Lalah Hathaway Brings A Taste Of Soul To Los Angeles [Recap]

The five-time Grammy Award-winning talent, Lalah Hathaway, is a staple in the R&B hierarchy as her new album Honestly prepares to slay audiences on Nov. 7.

Lalah Hathaway’s sumptuous voice reminds us of the grandeur of her father’s, and she again lent that tenor to us on her upcoming album Honestly. The title track is a paean to a world that seems increasingly on fire, and the video she premiered culls three years of high-profile protests to send a message about our fractured democracy.

READ: Lalah Hathaway Announces Her Headlining "Honestly" Tour

Politics have suffused our lives, now, in small and large ways. We cannot escape it. Blasted on our Twitter and Facebook feeds 24/7, the tragedies of the world are our ubiquitous reminder of the frailty of modern society. In a piece on Billboard, where Hathaway premiered the video, she spoke on the American dream again morphing into a nightmare, “When people see the video, I want them to consider the same song, the same idea, as a commentary on this time we are living in,” said Hathaway. “I'm talking about falling out of love with America. Although I still have hope in this country and I still want to dream, this video is meant to symbolize how this time has made so many of us wake up to the nightmare of this country. And how we all just want the nightmare to end.”

Hathaway then blessed us with a showing of the video of her first single “I Can’t Wait”. An R&B ditty in a vein so traditional it inspires nostalgia, the video featured her tribe of artists, dancers, movers and lovers cutting up in a world that is not a dystopia, like ours seems to be.

Watching the older folks at the cavernous venue dance the night away was the real take away from the event. It reminds that not only have people been through worse, but they’ve made it back to a moment where they feel good again. If that’s not a radical hope, we don’t know what is.

READ: Go Behind-The-Scenes Of Lalah Hathaway's "I Can't Wait" Music Video

Hathaway will be in Los Angeles today for the Taste Of Soul Festival featuring Brandy, Melanie Fiona, Kool Moe Dee, and herself. The stages will also grace a litany of gospel stars including Lonnie Hunter, Benny Oke and more.

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Andre Grant is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer who has written for HipHopDX, Complex and The Well Versed. Follow him (and us!) on Twitter @DreJones.