Taste of Soul (TOS) 2017 was nothing short of spectacular. On October 21st, more than 350,000 festivalgoers filled up Crenshaw with high anticipations of soul food, free concert stages, and community fun. One of the most popular stages was the KJLH Radio Free Music Stage, presented by Toyota, which had some of Hollywood’s hottest emerging talent. This year’s line up included performances from Adrian Marcel, Yuna, Kid Capri, MAJOR., Eric Bellinger, Raheem DeVaughn and Lalah Hathaway.
“We are very excited about the artists performing at this year’s Taste of Soul. KJLH’s history is just like the Sentinel’s history—it’s one about serving the community and always making African Americans the priority. So, we are excited to have KJLH as a part of Bakewell Media’s 12th annual Taste of Soul,” said Danny Bakewell Sr., creator and founder of Taste of Soul and chairman of Bakewell Media. He believes it’s empowering to have a great partnership with the station.
KJLH is no stranger to the Taste of Soul Festival; this year the station made sure to help celebrate TOS’s 12th anniversary with artists who have compassion to empower the community.
“I just love Taste of Soul because it’s about building the community and eating good food,” said singer MAJOR., after his performance of his new single “Honest” on the KJLH stage. For the second year in a row, the singer captivated the TOS ’17 crowd with music that literally spoke to the soul, all while singing to audience members individually, moving in-and-out of the crowd. “I just want my music to shift culture, I want people to actually listen and find their own voice. That’s what my song ‘Honest’ is about.”
The day kicked off with popular on-air personality, Adai Lamar introducing the KJLH gospel choir, followed by singer Yuna, who performed her songs “Crush” and “Best Love.”
“You know this is my first time at Taste of Soul and I just love the family vibe. It reminds me so much of my home in Malaysia,” Yuna said. The Malaysian-born singer-songwriter loved that the atmosphere of TOS is focused on building up unity in such a crucial time, period for the community. “You know, this festival is a way for everyone to just come together and be a big family.”
In between performances, KJLH’s own DJ MaL-Ski kept the crowd hyped and focused by spinning some of today’s greatest hits mixed in with Motown classics.
Following the trend of keeping the crowd moving, Eric Bellinger performed his popular hit “I Don’t Want Her”, Kid Capri smashed the DJ tables playing old school classics and Adrian Marcel kept the crowd dancing with his popular hit, “2 AM”. But, the change of message and atmosphere came when R&B singer Raheem DeVaughn featuring The Crossroads took the stage to perform their latest single “America.”
It was the perfect gateway to introduce the last and final act of Lalah Hathaway. The GRAMMY Award winning singer, who is scheduled to release her latest album “Honestly” on November 3rd, used her infectious voice and style to calm the crowd as the final goodnight to the Taste of Soul festivalgoers.