Black people have long used music as a form of resistance and a tool for change in America. From spirituals that were sung during slavery to the freedom songs of the Civil Rights Movement, as well as conscious hip-hop, many songs have and continue to drive for a better future for the culture.
Singers like Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, and countless others didn’t just use their mainstream success to entertain the masses. These women understood the power of using their voice and platform to speak to the ills of treatment toward Black people in America through songs like “RESPECT,” “Strange Fruit,” and “Mississippi Goddam.” They walked so the artists of today could run, using their gifts to empower others.
Inspiration for her latest studio album
Artists like New Orleans singer Ledisi, who has long used her position in this space to speak truth to power. Her latest album, The Crown, is just another example of how she uses her songs to uplift and inspire – a project that she says was not planned by any means.
“I was just creating,” she told Madamenoire. “Kind of like when you want to write something feely without it having any expectation, just free-form writing. That’s how I was creating my music. I was painting every two songs every other day or every week until I felt like, ‘Okay, I think I’m done with The Crown.’ It wasn’t a plan. All I had was a single and that’s all I was focused on.”
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It wasn’t until Ledisi received a call about performing at Super Bowl LIX, where she ultimately sang a powerful rendition of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” alongside a group of 125 New Orleans students, that the “Pieces of Me” crooner decided to continue making songs that would eventually be compiled for her latest studio album The Crown.
“When the Super Bowl came, I just felt like writing, and I didn’t have a plan. The Crown was not the plan. It was not supposed to be here,” Ledisi recalled. “But God said, ‘Okay, just keep writing.’ And I just kept writing. I didn’t know what I wanted to say. I didn’t know what I wanted to write. Every day was different. I’m not going through half the stuff I wrote about, but it was feelings. I felt calm. I did not feel rushed. I felt at peace, and I wasn’t on tour; I had a summer. I was like, ‘Oh God, I get a summer,’ you know what I mean? Everything came out like an affirmation. Everything came out peacefully because I was calm. I felt like the stories were to be written to create emotions. I wanted to feel good.”
She added, “Then I started looking at the world and where we were headed for the next year, for 2025, and I was like, ‘Oh, we’re gonna need something to feel better.’ I’m gonna need you to get in the car and drive and just play something that feels good. It doesn’t matter about age or is this relevant or not. I don’t care. I just want to create some feel good music for people to feel better. I’m known for that.”
The artists who have shaped her along the way.
Ledisi stands on the shoulders of the women who came before her and acknowledges how they have influenced her approach to the craft as a singer.
“Fela Kuti, who I love, Nina Simone, you hear it all in there,” she said. “Another person I loved was Miriam Makeba, because she’s our African version of Nina Simone, and Billie Holiday. I mean, oh my God, with ‘Strange Fruit,’ that was huge for me. Of course Bob Marley is. He could make a protest song feel good. Him and Stevie Wonder, those are my little forces right there. Not little, but those are the forces that made me love music. Songs that spoke of stories and protests and social change, those are really great references to go to. I love the work that Lauryn Hill did when she was speaking of those things, like, we have that in our era as well, it’s just not celebrated enough, and that’s why I’m glad that the Recording Academy did the social change award, and hopefully BET will start doing more of that. I’m advocating for those things. We need them.”
“That’s why I wrote ‘BLKWMN,’ to celebrate Black women that have added to our world, politically, spiritually, culturally. I didn’t know I was going to write that for that, but I’ve always felt like I needed to and it was right in December, that whole feeling. I woke up at 4 am like, ‘I gotta write this. I don’t know what this is, but here it comes,’ and it came. I love that it came naturally. This whole project, I told you, it’s just been a freeform of freely going here, God used me for whatever. I’m just going to put it out there.”
How she remains grounded through it all.
While she has no issue with allowing God to use her as a vessel to share messages that inform, uplift, and inspire, Ledisi also understands that she has to do her part in taking care of her well-being so that she can show up as the best version of herself.
When asked how she maintains such a grounded energy, Ledisi says it’s simple ‘– knowing that you can pick up where you left off if you’ve ever fallen off track is the cheat code.
“There’s no wrong or right. Just keep starting until you feel like, ‘Okay, I’ve done enough to where I can do it again or I can keep going.’ It’s up to you. Everything for me may not work for everyone,” she said. “But I do prioritize myself with lists. I have a list of each thing I’m going to do each day. I allow myself to whine about what I have to do when my plate gets full, but then I get up and do it, and then I have people that say, ‘Wait a minute, she needs wellness.’ You have to have the right circle around you to say, ‘Hey, she needs a break.’ Even when I don’t think I need a break, they can see that I need a break. So that helps too. That’s why you gotta be careful who’s in your space.”
How do Black women maintain their crowns?
Released on April 25, 2025, The Crown is Ledisi’s twelfth studio album. It features singles like “Love You Too” and “BLKWMN,” and is filled with other melodies accompanied by lyrics that can serve as affirmations for anyone who listens. When it comes to Black women respecting their crowns and others, the singer says it is important to “give yourself grace.”
“Only say yes to things that are energy-driven, where it feels good to do it, that you don’t feel an obligation to receive something back,” said Ledisi. “Don’t compete with others. Compete with yourself. Prayer is good. Any kidn of peace of mind, because it’s nothing like having your mind together. The crown is not just something you put on, it’s something you wear inside internally. How do you feel about yourself? Love yourself, and that’s easy to say, hard to do. But, every day, give yourself the grace to say, ‘I got through that, I’m proud of myself.’ You say it. Don’t wait for someone to say it to you. I used to wait for people to receive me and to love me and say great things about me. I used to hope for that. Will they love my music? And it’s nothing like having Black women say, ‘Oh you’re dope.’ That feels good for real. I get so excited when another Black woman goes, ‘I’m proud of you.’ Without expectation or anything, it feels good, but you can’t count on that. You be the Black woman to count on for yourself.”
The Crown by Ledisi is now available for consumption across all digital streaming platforms.
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