Lalah Hathaway returns with new album, National Tour

Five-time Grammy winner Lalah Hathaway is back with a new album and a national tour starting in August.

VANTABLACK is the singer-songwriter's eighth studio album — and first new set since 2017 Honest. Featuring guests from Common, Rapsody, MC Lyte, Michael McDonald and Willow, among others, the 16-track set has already spawned two tracks: the lively first single “So in Love” and the latest, “I Am.” The project was released by Hathaway's Hathaway Entertainment in association with SRG-ILS Group (Virgin Music Group).

Hathaway uses the phrase “melting pot” to describe the mix of rhythms and creative experimentation that surrounds her new album and title track. “VANTABLACK … the word itself has so much weight on it,” Hathaway notes in a release announcing the album and tour.

“What I thought were conflicting perspectives actually began to shape the idea of ​​not only this album but how I saw myself. I began to reframe how I saw color — in terms of being the blackest I've ever been. And even though I am steeped in what I am, it does not exclude the other things that make up the sum of me. Similar to how all the music around me informs the black music I make.”

And for the uptempo anthem 'I Am', he noted, 'I think people will be happy to hear me with some rhythm. I'm always trying to figure out how to apply those rich tones over dance music. How do I appear on your G Wagon subwoofer? This is a notebook on the floor, full of positive affirmation… I may have cracked the code!”

VANTABLACK's 17-date tour in support of the album will kick off in Fayetteville, Ark., on August 28. It will make stops in Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and Atlanta before wrapping up in Charleston, SC in September. 28. Click here for the full tour itinerary and additional information.