Meet Kharisma | Singer-Songwriter and Multimedia Personality

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

Hi Kharisma, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I’m a third generation musician on both sides of my family. Growing up creativity was a way of life… I don’t know anything different! I remember sitting with my mother’s father Lee Smith who was a jazz tenor saxophone player at the piano every chance I got because I was always drawn to the music. There are pictures of me sitting with him attempting to play while still in diapers. I used my rattles as microphones. My mom’s brother Lloyd was the lead guitar player of The BarKays and her other brother Chubby was a percussionist with Billy Preston and toured with the Jackson 5. My dad’s father Lewis McIlwaine was a gospel singer and one of the founding members of The Southern Wonders. My dad Kenneth McIlwaine is an R&B singer and sang with The Royal 5. My grandfather Lee Smith had a band called Lee Smith’s Hi- Larks that my dad and uncles were part of and I started singing with them when I was 10. Additionally, the legendary Rick James was my adopted uncle, and mentor. When it came time to decide what I wanted to do with my life, it was never a second thought about pursuing singing because it’s always been my first love. Thankfully I have an incredible support system that encouraged me every step of the way, especially during the tough times. For that and them I will forever be grateful!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’d like to think of my music as an eclectic blend of all of the genres that I grew up being around. I went on to study classical voice and piano. Throughout my career I’ve had some wonderful opportunities. I’ve opened for Deborah Cox, Kenny Lattimore and Eric Roberson, and sang background for Pink, Mariah Carey, Kenny Loggins and Kathy Sledge. I’ve also performed internationally in The Bahamas and in Morocco. It has not been an easy road at all. There has been lots of ups and downs, rejection and disappointment along the way. There have been times when I wanted to give up, but I could never walk away from music… it’s part of who I am. The biggest lessons I’ve learned are to stay true to myself and don’t compromise. In an industry like the music industry, there’s a copy paste formula that a lot of people want artists to follow and if you want to do things differently, you have to be willing to do it alone at times or in my case independently.

I released my first single “All In” (produced by David Lyve) off of my upcoming EP earlier this year, which I recorded at home. I’ve gotten amazing support so far and I’m excited to see what this next chapter with my music will look like. I want the world to know that everything that I’m sharing is a piece of my heart, my journey and my experiences. I hope my music allows people to feel something… to connect to the human experience and I hope it uplifts and heals.

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.
I’m a foodie! Any adventure I’d take my friends on would involve food. The great thing is Philadelphia is such a food town. I’d start at Cafe La Maude for breakfast which is an incredible French-Lebanese place, then head to the Reading Terminal for donuts from Beiler’s Donuts followed by Sampan or Banana Leaf for lunch and or dinner. If we managed to be able to move after that, I’d try to find some live music at a place like Time. I also love the museums that we have here and had memberships to almost all of them as a child, so a tour of The Franklin Institute, Academy of Natural Sciences and a trip to The Philadelphia Art Museum would also be lots of fun.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to thank my family, especially my mom, dad, brother, my grandparents, my sister cousins and friends that have turned into family for always supporting me and believing in me even when I didn’t believe in myself! Words can’t fully express my gratitude. I’d also like to thank everyone who has helped support my career by coming to live performances and purchasing my music… it means the world to me that you appreciate my art.

Website: www.realkharisma.com

Instagram: @therealkharisma

Twitter: @realkharisma

Facebook: Kharisma McIlwaine

Youtube: YouTube.com/kharismamusic

Other: You can stream and purchase my latest single “All In” here: https://songwhip.com/kharisma3/all-in https://realkharisma.bandcamp.com/releases

Image Credits
All pictures were taken by Alloyius McIlwaine