Vyann Eteme knows ‘What’s Going On’ Following the debut of her first single on November 8, 2024, “What’s Going On,” the News sat down with Baltimore-based singer-songwriter Vyann Eteme to talk about all things music, career, her life as a student at Yale and balancing it all. Interview by Collyn Robinson. Photographs by Elishevlyne Eliason.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
Collyn Robinson: You look bundled up today.
Vyann Eteme: Yeah, it’s really cold and windy.
Robinson: How have you been since I saw you … yesterday? [Laughs]
Eteme: I’ve been doing work — as all seniors are — on my theses. My HSHM (History of Science Medicine and Public Health) thesis is on [???] practices of enslaved midwives during the Antebellum period, primarily, and my Music thesis is four music compositions that relate to matrilineal heritage within the Black diaspora.
Robinson: So, you’re doing both majors? Okay, period! And did you take that nap you wanted yesterday after the photo shoot?
Eteme: I actually didn't take a nap. [Laughs] I got some food because I was hungry, and then I ended up eating the food and yapping because Gabi had people over, so the apartment was kind of bustling or whatever.
Robinson: What did you eat?
Eteme: I had a steak and cheese sandwich from Est Est Est. It was good!
Robinson: It was good? I feel like Est Est Est might be slept on because one of my friends recommended I try their salads. Allegedly, their salads are really good.
Eteme: Really? They have salads? [Laughs]
Robinson: Yeah! You can order it on Snackpass and everything! But who knows?
Eteme: Oh, I didn't know they had salads, or I guess I did, but I didn’t know they were good.
Robinson: The main thing we’re here to talk about today is the debut of your song, “What’s Going On,” but also, in general, you as a professional musician at Yale. Which I find to be such an interesting thing to be because it’s already hard enough being a Yale student and participating in extracurriculars, but to also pursue your passions is extraordinary. My first question is, how do you find a balance?
Eteme: I think it's been hard. Being a double major, in particular, I was warned by administrators that being a double major is a thankless pursuit because you don't get two degrees, it just shows up on your transcript. It's just kind of like a thing you do because you really want to do it, and because you're an overachiever, but there isn't really any concrete documentation. But, it's been difficult, in a sense, where I've had to figure out how to manage my time in a very serious manner because there are the extracurricular activities that I'm involved in on campus at Yale that have to do with music. Then there are also the extracurricular activities that I'm involved in outside of campus that have to do with music pertaining to my career that will continue when I leave this school. I think balancing posting on Instagram and posting on TikTok and meeting those quotas, which, honestly, I haven’t been meeting and I need to lock back in.
Robinson: Quotas?
Eteme: Yeah, my managers are like, you need to post…
Robinson: You have managers!?
Eteme: Yeah! [Laughs]
Robinson: I should know more, but that’s my fault as the interviewer. [Laughs] So are you signed by a label?
Eteme: No, I’m not signed by a label. I’m signed by a talent management agency in Baltimore called “Dream Launchers.” It’s run by my managers, and they currently manage, I think, two other artists. So they’re in the Hollywood sphere. My managers are like “you need to post three to four times a week.” I hate posting. I hate it.
Robinson: Yeah.
Eteme: I hate posting. I hate it. Especially on TikTok, and like posting on Instagram, because I try to establish this niche, sort of mysterious persona on Instagram.
Robinson: That's the Aquarius rising! [Laughs]
Eteme: Exactly! Exactly! [Laughs] Whenever I post, for instance, today, I just posted another clip of my reel of “Mothering Blackness” for the Tiny Desk competition. That took a lot out of me, like that was a lot of willpower, because there’s something about posting regularly. It just messes up the facade. You know what I'm saying.
Robinson: [Head nod] It’s about finding a balance.
Eteme: Finding a balance, for sure.
Robinson: On November 8, 2024, you debuted your first single, “What's Going On,” but you've been producing, you've been writing your own songs and making music for years.
Eteme: Yeah.
Robinson: So what made you decide to make this your first song [on music platforms]?
Eteme: There were two reasons. The first is logistically it just made sense. “What's Going On” was a song that I'd posted about a year before on Instagram, and it got a lot of attention. It was one of my most well performing videos on instagram. And then also number two, is around the time that I felt moved to release the song, it was coming up on the anniversary of October 7, and it was right near the election. There were just a lot of things happening politically in the United States that I felt really warranted the release of a cover of this song, and the reimagination of a piece of music, a piece of cultural material that is so salient in our society. And that speaks to a lot of the fear, a lot of the frustration, a lot of the restlessness, a lot of the discontent that a lot of us feel with us feel towards our our government, and towards the people who are supposed to be protecting us and the people that are supposed to be serving us. I think it's just a really beautiful and simple but also incredibly powerful manner of communicating all of those feelings in a simple question, like, what's going on, you know? And I feel like everyone can relate to that, like no matter your race, gender, sexuality, religion like we're all just trying to figure out what's going on.
Robinson: And it’s such a popular song, too. A lot of Black and non-Black people are familiar with Marvin Gaye and his messaging. With that experience, who are some artists that inspire you and your music?
Eteme: Definitely, Adele, for sure. When I was a little kid, around seven or eight, my dad bought me an mp3 player and downloaded music on it for me. He had really great taste, honestly. [Laughs] The music he downloaded was by artists like Nora Jones, Adele and Amy Winehouse. Oh my gosh, there was another great artist, ugh, I can't remember. He just likes to download a lot of really good music. Now that I'm looking back, he does really have great taste and it was my first kind of curated exposure to music and my first exposure to modern artists of my generation, in my time. So the artists I just mentioned definitely inspire me. But Roberta Flack is one of my biggest inspirations. Nina Simone, as well. Both of them probably, in terms of Black artists, Black women artists who utilize the piano as a muse make them my top two, for sure. Cécile McLorin Salvant is a great jazz artist. She actually just came to Yale like two weeks ago, and I saw her perform. It was great.
Robinson: You gotta love Yale!
Eteme: And it was for free! [Laughs] I also love folk artists, like I love Joan Baez. She’s one of my favorite folk artists. I really discovered her last year, so very late, but just a gorgeous voice, amazing songwriter, amazing interpreter of song. With great folk artists, you know, a lot of them write their own music, but a lot of them also built careers off of like, taking the standards, reimagining them and reinterpreting them. Joan Baez is one that did that really, really well. Yeah, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Odetta is also great — one of the very few black female folk artists that gained some acclaim, especially in the mid 20th century.
Robinson: Would you also say Alice Coltrane?
Eteme: Yes, for sure!
Robinson: My first exposure to her was yesterday, honestly.
Eteme: Really, did you like it?
Robinson: I did! I really enjoyed it.
Eteme: Alice Coltrane is definitely one [of my inspirations]. She’s more eclectic, more elusive, I would say.
Robinson: So, would you say that sort of inspires how you want to be as an artist? You mentioned earlier the mysterious vibe you were trying to achieve.
Eteme: Yes! Yes!
Robinson: But we live in a culture where…
Eteme: You have to be…
Robinson: Out there! You know?
Eteme: Yeah! Yeah. [Laughs]
Robinson: You also noted playing the piano. Do you play other instruments?
Eteme: I just play piano. But I do want to learn how to play guitar. I also played the flute for two months [Laughs] but that’s it.
Robinson: Have you been singing your entire life?
Eteme: I like to say that my first real introduction to music happened in utero because my mom is an opera singer.
Robinson: Yeah, I wanted to ask because I’ve seen videos of you singing with your mom.
Eteme: Yeah, so my mom is a classical vocalist, and she was singing all the way up to my birth. She was doing concerts while pregnant with me, and the night before my birth, she was actually scheduled to do a concert, but she went into labor, so she had to cancel.
Robinson: Wow.
Eteme: She tells me often, or she has told me that when she would sing [before I was born] I was always still, so I would never move. So, I like to think that before even entering into this world, into this realm, that I was already experiencing music. I was experiencing it generationally, as well. But, yeah, I started singing from as early as I can remember. My mom put me in a children's choir, you know, like parents do. I did sing a bit in church, but it didn’t start there.
Robinson: Did your parents put you in any music competitions growing up?
Eteme: I definitely did a piano competition once. I always hated competitions. I always had severe performance anxiety growing up. That's one of the reasons why I don't play classically anymore is because of that anxiety. But for some reason when I sing it’s different.
Robinson: Does singing feel intrinsic, natural?
Eteme: Yeah, it feels very destined. It feels very safe.
Robinson: Why do you make music? Is it for you? Is it for other people? Is it meant to send a specific message?
Eteme: I would say I do it for me. Especially singing and writing music is very cathartic for me. It's a cathartic experience. And I thought a lot about this, it's something that I have to do. It sometimes doesn't even really feel like a choice, like it feels like the only way that I can really express myself, and like, the way I work through things and process things is through music, you know. So I think the reason why I do it, like writing my own music and singing, is for me and it is also for others to share. But ultimately, it's just something I do because it's a cathartic experience.
Robinson: I want to bring it back to the student perspective, you know, because artists out in the world who aren’t pursuing a degree have all the time in the world to do events and promote themselves.
Eteme: Yeah.
Robinson: And you briefly touched on doing music at Yale earlier in the interview, so what has music at Yale meant to you? How have you created spaces here for yourself and others?
Eteme: Being at Yale has, honestly, really been wonderful when it comes to creating spaces for community engagement with music. I think Our House has been wonderful because I think at Yale there aren't a lot of spaces for artists of color to really showcase their music outside of the acapella space. And so I think Our House, the initial goal was to create a space for POC artists to showcase their original work. I think being here, especially because it's like we're in this semi enclosed space, all within a one mile radius of each other; It's been really wonderful to be able to access this resource, which is proximity, I think, and really create, or hopefully create spaces where the community of color, like the Black community can engage with artists. So, it's been wonderful, like I loved being in Shades. I love Our House. I love interacting with other artists, whether it's through 17o1 or Spring Fling or just like other artists who are completely independent. Yeah.
Robinson: That was great!
Contact Collyn Robinson at collyn.robinson@yale.edu . Contact Elishevlyne Eliason at elishevlyne.eliason@yale.edu .