By Ashly Ibarra
Jon Batiste took home five awards at the 64th annual Grammy Awards. After landing a total of eleven nominations Batiste took the prize of the night winning Album of the Year for “We Are.” Making him the first Black artist to win Album of the Year in 14 years. Other albums nominated for the category included Billie Eilish’s Happier Than Ever, Taylor Swift’s Evermore, Kanye West’s Donda, Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour, and more.
Following his win, angry fans of the other nominated artists took to Twitter to share their disappointment that Batiste won the album of the year. One tweet surpassed over 100K likes with the comment “say ‘i’ if you never heard this album.”
say ‘i’ if you never heard this album https://t.co/RFDGk2yWPx
— ً (@wishyouweregae) April 4, 2022
But even if you are hearing the name Jon Batiste for the first time at the Grammys you heard his music before.
Born in Louisiana, Batiste has a long line of musicians in his family. As a member of the New Orleans group, Batiste Family included Lionel Batiste. Batiste is also known as one of the founders of the band Stay Human. The band has served as the in-house band for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert since 2015.
In 2020 Jon Batiste teamed up with Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor to compose the music for the Pixar film Soul. The music eventually won him an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score at the 2021 awards. The movie soundtrack also won a British Academy Award for Best Original Music. Ultimately won a Grammy for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media at the 64th Grammy Awards.
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On June 12, 2020, Batiste released the title track single “We Are.” The song featured the band from his alma mater in New Orleans, the St. Agustine High School Marching 100. “From its inception in 1951, the school was intended for the education of young black men during a time when there was not an elite institution of its kind for high school students. The marching band is historic and a first of its kind as well, rivaling college-level bands. This school has been a cornerstone in the community for decades.” said Batiste.
Although “We Are” was recorded in 2019 and 2020 the lyrics and themes of the album reflect the events of the Black Lives Matter movement following the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor in 2020. In an interview with CNN Batiste stated, “Look at what we’re doing. We’re using music to bring people together of all races, of all genders – for Black lives…We have to fight apathy more than anything. And we have to fight for Black lives, and right now, if we don’t do that, nobody will. We’re the one”
On March 19, 2022, the New Orleans Jazz and R&B album composed of 13 tracks was released. Featuring emotional songs like “Cry” and “Adulthood.” The album also features a feature from Tori Kelly on the song “Sing.” The most popular song on the album is “Freedom,” an upbeat song about the power of music. Expressing the freedom felt when dancing and how relationships are portrayed in the media.
Regardless if you knew the name Jon Batiste before or not things are going up from here for him. As Batiste said in his Grammy acceptance speech “It’s more than entertainment for me. It’s a spiritual practice,” expressing his love for creating music and it looks like he doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon.