Today, Keri D. Singleton serves as executive producer and host of Sessions Cafe, a daytime talk show focusing on real stories from everyday New Yorkers, which airs on the public access Manhattan Neighborhood Network. He is also an author of award-winning poems and novels, and formerly hosted the syndicated The Keri’s Korner Radio Show.
However, the journey for Singleton, 54, who lives on Staten Island, was one of several highs and lows, including losing his father to gun violence and going to prison for three years. Through it all, he says his love for writing and being a journalist has always carried him through.
Singleton was born and raised in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood. Growing up with a single mother, herself a writer, he was able to stray clear of the traps of drugs and crime where other kids from his area wound up.
At age 9, Singleton, already an avid reader, found his love of writing when he submitted a poem to a Halloween-themed poetry contest at The Boston Herald, titled “Boo in Simon Sue,” about a ghost who was haunting Roxbury.
As a teenager, Singleton began interning with the popular local Black-owned Boston radio station, WILD. He had a love for music and entertainment journalism, often reading Right On magazine. He also noted The Amsterdam News was also a major inspiration for Singleton as he made sure to purchase a copy of the paper every time he traveled to the city between the 80’s and 90’s.
While with the radio station, Singleton connected with Kim Fergusson, a representative of Arista Records. He recalls meeting major artists at the start of their careers, like Toni Braxton and TLC, when they would visit the station.
He was given the job of going to record stores across Boston to see how artists were selling and reporting back. He soon transitioned from journalism to music promotion, being employed with Arista as a Boston promoter, and worked on Usher’s debut album. He moved to New York City in 1996.
“Before I knew exactly what I wanted to do professionally, I knew that whatever it was, I wanted to do it in New York,” Singleton said.
That same year, however, his father was shot and killed in Roxbury, a case he says is still unsolved.
Additional hardship followed years later, after losing his job at Arista, when in 2004, Singleton was involved in a credit card scam and was sentenced to prison for three years. He ended up doing ten months at Attica Correctional Facility.
“They sent me to the worst prison in the entire state for a credit card charge,” Singleton said. He points out that he served alongside murderers who committed horrific crimes and that officers would beat up inmates for fun. He says he turned to writing poetry as a way to cope and escape the “mayhem.”
“My way of dealing with it was taking a pencil and writing,” Singleton said. “My inspiration for writing those books was not just boredom; I had to maintain my sanity.”
After his 2007 release, Singleton says every bit of success he sought out to achieve after that was dedicated to his mother.
He received his degree in criminal justice from ASA College in Brooklyn and was inducted into the honor society with a 4.0 GPA, all while on parole.
“I’m not ashamed today of my prison experience, because inadvertently it created the person that I am today,” Singleton said.
He began publishing the poems that he had written while in prison, which had been scribbled on paper and napkins. His first novel, “The Wanderer’s Game,” was published in 2013 and became award-winning. It was adapted to a Broadway play for one night in 2015 by playwright Pearline Alexander at The Theater Center in Manhattan. He later released another novel, “Idol,” and “Journey: The Poems,” a compilation of his poetry.
“I wanted to prove to [my mother] and myself that my first love, which was always writing, would be part of my legacy,” Singleton said. “Nobody can ever take that away. I will forever be an award-winning Black journalist until my last breath. … It’s something that I’m proud of.”
Around 2013, after an appearance on an independent radio program with the Manhattan-based F.L.O. Empire radio station, Singleton was approached by a producer to have his own show after enjoying his personality and banter. Keri’s Corner, which highlighted old school R&B and hip hop, exclusively ran from 2013 until 2023.
Singleton ended the show as he wanted to pursue Sessions Cafe, which began taping in early 2024. It airs on cable in Manhattan at 3 p.m. every Thursday as well as on the MNN website and YouTube. It is also syndicated on Bronxnet for the Bronx at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday.
He continues to support his home city of Roxbury, serving as master of ceremonies for the annual Roxbury Unity Parade in July. He is also president of Entrigue Magazine, an entertainment publication.
Beginning this year, Singleton will serve as the official co-host of the African American Day Parade with Dr. Bob Lee, something he is incredibly “humbled” and excited for.
“I’m going to be sharing a spotlight with [Lee] and in front of Harlem…it doesn’t get any better than that, that is the biggest honor a person could have,” Singleton said.
Over the years, Singleton has been passionate about giving back to young people, giving motivational talks to youth in jails in the Bronx and Brooklyn, and he continues to employ young interns with his show. Despite all he has overcome, he says he still feels driven to do right for his mother and others around him.
“There’s still a part of me that’s like, ‘I gotta keep it going.’” Singleton said. “With every move that I make and every achievement that I have, I want to share that with somebody, so that they can move in the right direction as well.”
