Sistah LaLa
Spirituals In Motion is a multi-faceted, lyrical music project rooted in the American Negro Spiritual. It highlights and reintroduces a rich body of work passed down through aural history. Spirituals in Motion leverages the Spiritual art-form and infuses it with modern music styles such as: Rap, Blues, Jazz, Hip-Hop, Rock, Folk, Reggae, and spoken word.
Spirituals In Motion is designed to promote self-expression, social change, and awareness of African American history through song. It leverages the ingenuity, wisdom, and power of an art-form born in oppression to advance social change today.
The social and cultural themes addressed by Spirituals In Motion are universal and relevant today: divorce & absentee parents (Fatherless Chile), addiction & mental health challenges (Troubled Waters), homelessness & displacement (Wanderer), personal & collective empowerment (Kings Highway), and much more. Spirituals In Motion performances, educational presentations, and interactive workshops invite listeners and participants to actively contribute to a new body of work that fosters creative expression and social change.
Spirituals In Motion is Sistah LaLa’s response to the call of the Ancestors. Using the history and power of this work, she is on a mission to use her talents to inspire, educate and galvanize others through music.
Spirituals In Motion
Artist Statement
Spirituals have surrounded me—quite literally—since I was in the womb, so I naturally turned to them to voice my own experiences - joys, convictions, and sorrows.
I was raised by a vocalist mother and upright bassist step-father. I was steeped in all kinds of music, from Charlie Pride to Charlie Parker. Spirituals were the mortar that connected every piece of my musical mosaic. Most of my elders sang Spirituals and told stories of the African experience in America, so I inherited a love & respect for the music and the accomplishments of my ancestors. I strive to dispel the myth that this collective body of musical work ‘belongs’ to a group of individuals. The Negro Spiritual belongs to everyone, and is part of our shared American heritage.
The Spiritual tells us there is always a glimmer of hope, even in the darkest hour. I believe in the healing power of song for all people. All people know suffering, and all people know hope, so the Spiritual is a lyrical form that belongs to everyone. My goal is to help others realize their potential power by expressing their essence in song. By linking our voices and ideas through music, we can spark inner healing and improve the world for generations to come.
We stand on the shoulders of the Ancestors, those who dreamed of brighter days. In that spirit, Spirituals In Motion strives to uplift and inspire people to think outside their circumstances and to believe in a better day. Music was and continues to be a dynamic, unifying force in driving social change. I use the Spiritual as a model to find new voices of expression for social change. My goal is to share my experience, and challenge others to do the same.