''We Are'' (stylized in
all caps
In typography, all caps (short for "all capitals") refers to text or a font in which all letters are capital letters, for example: "THIS TEXT IS IN ALL CAPS". All caps may be used for emphasis (for a word or phrase). They are commonly seen in ...
) is the sixth studio album by
Jon Batiste
Jonathan Michael Batiste (born November 11, 1986) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, bandleader, and television personality. He has recorded and performed with artists in various genres of music (Stevie Wonder, Prince, Willie Nelson, ...
. It was released on
Verve Records
Verve Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Founded in 1956 by Norman Granz, the label is home to the world's largest jazz catalogue, which includes recordings by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, ...
on March 19, 2021.
In April 2022, the album won
Album of the Year at the
64th Annual Grammy Awards
The 64th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on April 3, 2022. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from September 1, 2020, to September 30, ...
; it earned Batiste eleven nominations in total, with five wins.
Following the 64th Annual Grammy Awards, ''We Are'' reached its peak at number 25 on the US
''Billboard'' 200 with 18,000
album equivalent units
The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, is a measurement unit in music industry to define the consumption of music that equals the purchase of one album copy. This consumption includes streaming and song downloads in addition to traditio ...
.
Background
Batiste began working on the album in late 2019, making it in his dressing room over six days in September and finishing it by mid-2020. While largely written and recorded prior to the events of 2020, the album's lyrical and thematic content reflects such events as the onset of the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
and his involvement in 2020, leading
Black Lives Matter
Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police bruta ...
protests
A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one.
Protests can be thought of as acts of coopera ...
in
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
after the
killings of George Floyd and
Breonna Taylor
Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old African-American woman, was fatally shot in her Louisville, Kentucky apartment on March 13, 2020, when at least seven police officers forced entry into the apartment as part of an investigation into drug dealing op ...
.
On June 12, 2020, he released the single "We Are", featuring the band from his
alma mater, the
St. Augustine High School Marching 100.
As part of
Record Store Day
Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...
2020, Batiste released a limited edition EP titled ''We Are: Roots & Traditions''.
The album also features
Mavis Staples
Mavis Staples (born July 10, 1939) is an American rhythm and blues and gospel singer, actress, and civil rights activist. She rose to fame as a member of her family's band The Staple Singers (she is the last surviving member of that band). Durin ...
,
Zadie Smith
Zadie Smith FRSL (born Sadie; 25 October 1975) is an English novelist, essayist, and short-story writer. Her debut novel, ''White Teeth'' (2000), immediately became a best-seller and won a number of awards. She has been a tenured professor ...
,
PJ Morton
P.J. Morton (born Paul Morton Jr.; March 29, 1981) is an American Grammy winning musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Since 2012, he has been one of the keyboardists, alongside Jesse Carmichael, for the pop rock band Maroon 5. Mort ...
, and
Trombone Shorty
Troy Andrews (born January 2, 1986), also known by the stage name Trombone Shorty, is an American musician, producer, actor and philanthropist from New Orleans, Louisiana. He is best known as a trombone and trumpet player but also plays drums, ...
.
Speaking to ''
Atwood Magazine
Atwood Magazine is a digital music magazine that focuses on emerging and established artists from around the world. The magazine was founded in 2012 and is currently run by editor-in-chief Mitch Mosk.
History
Atwood Magazine was founded in 20 ...
'', Batiste described ''We Are'' as "a representation of genreless music that's just about the story" and "a culmination of my life to this point".
Batiste released a deluxe edition of the album on October 15, 2021.
Awards and nominations
Grammy Awards
Track listing
Personnel
Musicians
Technical
*
Russell Elevado
Russell Elevado (born 1966 in the Philippines) is a recording engineer and record producer based in New York City.
Accolades
Russell Elevado has a catalog of 50 full albums from the over 100 albums in his discography.
Elevado earned a Grammy ...
– recording
* Misha Kachkachishvili – recording
* Kizzo – composer, producer, recording
* Michelle Mancini – mastering engineer
*
Manny Marroquin
Manny Marroquin (born September 21, 1971) is an American mixing engineer.Daley, Dan (May 2005).Manny Marroquin. ''Sound on Sound''. Retrieved February 10, 2007 He has received ten Grammy awards for his professional audio work.
Life and career
M ...
– mixing
* Marc Whitmore – recording, mixing
* Alex Williams – recording
* Karla Cordova –
album art
An album cover (also referred to as album art) is the front packaging art of a commercially released studio album or other audio recordings. The term can refer to either the printed paperboard covers typically used to package sets of and 78-rpm ...
*
Suleika Jaouad – photography
*
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...
–
liner notes
Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes.
Origin
Liner notes are desce ...
* Ricky Reed – mixing
* Ryan Lynn – co executive producer
* John Muller – engineer
* Gavin Paddock - engineer, mix engineer
* David Andersen - second engineer
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
References
{{Grammy Award for Album of the Year
2021 albums
Verve Records albums
Jon Batiste albums
Grammy Award for Album of the Year