You can’t help but notice Lady Blackbird‘s voice. Her vocals just demand your attention.

The artist, born Marley Munroe, holds an incredible stage presence and showmanship that makes you wonder, “How have I missed this?”

For years, she navigated the music industry, from collaborating with Christian rap and rock group DC Talk to getting her own record deal, only to be dropped.

Then, after a powerful cover of the Nina Simone‘s “Blackbird” went viral, Monroe took it as a sign. She struck out with a jazzy soulful sound that was sonic dynamite. Next thing you know, she’s dazzling Bono and Taylor Swift on The Graham Norton Show.

In this session, we’re sitting down with Lady Blackbird and her producer, Chris Seefried, to talk about her new album, Slang Spirituals.

This episode of World Cafe was produced and edited by Miguel Perez. Our senior producer is Kimberly Junod and our engineer is Chris Williams. Our programming and booking coordinator is Chelsea Johnson and our line producer is Will Loftus.