Lalah Hathaway pays homage to her lineage on new album
TheGrio INTERVIEW -- I'm at the beginning of knowing what my art really is. This record feels as close to the experience of making the first record as any album I've made...
Lalah Hathaway has perhaps one of the most undeniable pedigrees in all of soul music.
Her father is the late R&B icon Donny Hathaway. But Lalah hasn’t used familial bona fides as a crutch.
Since her self-titled 1990 debut, the First Daughter of Soul has strung together a vibrant, if under-appreciated, catalog of albums dominated with sultry ballads, moody jazz-blues numbers and some solid mid-tempo R&B.
The Grammy-nominated singer’s latest and sixth solo disc, Where It All Begins, is a decidedly bright effort, featuring party starting first single “If You Want To,” the high-energy love anthem “My Everything” and the positive vibes of the title track.
The album, which has production from hit-makers Mike City, JR Hutson and Dre and Vidal, is set for release on October 18, just a little over two weeks after her father would have turned 66. Call it a coincidence, but when Lalah called TheGrio from Los Angeles recently, she explained that her upbeat approach to making music is wholly intentional and rooted in her father’s soul legacy.
“He’s definitely with me when I’m playing music, without a doubt,” she said.
TheGrio: On Where It All Begins there are many songs about love. Sounds like you’re in good spirits.
Lalah Hathaway: I am just really looking to uplift and change how people see me sometimes. A lot of people associate me with ballads and blues and all that is love. But I wanted to paint with a different color. There are tempos that allude to that. A lot of the lyrics allude to that.
That’s an interesting way to explain music, in relation to colors.
It seems like a really natural way to describe music. You call it blues for a reason, right? That’s the color that they evoke somehow. “You Were Meant For Me” is kind of a gold color for me. “My Everything” is a light blue. Certain things about art or feeling defy how you can explain it. It is what it is.
What does the title “Where It all Begins” mean?
I’m at the beginning of knowing what my art really is. This record feels as close to the experience of making the first record as any album I’ve made. Everybody is an artist in his own way, like everyday you go out in the world and create art, which is your life. It doesn’t mean that you paint or that you write songs, or that you dance or that equate music to color, but that everyday that you create this beautiful art which is your life. With 20-21 years making records, I’m really feeling at the top of my game. Sometimes there are times when you work and you’re just walking around in circles. Now there’s a feeling of newness, a feeling of renaissance, a feeling of readjusting, a feeling of wow, feeling it’s new to me again.
The album cover art is unique in that a collage of some of your father’s albums—Everything Is Everything, Extension of A Man and others — is drawn in place of your hair. Where did that idea come from?
The art was created by Chris Herod. They were actually covers that he drew of my dad in those albums. Then it was like, What if it was me standing in his place? The album cover was where I was coming from with the record, as really sort of the beginnings of me as a musician, of me as an artist. My mom is on the cover as well and my parents are really where I begin. It’s homage to my mom and dad, that music, to those albums, kind of the beginning of where I start, where my foundation in R&B music starts. At one point I felt kind of presumptuous trying to put myself inside of the pictures but I realize that’s where I am, that’s the beginning of me as well. This record is really about trying to carry on my family name, about trying to make my parents proud. It’s a love letter to them.
On October 1, your father would have celebrated his 66th birthday. What do you have planned for that day?
Nothing special. I’ll talk to my mom. It’s going to be a quiet, reflective day. I was ten years old when my father died and I don’t have a lot of memories of him, at least that I don’t want to keep as my own memories of my dad. I travel the world and people tell me stories of my dad, and those are memories I share, just people everywhere saying how they loved him, how much he got them through hard times.
Ever imagine what your music would sound like if he lived longer to witness your success?
It’s an incredible thought, an unfortunate thought. I really feel like I am on an incredible path and it starts with my mom and dad. I’m on this path because it’s where I’m supposed to be, whether or not he’s actually here on the earth. He’s definitely with me though when I’m playing music, without a doubt.
Why did you decide to cover his song “You Were Meant for Me” on this album?
‘Cause there is a bunch to do and I just picked that one. Rashaan Paterson asked me that question too. I don’t know. I thought the vibe would really translate well. Honestly, I chose it two days before the session. You could choose any of them. They’re all great. It’s one of the easier songs to sing of my dads. You have to sing to know what I mean, I guess. It’s really sweet, one of the more across the aboard songs that everybody gets. There are so many great songs; I’ll probably do more of them.
Like your father, your singing style often swells with raw emotion. What do you think of today’s R&B where voices sound more mechanized?
That is who I am. I didn’t come in this sort of era of radio. It’s cool. I like some of the stuff. Back in the day, the approach used to be about the artists. The record used to be about the artists. I like a good blend of what’s old and what’s new. My approach has to be organic, whatever it is, whether it is with Auto-Tune, or whether there’s a four-bar loop that I’m singing over. I don’t begrudge anybody. I wish there was a little bit more of a level playing field but everybody is free to do what he or she wants to do. I’m good with me being me.
