(August 10, 2026) Lalah Hathaway has spent her career creating music that is unmistakably her own, and never has “her own” been more personal than on her newest single about her hometown, “47th Street.”
The song takes Hathaway back to the Chicago neighborhood where her father, the late soul great Donny Hathaway, and his family lived. She also remembers her grandfather Hosea — affectionately called “Hozee” by the family — and the welcoming home that remains a vivid part of her childhood memories.
The song bears the urban vibe and the staccato horns so reminiscent of 70s soul, and the spoken word intro from J. Ivy completes the nostalgic picture. Hathaway says, “In my mind, going back to 47th Street regenerated the pulsating urban vibe of my beloved hometown.” There is a bittersweet quality to the track, as she considers how a neighborhood can change while the memories connected to it remain firmly in place.
That idea comes through most clearly in the song’s closing sentiment: the streets may belong to different people now, but no one can remove what they continue to mean to her.
Check out Lalah Hathaway’s “47th Street” below.
