Lalah Hathaway

October 29, 2015 at PDT

Lalah Hathaway Live

Lalah Hathaway’s smoky, sonorous voice anchors these concert performances of neo-soul. She re-introduces us to songs from throughout her career, as her band injects small yet striking touches, like the acoustic guitar flickering on “Little Girl / Breathe,” and the steadying bass behind “I’m Coming Back,” in which she soulfully and movingly recommits herself to a lover. She makes her mark on covers, too, including “Little Ghetto Boy,” a tribute to her late father Donny Hathaway, and Anita Baker’s “Angel,” a joyful sing-along with her adoring audience.

14 Tracks

December 31, 2007 at PST

Self Portrait (Bonus Video Version)

2008’s Self Portrait is the most cohesive and self-assured album of Lalah Hathaway’s career. Its highly sophisticated sound comes courtesy of Rex Rideout, who has worked closely with Angie Stone and Luther Vandross, among others. Standouts like “On Your Own,” “That Was Then," and “Little Girl” play with the tension between lush keyboard chords and skeletal rimshots. Hip-hop is present without being explicit, especially on “1 Mile” and “UDO.” As a singer, Hathaway is flawless. On “Tragic Inevitability” and “Breathe,” she adopts a bluesy murmur, yet the feeling behind the songs is communicated with total clarity. She coaxes listeners into a mood without ever raising her voice.

13 Tracks

October 19, 2017 at PDT

honestly

Lalah Hathaway takes a sharp stylistic swerve on honestly, swapping her poised, quietly stormy R&B for woozy beats and digital grooves. Songs like “Change Ya Life” match retro beeps and blips with deep drum kicks, while the echoing synths of “Call on Me” ring with a sleek, sensual minimalism. But the record’s most expressive instrument is Hathaway’s voice: Thick, smoky, and soulful, it’s unleashed in its full majesty on the title track and its powerful account of a doomed love affair.

9 Tracks

April 19, 1999 at PDT

The Song Lives On

This 1999 collaboration between 60-year-old pianist Joe Sample and 30-year-old vocalist Lalah Hathaway didn’t just bridge the generations—it renovated the idea of classic jazz music at a time when it'd become almost totally segregated from the world of R&B. Ten of the 12 songs here are Sample originals. He'd been drawing on R&B music since the '60s, when he played in The Jazz Crusaders. In fact, “Street Life” was originally done as a funk song in 1979, sung by Randy Crawford. While Crawford was sassy and gritty, Hathaway is deliberate and nourishing. Nothing about her is rushed or trite. She's wholly authentic, and her R&B pedigree gives these gentle jazz arrangements a depth that they might not otherwise have. Put “When Your Life Was Low,” “For All We Know,” or “One Day I’ll Fly Away” next to any slow jam from the past 20 years and see which song has more feeling and atmosphere. “Fever” was more than four decades old by the time Hathaway and Sample recorded their interpretation, but it’s got more heat in it than any sexed-up song from the '90s.

11 Tracks

June 13, 2024 at PDT

VANTABLACK

16 Tracks

December 31, 1989 at PST

Lalah Hathaway

As the daughter of R&B legend Donny Hathaway and a graduate of Berklee College of Music, the 21-year-old Lalah Hathaway had a superlative pedigree that helped elevate her eponymous debut from dozens of other similar albums from that era. “Baby Don’t Cry” and “Heaven Knows” are two of the best R&B tracks of the late '80s and early '90s. Hathaway was effortlessly attuned to the sonic innovations of Prince and Janet Jackson, but her virtuosic and organic-sounding voice kept the music grounded. She was young and hip but had an authenticity rarely seen in young singers, who are often sterilized by the music industry. For all its contemporary flair, the album is frequently jazzy, as on “Somethin’” and “Smile.” Hathaway’s lithe phrasing is a perfect foil to the album’s tectonic beats. Even on the simmering slow jams “I’m Coming Back” and “I Gotta Move On,” the delicacy of her voice works against the molten groans of a subatomic bassline.

10 Tracks

December 31, 2009 at PST

Where It All Begins

Lalah Hathaway had always avoided selling herself as the daughter of soul legend Donny Hathaway, but by the time she released Where It All Begins in 2011, she'd built her own reputation and earned the right to reconnect with her musical inheritance. In the album art, Hathaway is composed of images from her father’s records. A cover of her father’s 1978 single “You Were Meant for Me” lets the singer collaborate with Donny artistically, if not physically. It's no exaggeration to say that the layers of meaning in this performance go well beyond the song's surface. The same goes for the rest of the album, which finds Hathaway collaborating with fellow second-generation talents like Lee Hutson Jr., son of soul great Leroy Hutson. “Where It All Begins” and “This Could Be Love” show that Hathaway remains R&B’s most composed and unhurried vocalist. She never has to force herself to be heard. The centerpiece is “I’m Coming Back,” a hushed but swift production that brings to mind the image of sand blowing across a beach and translates it into sound.

14 Tracks

July 13, 2017 at PDT

I Can't Wait - Single

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August 26, 2021 at PDT

Show Me Your Soul - Single

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October 4, 2004 at PDT

Outrun the Sky

In the mercurial world of R&B—which can be especially unfair to female singers—Lalah Hathaway has managed to remain perennially relevant while adhering only to her own pace and her own vision. 2004’s Outrun the Sky feels thoroughly modern without bowing to trends. “Back Then,” “Your Favorite Song,” and “Better and Better” do the impossible: they're both breezy and substantial, like the glassine uptempo arrangements from Michael Jackson’s Off the Wall. Hathaway wrote or cowrote all but four of the album’s songs, and as a vocalist she’s never been freer. The extended gospel of “We Were 2” leaves her plenty of room to stretch out her voice, but she's just as agile within the lush, hypnotic moods of “More” and “Boston.” “Forever, for Always, for Love” was one of Luther Vandross’ most enduring love songs, and Hathaway retains its timeless sound. It could have been written any time between the '60s and the present. Hathaway knew there was no point in trying to “update” Luther’s sound. Instead, she gives the song her own feeling. While Luther’s version was sensual and thrilling, Lalah makes it intimate and confessional.

13 Tracks

June 26, 2018 at PDT

Honestly (Deluxe Edition)

15 Tracks

September 13, 2018 at PDT

call on me (Remix) [feat. Redman] - Single

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December 31, 1993 at PST

A Moment

With 1994’s A Moment, Lalah Hathaway struck a perfect balance between hip-hop and R&B at a time when those genres were just starting to mingle. The leadoff single is neither rap nor R&B; it's a little of both. It's based off a dual interpolation of The Treacherous Three’s “The Body Rock” and The Detroit Emeralds' 1973 tune “You’re Getting a Little Too Smart”; the pair of samples are emblematic of how Hathaway bridges past and present. (That theme continues on her stellar cover of Sly Stone’s “Family Affair.”) At a time when R&B singers were starting to adopt more youthful affectations, Hathaway always took the tone of a mature woman. She's subtle but self-assured, and “Do You Suppose,” “Separate Ways,” and “I’m Not Over You” showcase the richness of her voice. As energized as she sounds on dance tracks like “Rise” and “Bad By Myself,” she's even more compelling when the instrumental backing is stripped down and her voice is allowed to shine, as on “So They Say” and “Better As a Memory.”

13 Tracks

February 5, 2009 at PST

He's Been Just That Good

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November 21, 2019 at PST

Intimidated (feat. Lalah Hathaway) - Single

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November 15, 2018 at PST

Rubberband EP (feat. Lalah Hathaway)

An original 1985 recording and new versions of the long-lost track.

5 Tracks

October 16, 1984 at PDT

This Christmas

2 Tracks

July 11, 2023 at PDT

Coastin’ (Sped Up) [feat. Lalah Hathaway] - Single

2 Tracks

January 19, 2016 at PST

Ghetto Boy (feat. Snoop Dogg) - Single

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March 3, 2022 at PST

Canvas - Single

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May 6, 2021 at PDT

We Will Never Forget (feat. Omarion, Lalah Hathaway & Kierra Sheard) - Single

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November 4, 2013 at PST

Shine (feat. Divageek) - Single

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August 6, 2015 at PDT

Little Ghetto Boy (Radio Edit) - Single

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December 31, 2010 at PST

If You Want To - Single

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