ILOSM fam’ we want to share this fun fact with you about the late, great Donny Hathaway and his beautiful daughters, one of whom many of us never even knew existed, yet she’s been right in front of our faces all along…

MEET DONNY HATHAWAY’S YOUNGEST DAUGHTER

So we all know Donny Hathaway gave us smooth vocals on hits like “Sing A Song For You” and “Little Ghetto Child” and that his daughter, Lalah Hathaway, 53, is a SANGIN’ somebody with a alto/contralto voice like silk. But let’s not sleep on Lalah’s baby sis,’ because she can sing too, in fact, she does it for a living. And here she is>>>

Meet Lalah’s sister and Donny & Eulaulah Hathaway’s baby, Kenya Hathaway (49). Kenya has carved out her own space in the music game, as a guitarist and professional background singer for many artists throughout the years, including Natalie Cole and George Benson.

Kenya also has two adorable daughters that Lalah is always gushing about on social media….

A FAMILY THAT SINGS TOGETHER STAYS TOGETHER

Kenya’s little mini-me’s are too cute for words, and she said they love music just as much as she and Lalah did when they were young.  Auntie Lalah also seems to spend a lot of time hangin’ with her nieces and showing them love on Instagram.

SPEAKING OF THE HATHAWAY LADIES, SEE THE HATHAWAY SISTERS’ BEAUTIFUL MOM…

As you can see from the photo (above) of Donny Hathaway’s wife, Eulaulah Hathaway, she is aging very gracefully and enjoying life. Eulaulah never remarried after Donny’s untimely death in 1979 and as a trained classical singer herself, she couldn’t be more proud of her babies for continuing to nourish the Hathaway family’s musical legacy…their pops would be so proud.

The post We Know Lalah Hathaway…But Who Knew Donny Hathaway Has Two Singing Daughters? appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

ILOSM fam’ we want to share this fun fact with you about the late, great Donny Hathaway and his beautiful daughters, one of whom many of us never even knew existed, yet she’s been right in front of our faces all along…

MEET DONNY HATHAWAY’S YOUNGEST DAUGHTER

So we all know Donny Hathaway gave us smooth vocals on hits like “Sing A Song For You” and “Little Ghetto Child” and that his daughter, Lalah Hathaway, 49, is a SANGIN’ somebody with a alto/contralto voice like silk. But let’s not sleep on Lalah’s baby sis,’ because she can sing too, in fact, she does it for a living. And here she is>>>

Meet Lalah’s sister and Donny & Eulaulah Hathaway’s baby, Kenya Hathaway (46). Kenya has carved out her own space in the music game, as a guitarist and professional background singer for many artists throughout the years, including Natalie Cole and George Benson.

Kenya also has two adorable daughters that Lalah is always gushing about on social media….

A FAMILY THAT SINGS TOGETHER STAYS TOGETHER

Kenya’s little mini-me’s are too cute for words and she said they love music just as much as she and Lalah did when they were young.  Auntie Lalah spends a lot of time hangin’ with her nieces and showing them love on Instagram.

#niecypoo💜

A video posted by Lalah Hathaway (@lalahhathaway) on Dec 27, 2016 at 1:54pm PST

SPEAKING OF THE HATHAWAY LADIES, SEE THE HATHAWAY SISTERS’ BEAUTIFUL MOM…

As you can see from the photo (above) of Donny Hathaway’s wife, Eulaulah Hathaway, she is aging very gracefully and enjoying life. Eulaulah never remarried after Donny’s untimely death in 1979 and as a trained classical singer herself, she couldn’t be more proud of her babies for continuing to nourish the Hathaway family’s musical legacy…their Pops would be so proud.

The post We Know Lalah, But Who Knew Donny Hathaway Has Two Singing Daughters appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

When the late great soul legend, Donny Hathaway, released “This Christmas” in 1971, little did he know that it would be come one of the staple soul Christmas classics for the next 40+ years and counting. There’s not a Christmas that goes by, that we, lovers of soulful Christmas carols, don’t listen to Hathaway singing, “Hang all the mistletoe, I’m gonna get to know you better, THIS CHRISTMAS.” Hathaway’s delivery and vocals, combined with the lyrics- which added a perfect blend of Christmas scenery and romance to the song- repeatedly give us that sense of Old School nostalgia every time, and never gets old.

Meet The Woman Responsible For “This Christmas”

Speaking of the song’s lyrics, we wanted to shed light on who is actually responsible for them. That woman is a now 77 year old Chicago, IL native, who until now, has gotten very little public praise for her hard work. Had it not been for this woman’s intense dedication to songwriting, as she was working at her post office job in 1967, Donny would have NEVER been able to grace us with his 1971 Christmas classic. ILoveOldSchoolMusic family, we introduce you to “This Christmas” creator, Nadine McKinnor…

McKinnor Earns Decent Paper EVERY Year From “This Christmas”
During a recent interview with Chicago Tribune, McKinnor revealed that she no longer has any need to work at her prior postal, nor secretarial jobs, because “This Christmas” has been the gift that keeps on giving. For the past few decades, McKinnor has earned  $70,000 annually from her classic creation. Here is what else she revealed about how she got her song in the hands of Donny and why she ultimately had to sue over it…

CT reports: Nadine McKinnor, a Chicago postal worker who kept a notebook full of lyrics, would jot down songs as they came to her. McKinnor, who is now 76, lives in Chatham, [IL]. […] “I loved (Cole’s) ‘The Christmas Song’ and was trying to capture the swirl of music, department store windows, lights on the South Side — Chicago at Christmas,” McKinnor said. “It’s like I’m talking about a love affair with the atmosphere of the holiday. My kids were little then, I was out shopping for toys, enjoying the mood. It’s a romance with the season.”

She Didn’t Know Who Hathaway Was

She had never heard of Hathaway. She was hoping Andy Williams would record the song. But a boyfriend at the time who was doing interior design at Hathaway and Powell’s offices overheard them discussing a need for new material; he recommended McKinnor, who offered them a few songs.

“Watching Donny work was like watching a designer,” McKinnor remembers, “someone who weaved threads and colors, though here, sounds and chord changes.” The line about “Fireside blazing bright” was inspired by the two fireplaces she would sit in front of, shuttling between the homes of her divorced parents. And the line “Gonna get to know you better”? Inspired a bit by slight folk-pop group Spanky and Our Gang, which you might remember from the 1968 AM-radio earworm “Like to Get to Know You.” -via CT

Why She Had To Sue For Her Money

Via CT: In 1998, McKinnor — previously credited as co-writer with Hathaway on the song — came to a settlement with Warner Bros. and Hathaway’s estate (which jointly hold the rights); she is now also credited as co-publisher on the song. Long retired from her office desk days, she said she makes around $70,000 annually on the song’s royalties.

Hathaway’s Legacy Lives On After His Death

Donny Hathaway sadly committed suicide at the age of 33, as a result of his schizophrenia episode. He jumped from his 15th story hotel room at New York’s Essex House hotel on January 13, 1979.

Thankfully though, in addition to many popular artists remaking his and McKinnor’s “This Christmas” song throughout the years, Donny’s legacy also continues to live through his daughter, Lalah, as well. We love us some Lalah Hathaway, here at ILOSM, and congratulate her on her 2016 Grammy win for the remake of her Pops’ song, “Little Ghetto Boy.” Pretty sure, her father would be beyond proud of his little girl’s accomplishments and humbled by the homage she pays him. Rest on Donny Hathaway.

The post She Wrote Hathaway’s “This Christmas” Song But The Money She Earns From It Yearly Is Incredible appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

In the years prior, Lalah won Best Traditional R&B Performance for “Jesus Children” with Robert Glasper Experiment & Malcolm-Jamal Warner in 2015 and Best R&B Performance for “Something” with Snarky Puppy in 2014.

2. The Recording Academy (Grammy Awards) doesn’t view R&B as a viable enough genre to have most of it’s R&B categories make it onto the ‘big stage’ come live TV broadcast time. Therefore, the R&B categories that Lalah won were not televised on the Grammy Awards live broadcast. However, for the small amount of people who knew about it- they were able to watch a live stream of the Grammy Awards Premiere Ceremony on Grammys.com. That was the pre-Grammy Awards ceremony where Lalah and others accepted their awards. But again, it would have been great if more of the general population actually knew that the live stream existed though.

Lalah is one of my favorite R&B singers. She has a way of doing some sort of vocal acrobatics with her voice and her runs are unmatched. It’s beautiful to see her getting accolades for her accomplishments. HOWEVER, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: a trophy shouldn’t define an artist, their body of work should. Lalah’s body of work has defined her as an artist and even though her fans may not have known about the un-televised trophies she just won, that does not determine how much they dig her musical art, long before the trophies were sitting on her mantlepiece. Keep doing your thang Ms. Hathaway!

The post Lalah Hathaway BREAKS RECORD At Grammy’s Yet No One’s Talking About It,See Why appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

[kkgallery kid=”2960″ title=”We Know Lalah But Who Knew Donny Hathaway Has TWO Singing DAUGHTERS?!!”]

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This little angel grew up to become a singer withe one of the absolute BADDEST voices in the music game! Her career took off in the late 80’s and she has been consistently doing her thing ever since. She is very underrated in the game, but she does have a very loyal fan base whose stuck with her throughout the years. She also recently won a Grammy and that wasn’t the only theing her name has mentioned for on blogs and social media lately- she has just received a ton of negative backlash for doing something that a large group of people deemed to be very inappropriate, while many others were like “What’s the big deal? Geesh.”

Here is one last hint: Her Daddy is a legend in his own right. If you think you got this one in the bag ILOSM fan,’ you know what to do, hit the ‘next’ button and see if you are on point…

The post This Cutie Is A SANGIN’ Somebody Who’s Gotten VERY Harsh Criticism Online appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Lalah Hathaway apparently made a whole bunch of folks angry on Instagram the other day- some fans of hers and some not quite fans alike- and the drama is still going! All Lalah was trying to do was pay homage to her beloved pops, Donny Hathaway. So what was all of the ruckus about you ask? It was because Lalah violated the unspoken code (according to Black fraternities and sororities) of wearing Greek paraphernalia, when she is not a member of that actual Greek organization.

Lalah’s dad was a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, so in honor of her dad, she posted a pic to her Instagram page of herself rockin’ an APhiA hat with a caption that read “#daughter of Alpha #daughterofsoul” and ALL HELL broke lose in her comments section!

Check out how folks have been tearing Lalah to shreds over this:

But then Lalah’s soldiers STOOD UP for her and starting shooting back at there Greek defenders, turn the page to see what they said and let us know who you think is right or wrong in this situation>>>

The post Wow! See How Lalah Hathaway Got Blasted On Instagram For Honoring Her Dad appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

The ghetto can either make you, or break you and there have been many great people who were raised in the ghetto. We’re celebrating four old school songs by artists Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, WAR & Curtis Mayfield who didn’t get broken by the ghetto and lived to tell the tales of it through song.

Village Ghetto Land by Stevie Wonder

Taken from his 1976 SONGS IN THE KEY OF LIFE album which all instruments were played by Stevie on this one; “Village Ghetto Land” has a twist. It talks about everything that happens in the ghetto with a sophisticated orchestral arrangement. So it’s like taking dirt and putting on the well decorated dining table. Look at some of the lyrics below.

“Families buying dog food now/ Starvation roams the streets/ Babies die before they’re born/ Infected by the grief. Now some folks say that we should be/ Glad for what we have/ Tell me would you be happy in Village Ghetto Land.”

The post The Top 4 “Ghetto” Soul Songs…See Who Made The List appeared first on I Love Old School Music.