At 19, Rissi Palmer sat across from R&B royalty Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis — the architects of Janet Jackson's biggest hits — and walked away from a massive record deal because they wanted to strip out her country sound. That refusal to be repackaged defines the career of one of country music's most important barrier-breakers.

Her breakthrough came not from Nashville but from a Starbucks register: a 2006 EP made her a top-five country seller on iTunes, forcing the industry's door open. After a label dispute froze her career, Palmer spent the next decades redefining success on her own terms — making deeply personal music and building infrastructure for the Black women in country music coming up behind her.

• Turned down Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis at 19 rather than abandon country for a pop-soul package

• "Country  ...