EmmoLei Sankofa ‘12 : Overnight Success Takes Years

by Keah D. Moffett '09

Emily Jackson, better known as EmmoLei Sankofa’s journey to becoming a nominee for the NAACP Image Award for Original Score for TV/Film for “The Other Black Girl” was not an overnight success but years of hard work and dedication.

EmmoLei’s love for music began when she was young, as both her parents were musicians. Her mother put her and her sister in the church choir at age two, and they grew up singing in the choirs until high school. She started playing the violin in second grade and switched to saxophone and drums in middle school.

Middle school also was when she fell in love with composing. “I had a friend who made a song for a social studies project that we had to do, and he was the only person who had presented his project in this way. And after he presented, I’m like, ‘How did you make that?’ So he showed me FL studio. I went home that day, told my dad, and he got me to the entry-level version. From there, I just kind of composed music and produced music. Like, I was just making a lot of things on my own.”

When EmmoLei got to Hampton University, a professor encouraged her to look into film scoring.” Doctor Thomassetti, who was over the music recording department then, suggested that I look into film scoring after hearing one of my assignments for one of the projects we had where we had to compose music. And he was like, ‘You know, this is really cinematic. You should you should look into film scoring and just, you know, kind of see where it takes you.’”

EmmoLei attributes Hampton as being a breeding ground for her creativity.“Hampton was definitely an interesting breeding ground because while I was in Hampton, there was the nerve going to say there was Earthgang, there was Jabriel, like all of these people that I’m like next to and trying to produce music for.” During this time, EmmoLei learned many valuable lessons from networking and served as an engineer or producer for projects, but she didn’t find it fulfilling. “I just knew I’m like, there’s something, it’s like an itch I have to scratch.” In her senior year, she interned with a company called Seven Cities Media, where she did music for a trailer and learned about how commercials and things were done. After graduation from Hampton, she graduated from SCAD in sound design.

After years of work, she is a nominee for the inaugural Original Score category for the TV/ Film category. Other nominees included Laura Karpman for “American Fiction,” Branford Marsalis for Rustin, Kris Bowers for The Color Purple, and Jongnic Bontemps for Transformers Rise of the Beasts (winner). She was the only Black woman and the youngest nominated. “I literally feel like the new kid on the block.”

“Film scoring is still something many people don’t know much about. And for a long time, when you think about a film composer, you think about specific people like John Williams or Hans Zimmer. These people can’t even fathom a black woman or a black person or an Indian– they can’t even process that someone other than a white guy could be in the mix. And even sometimes when I tell people I’m in music, film, and TV, they’re like, ‘Oh, are you a producer? You’re a rapper?’ It’s like,’No, I’m a film composer. I’m a film and TV composer.’”

As she walked the red carpet, she took in everything. “Be present, look around, embrace it. There was a time when I was like, ‘Man, I’m trying to get here. I’m trying to get to this level.’ And I had to look around, and I’m like, ‘Yo, okay. I’m here.’ So now, okay, where do you go from here? And it’s like, you just keep going. You keep going up, and you keep delivering. You keep doing great work and just keep expanding.”

EmmoLei’s creativity and passion for music run in the family. Her little brother David is also a talented musician and architecture major at Hampton University. David serves as the Drum Major in the Hampton University Marching FORCE, and they will celebrate his graduation on Mother’s Day, 2024. “He was literally in first grade when my parents dropped me off at band camp my freshman year. So just like the full circle moment, I’m like, yo, that’s crazy.”

EmmoLei’s success inspires everyone who wants to pursue their passions and achieve their dreams. Her story reminds us that dedication and hard work can lead to great things, and we should never give up on our dreams. Watch “The Big Score” featuring EmmoLei Sankofa HERE!