Even though she has only released one album so far and is a young musician just starting out, Rissi Palmer has already put herself in an history-making group of artists. She is one of a handful of African Americans trying to make it in the country music genre. So far, Palmer has shown she has what it takes to become a star with her movie star look, stunning voice and beyond-her-years songwriting skill. Palmer was introduced to music at a young age by her mother, who loved music herself. When her mother died while Palmer was young, her mother's love of music pushed Palmer even further toward it.

She moved to St. Louis when she was 13, which introduced her to a variety of genres. By that time, Palmer had already been working on her voice by singing in the church choir. She started singing in talent competitions and was in Hal Jackson's Talented Teens competition, which used to be the Miss Black Teen America pageant. From there, she joined an entertainment group called Team 11, which got her exposure like playing for former President Bill Clinton. She was moving more toward the country genre and soon had a deal with Song Planet in Nashville when she was 20.

It was at a performance in New York City that she was picked up by a representative for Star Search. She was third on the show, but it led to her getting a place on a CMT documentary about up-and-coming African American country singers called Waiting in the Wings. The appearance led to a record deal with the record company 1720. She released her self-titled debut album in 2007, which reached number 16 on the Top Heatseekers, 41 on the Top Independent Albums and 56 on the Top Country Albums. She is just beginning her career, and her fans are waiting to see how far she will go.