Sure, she’s Donny’s daughter, but Lalah Hathaway could make her own history this weekend at the Grammys if she nabs a third win for Best Traditional R&B Performance (beating out the likes of Beyoncé and Aretha Franklin before her). Hathaway first won the award in 2015 as a guest on the Robert Glasper Experiment’s cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Jesus Children of America,” and again last year for “Little Ghetto Boy,” her interpretation of her father’s classic.
Both Lalah and her father recorded their versions for their respective live albums and did so at Los Angeles’ Troubadour Theater and, in anticipation of this year’s award show, Lalah will return there tomorrow (February 10) for her own curated concert that aims to celebrate the Grammy-nominated artists who she’s so lovingly deemed #RealMusicRebels, the diverse, socially-conscious musicians who have gone against the grain and staunchly promoted creativity.
Though she wouldn’t reveal to REVOLT exactly who will perform at the Lalah Hathaway & Friends show, only promising special one-off on-stage collaborations, she did talk to us about her first musical memory, her favorite song of her father’s (or lack thereof), Frank Ocean’s argument that the Grammys’ “system is dated,” and if she believes artists have a responsibility to use their platform to speak out on public issues.
Watch the full interview and read excerpts below.
On her first musical memory: The elevator used to come down in our building and my daddy would say, based on the whistle, ‘What note is that?’
On the Grammys’ categorization of music: Once you try to figure out what it is, you are devaluing what it really could be.
On Frank Ocean withholding his music from Grammy consideration: Get involved. Become a [Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences] member. Vote….Come sit at the table. And make that difference. I would hope–come back! Come back, Frank! And tell them how you want it to go. We don’t know what’s happening if you take all your toys and go home.
On what to expect from Lalah Hathaway & Friends: The great thing about my show is I never know who’s gonna be there. You’ve seen those shows where Anita Baker will just show up and start singing with the background singers, like, whose life is this?
‘Lalah Hathaway & Friends’ will take place at The Troubadour on Friday, February 10.