Keke Palmer is known for being relatable, humorous, and possessing candor. With her newest album Just Keke which dropped in June, the actress, singer, businesswoman, and mother has entered a season in life where she’s “spilling her own tea,” unabashedly embracing vulnerability, and not shunning the reality that there’s a freedom that comes with going off script. Bringing her years of industry experience, coupled with moments of intimate transparency, Just Keke showcases the performer in a new era. Keke, along with her writing partner, longtime friend, and two-time Grammy Award-nominee Tayla Parx, has created an album that is fun, cheeky, sexy, raw and deeply personal.
Just Keke gives listeners a glimpse into Keke’s world as she candidly shares vignettes from different stages of her love life, mothering journey, fame, and the art of becoming just Keke. Keke is making it clear that she is integrating all of the aspects of her life in this now season in her artistry in its varied forms. In a recent conversation with ESSENCE, Palmer shared the inspiration behind certain aspects of the new album and delved into this current era of her life. While there are some poignant themes throughout the album, ultimately, Palmer wants listeners to feel joy and embrace “self-discovery” when listening to the project.
“I had a lot of fun making it,” Palmer said. “I wanted to make sure that there’s joy in it, especially because there are a lot of big themes around vulnerability. But [with this album], I’m also showcasing the way that I process [life] through humor, levity, and reflection.” Palmer further shared that after many years of experience in the industry, she fully understands that she is more than a product and that she is taking ownership of her journey freshly and intentionally. “Art is my medium, and I’m not just the product. Though I came in so young through the showbiz lens, I have so much awareness around that [now], and much of that was discovered at this stage in my life.”
With singles on the album like “Off Script,” “My Confession,” and “Tea, Boo,” Palmer is taking ownership of her past experiences without shrinking from them as well. Many of the songs delve into the reality that you never truly know who a person is until they actually show you. When pondering how she vets people that come into her life, Palmer candidly shared, “Oh my goodness. It truly is trial and error. But now, there are some things that I’ve learned along the way that can give a sign that lets me know if somebody is capable of withstanding my world. At the end of the day…everybody loves the sun until it burns you.” And, when it comes to more interpersonal relationships and friendships, she continued, “I think that my lifestyle can be appealing. It can seem like it’s fine until people get exposed to it. I think one of the biggest things that I have learned is to take my time with people, seeing that side of my life, the entertainment side of my life.”
In Just Keke, Palmer explores the not-so-pretty side of love, and many will be able to relate to the uncomfortable truths that come along with infidelity and broken bonds. As for her relationships, Palmer is intentional about keeping certain things behind-the-scenes, but has no regrets about how her journey has been.
“I’ve always been kind of private,” she said. “I think I did that for a reason, because I know as an entertainer that this is what I signed up for, but the people in my life didn’t… So, I often would go back and forth with that fragmentation. I don’t know if it’s a regret, but I think I was right. Because, at the same time, if that is my life, at some point, people will have to understand that too. I think this album and this period of my life are also about less fragmentation and more integration. Maybe it could have been handled better, but you are who you are. I’m never gonna not be me.”
With songs like “Amnesia” and “Ripples,” Palmer was deliberate in using her platform in empowering other young women, and also pays homage to those who helped her to become who she is. She quipped, “Everything happens for a reason, and never think it’s over for you. A lot of times, we think a door shuts or [if] it doesn’t turn out [the way we’d expect], that all of a sudden, that means it’s over. But no, it just means you go another route and you move along.”
In reference to the song “Ripples,” Palmer explained, “The truth is, I am who I am because of my parents’ sacrifices. And they are who they are because of their parents’ sacrifice. We could sit and harbor on the wrongs they made, or we can [choose to] honor them for who they’ve been and how it made us who we are, and how we can see differently because of them.”
“With ‘Tea Boo,’ it’s kind of like I enter this escapist world and this shady world,” Keke said. “And then I say, wake up, and I go back to ultimately the foundation of what’s most important to me, which is the next generation, the young people that are watching me, and how I can make the things I do mean something.”
Palmer has accomplished many wonderful things in her life this far, but at the end of it all, she hopes to have lived in such a way that will make her son proud. Palmer shared that she’s used to creating “energy and space,” and that the greatest way to pour into her in this season is to allow her space just to exist, and ultimately allow her to be just Keke.