Lalah Hathaway, Daley, and Raheem DeVaughn

As the daughter of soul singer Donny Hathaway, Lalah was destined to follow in her mother’s footsteps, through her versatile, dynamic and technically strong voice. She arrived on the music scene in 1990, with her self-titled debut album, impressing listeners right from the start. The release was a commercial success, gaining a top ten single with “Heaven Knows, which peaked at number three on the Billboard R&B charts, with the album itself peaking at number 191 on the Billboard Hot 200. This was followed by 1994’s “A Moment,” which again drew positive critical acclaim, with the album debuting at number 34 on the R&B charts.

After this initial success, Hathaway took a break from recording music, not returning until 1999, where she collaborated with legendary jazzman, Joe Sample for the GRP album, “The Song Lives On.” Into the new millennium, Hathaway released a steady stream of records, with 2004’s “Outrun the Sky” (Sanctuary Records), “Self Portrait” (2008, Stax) and “Where It All Begins” (2011, Stax). These releases continued to prompt praise from critics for Hathaway’s talent and diversity in her music, collaborating with the likes of Mike City, Rahsaan Patterson, Rex Rudest and Dre & Vidal. “Self Portrait” and “Where It All Begins” were Hathaway’s most successful releases, peaking at number 63 and number 32 respectively, in the Billboard Hot 200 Chart.

Widely regarded as on of the finest vocalists of her generation, Hathaway made the perfect choice for her collaboration with R&B/Soul outfit, Snarky Puppy. Working together on the song, “Something” in 2013, the partnership went on to secure Hathaway with her first Grammy Award, receiving the award for ‘Best R&B Performance’ at the 2014 awards.

Son of jazz cellist Adbul Wadud and cousin of singer Chrisette Michele, DeVaughn has lots of musical blood, however even in pre-school DeVaughn’s mother said he had an affinity towards music. After graduating from high school, DeVaughn attended Coppin State University in Baltimore City, U.S., and began harmonising with a group of street corner singers, and it wasn't long before he began skipping classes to write and record lyrics.

After winning a talent competition at the Washington DC nightclub named Bar Nun, CEO of Soul World Entertainment Cliff Jones asked DeVaughn to write a song for soul quartet Dru Hill. In doing so the singer caught the attention of DJ Jazzy Jeff and Roc-A-Fella A&R guy Kenny Burns which led to DeVaughn being signed by Jive Records in 2002.

After the successful single releases of “Guess Who Loves You More” and “You” DeVaughn released his major label debut “The Love Experience” on June 28, 2005. The album received critical acclaim, sold around 250,000 copies and reached No. 46 in the Billboard 200.

The music of DeVaughn has been compared to that of Dwele, D’Angelo and Marvin Gaye, with his mix of R&B, neo-soul and soft rock.

DeVaughn’s follow-up album “Love Behind the Melody” was his biggest charting hit, which peaked at No. 5 in the Billboard 200. The album also produced the song “Woman” was the singer’s most commercially successful ingle and was nominated for a Grammy award for Best Male R&B Performance in 2008. The R&B singer’s two subsequent albums “The Love & War MasterPeace”, which received a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Album and the independently released “A Place Called Love Land” both charted well, and secured DeVaughn’s position in the R&B mainstream.