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VIDEO: Lalah Hathaway, Rahsaan Patterson Perform in Dallas

PHOTOS: Flickr RhythmicImages_CarolynGrady

In last week's Rod 2.0 interview with Lalah Hathaway, the ridiculously talented singer-songwriter discussed her new album Where It All Begins—from covering songs created by her late and iconic father to her 15-year friendship and collaboration with Rahsaan Patterson. Listen HERE.

The openly gay Patterson has written material for Hathaway and they have toured together for almost a decade. Hathaway and Patterson performed at a Dallas benefit last week. Watch an interview with both singers and the performance video—including clips of Lalah covering "Lover's Holiday" and "Forever, for Always, for Love"—AFTER THE JUMP ...

LISTEN: Lalah Hathaway Shares "Where It All Begins" with Rod 2.0

PHOTOS: Derek Blanks

One of this fall's most anticipated new music releases is Lalah Hathaway's Where It All Begins (iTunes). The critically acclaimed musician, songwriter and vocalist's sixth solo album and second for Stax Records dropped two weeks ago.

Born Eulaulah Donyll Hathaway, Lalah has often been referred to as the "First Daughter of Soul" because she is the daughter of the iconic Donny Hathaway. But the title has been earned: Lalah Hathaway released her self-titled album in 1990 and since then has become a Grammy-nominated artist, featured on more than a dozen soundtracks. Hathaway's trademark sultry voice stands out among a cluttered musical landscape of over-produced and over-sampled "singers".

Where It All Begins is a stylistic and artistic homage to the late and great Donny Hathaway. Lalah covers his classic song "You Were Meant For Me" with a beautiful contemporary tribute. Oh and aficionados of both father and daughter will love, love the deliciously retro cover: It's a collage of Donny Hathaway album covers ... with images of Lalah.

"I wanted the music and art to reflect my love of art," Lalah tells Rod 2.0. "I wanted the CD to look like an album. You know the type that we grew up with, the albums that you would take in the bathroom and read," she adds with a deep, infectious laugh.

Listen to the interview:

Lalah Hathaway Interview with Rod 2.0 by RodMcCullom

If You Want To | Lalah Hathaway by concordmusicgroup

Watch Lalah perform AFTER THE JUMP ...

"Sometimes it is difficult to [cover] my father's music," she explains. "Sometimes people are crying while I’m singing, so that gets to me. But [this] was an easy song to cover. The color of the song … it fit in so well with the more uptempo [direction] of this record. My friend John Stoddart came in and orchestrated. He made it so beautiful. My intent is to pay homage to the original and also to create a new standard."

Lalah also opens up about the now-famous "Unsung" episode that TVOne devoted to her father. "I didn’t watch it for a very long time and then I [finally] watched," she says, somewhat quietly. "It’s always interesting to watch something that you [personally] saw played out. I wished they focused more on my father’s contributions to music. But I understand that his story is very compelling. Ultimately it brought his music to more people."

Hathaway is known as a more sultry and jazzy singer. Where It All Begins is more mid-tempo and sounds like a departure for Lalah ... but she says it isn't. "It may sound like a different sound to you but to me it isn’t a different sound," Lalah tells R20. "It feels very reminiscent of the first album that I released. It’s an expansion on what I do naturally, but to everyone else it sounds different. But my intention [was] to do something brighter and with more color."

Watch Lalah perform AFTER THE JUMP ...

Openly Gay Singer Rahsaan Patterson (Again) Describes Sexuality as "Spirit" and "Choice"

Rahsaan Patterson is certainly one of the best independent artists and his most recent album, Wines and Spirits, is wonderful. But ever since Patterson officially came out in 2007 some of his comments on sexuality—he has called it a "spirit"—have been cringe-worthy.

In a new interview with The Daily Voice's Mark Corece, a talented young writer and performance artist in Chicago, Patterson amplifies earlier comments that alluded to childhood sexual abuse. Patterson believes this is the primary reason he is gay.

In 2007, you did an interview with BET and you talked about your sexuality. You discussed your childhood and "spirits that attached to you." Is sexual abuse a fair interpretation of this?

Oh, yeah definitely. That is what I intended to express without making it an excuse for...

Do you feel like it is an excuse for homosexuality?

I think it is a reason for a lot of people's lifestyles that they choose. At some point you choose for that to be what you're into and what your lifestyle is--for some. To a degree, I think we have a choice for a lot of things. I think people who are straight, who are homophobic, choose to be homophobic. It is what it is and things happen in life and particularly when you are a child you don't have control over it. That is one of the things I was trying to express.

Do you think talking being open with your sexuality has negatively, or positively, impacted your career?

I don't really know, but what I do know is that I've never been in the closet or hiding anything. For me, it has always been maintaining the privacy of what I do with the people I do it with, whoever it is. Just because you don't know what I'm doing doesn't mean that I'm trying to keep something from you. The people that know me like my family, my friends and the people I am intimate with, they know, and that's what matters to me. I really don't care about the next person two blocks from here that wants to know and because they don't, they think that I'm keeping a secret--no. We all possess sexuality and we all possess the ability to be sexual with whoever we choose to be and that is not all of who we are. It doesn't necessarily define someone's character. I think sometimes people get hung up on that and it takes away from someone's true purpose. You know what I'm saying? A spirit is bigger than all of that.

Artists should not be looked at as spokespersons—and Rahsaan Patterson is only speaking of his own experience—but his explanation is sadly more of the debunked "molestation makes you gay"  meme. It does not. There are gay survivors of sex abuse, as well as straight survivors. A majority of gay men do not report abuse, and, the majority of abused women are not lesbian.

Patterson's comments are causing alarm across the black gay virtual community, which has been very supportive of his work and coming out. "Hearing Rahsaan Patterson describe his sexuality as 'a spirit that attached itself to him' and the use of the word choice is very problematic for me," says Darian Aaron. "it's sends a potentially dangerous message. It's the kind of message that ex-gay ministries prey upon and gives false hope to parents who are struggling to accept their gay children."

Darian is spot on. It doesn't seem very likely that many people would "choose" to be gay, especially if you are black and growing up gay in the rabidly homophobic culture of the black church. Patterson, who did grow up in the church and has a gospel background, seems to have somewhat adopted the  church rhetoric of choice and demonic "spirits." That's too bad.

Deciphering Rashaan Patterson [Daily Voice]
Rahsaan Patterson Talks Wines & Spirits [LOL Darian]