March is National Women's History Month and to mark it. We are profiling several local musicians and their journey through the music industry. Today we hear from Amani Adelekan, artist name Amani Lillian, a 21-year-old artist from Staten Island. We talked with Adelekan in collaboration with Women in Music New York.

The following transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Music to me started as a feeling that I couldn't really describe, but I just knew it was something that belonged to me in a way like I understood it. I could hear elements within it that was like so rich and so exciting, especially as a kid. Now being able to create forms of music that I loved growing up, create that effect for someone else means that much more to me.

I think my music encapsulates a lot of different genres. More at the forefront, pop and r&b, but I love to include jazz, country, even some rock in there to really add some dynamic elements, whether it's through the production or the lyrics-storytelling aspect. 2024, was my first year really releasing music as an independent artist and the independent part, it's definitely challenging. You are admin, you're doing marketing, you're scheduling your own sessions. But on the other hand, knowing all sides of it right from the jump is also very valuable, and ends up being helpful. But in the moment, it definitely is not fun. 

Entering the music industry is already hard enough no matter who you are, but especially as a black woman, I think it takes a lot of self-motivation reminding yourself that you're good at what you do, but also that you belong in a place where sometimes you are told you don't belong. That's why it's seeing representation is so important. I mean, it was important for me when I was growing up watching Disney Channel at the time, like A.N.T. Farm, and seeing the main character was a black girl that loved to write music and had her guitar. That really inspired me to be like, "oh, I wanna do that."

I would love to continue in my career with the mindset of inspiring other young black women to be in whatever genre they wanna be in and to not be in a box of any kind. Like with the types of music you're making, whoever you are, and whatever your identity is, just be truly you no matter what.