I am going to James Brown, Tina Turner, because that's the era of music that I really love. It's very soulful and funky so I like to incorporate that. So when we did the soundtrack we recorded eight songs in like two days. It was amazing and it's a funky soundtrack. The movie is pretty raw and edgy, and I executive produced it. I had been acting before that. I was on a sitcom on BET network called Beauty and the Baller. So I got the acting bug and decided that instead of me waiting for somebody to give me the perfect role, that I would create it. That's the "Superwoman" in Gale Storm!!
Even before you said it was based on your life, I was going to say that it sounded like a real life story.
Oh yeah, exactly. It's definitely based on my life because when I stepped away, I kicked myself in the butt. Who would let me do that? I was going through a really dark period for me. I had just lost my mother, I had just lost my relationship with the love of my life, Terry Lewis. Since I was a kid, I’ve been driven. They called me Karyn White in elementary school. I knew I was going to be a star, and I knew I had that drive and dedication to be what I was going to be. My work ethic was amazing. Now that I look back on my life, I think that I definitely went through a depression. The fact that I would even stop singing, and now that I'm seeing how hard it is getting back, why did I quit? I asked myself “Why did you walk away?” I never really said, "Oh I'm going to quit music." Time kind of happened, and then more time happened, and I felt like music had moved on. Then it turned into, “Okay I'm raising my daughter.” Then I was flipping homes. Then my daughter graduated, and now what was I going to do? The great thing is I don't regret the business part. With people that are in the arts, they feel like when they aren't doing music, they feel like they are nothing, and that they can't do anything else. I really found out that I could. There was more to me than music. I was designing and flipping homes, and saving homes in Sacramento. It was very lucrative for me, and I found that I did love it because it was creative. Also, I had to become more of an entrepreneur. So coming back into the industry, I had all the things that prepared me for today because the landscape is so different.
Yes I know. A lot of artists are coming back now, like Billy Idol and Adam Ant, and Doctor Dre. The people in the ‘80s have raised their kids and want to have fun again.
Yes, the real artists. That's what was so unique about the ‘80s. There was such diversity. That's what I miss in today's music. Everybody kind of sounds the same, and I don't like that. I don't even know who is who.
That's what was so unique about the ‘80s. There was such diversity. That's what I miss in today's music. Everybody kind of sounds the same, and I don't like that. I don't even know who is who.
You have and had and have again a very special voice as in the duet you did with Babyface.
Yes, that was "Love Saw It."
It was romantic and sexy.
Those were the good old days. Working with all of those producers. These are the people that started my career. When I look back I see how hard it is now. There's something about youth and how you kind of take things for granted. When your first single goes gold and platinum, it's really kind of hard to gauge how tough it is when you start out on top. I had an album released in 2012 called Carpe Diem, and it was incredible. But it was released on my own label, and I got to see how tough it was. I've gone on this journey, and I'm definitely excited about the music industry where we can do things on our own terms. But I'm not going to lie, it's really hard work. I am up for the challenge. My voice is preserved and sounds better and I'm really excited about the future. I'm definitely looking forward to doing more projects. This is the first film that we are going to release and I'm going to be releasing more films, especially things that are dealing with black people, and arts and music. I'm just excited about the landscape of today.
This interview was edited for length and clarity.
Follow Karen White on Twitter @karyns_world
Official Website https://www.karynsworld.me
