Meet Charmaine Makeda | Singer/Songwriter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Charmaine Makeda and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Charmaine, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I think taking risk builds character. As a person who has taken many risks I can honestly say all of them didn’t lead to success but it led to great lessons that I’ll never forget. In the past, my inability to take risks held be back from certain experiences. I’ve learned that living with regret is far more detrimental than living with mistakes . So now I look forward to taking risks because they always make me better in the end . If anyone wants to achieve any of there goals they must be a risk taker.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I create Neo soul , r&b and house music. I’ve loved music my whole life. Music always makes me feel happy and at peace . It’s the purest form of joy to me. Honestly, bringing a creative vision to the life can be the start of an unpredictable journey. That journey led me to stages all over the Chicagoland area to name a few: The Promontory, Subterranean, Metro Chicago, and Bourbon on Division. Its given me the opportunity to perform at events like Black Girl Art Show and open for legends such as Tweet. It’s also created more opportunities in my other creative areas of interest such as songwriting, modeling and acting. I began singing in church growing up . Then I wrote poetry during my young adulthood . It took me some time to grow the courage to put my art out there, but I’m happy that I did. I created my first project during the covid pandemic . It was a therapeutic project and a healing experience . Someone close to me whom I love was diagnosed with cancer when I began it. I raced to finish project because I wanted to make sure they saw me take the biggest and most rewarding risk of all, and finish. I am grateful that this wake up call pushed me to lean into my love for music. My love  for music  has led me here thus far and I hope it inspires someone else to follow their passion too.  I hope they feel inspired to when they listen to my music.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If my best friend came to town I’d take her to Soul Veg City to get some amazing vegan soul food, it’s one of my favorite black owned restaurants here. After that we’d go to the Botanic Gardens to get some fresh air and admire nature . Then we could do to Pier 31 to hear some house music and get some sun by the docks.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Shoutout to my family for being the first ones to believe in my dreams and push me to achieve them !  And a special shoutout to my ma for inspiring me to become the best version of myself.

Website: https://linktr.ee/CharmaineMakeda

Instagram: Www.instagram.com/charmainemakeda

Image Credits
The Real Raven Calvin’s Candids Michael Smith Jason Gamino