Ledisi

The world always needs love. However, it feels like that's the case today more than ever. It's not out of reach though. That's why Ledisi urges the return of love on her eighth full-length album, Let Love Rule [Verve].

"I was thinking about the world, our state, and where we're ruling from right now," she admits. "We're ruling from the wrong place of money and power. There's no compassion. There's no heart. The root of everything breathing is love. We're loved enough to live. We're loved enough to learn. We're loved enough to do good. To me, love is the start, so we should rule from there. All of our moments should be moved with love. We're not going to be here forever. What do we want to leave behind? What's our contribution? Mine is music."

The New Orleans-born, Oakland raised R&B and Soul songstress has been making that contribution since the 2000 release of her debut, Soulsinger. Along the way, she garnered an impressive nine GRAMMY® Award nominations and sold over 3 million records worldwide. Most recently, 2014's The Truth earned widespread critical acclaim from the likes of Billboard, Boston Globe, YouKnowIGotSoul, Essence, VH1, and many more. The record yielded a string of anthems, including "I Blame You" and "Lose Control"—both of which surpassed 3 million Spotify streams each. In between the fan favorite "Truth" tour, she hit the big screen with a pivotal role in the powerful Academy® Award-nominated film Selma. During 2015, she turned her attention to working on what would become album number nine with longtime producer and collaborator Rex Rideout.

However, the process would present a host of new challenges.

"It was different," she elaborates. "It was very natural and uncomfortable. Usually, I know exactly what I want to do. This time, I didn't know until it just happened and fit like a puzzle piece. It's never taken me two years to make an album, but it was worth it. I went into the sessions blind.…