Honestly, the music world didn't really see it coming. When the 64th Grammy Awards rolled around in 2022, everyone was betting on the heavy hitters. You had Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, and Justin Bieber—the kind of names that usually suck all the oxygen out of the room. Then there was Jon Batiste. To most of the casual public, he was "the guy from the Colbert show." He was the bandleader with the big smile and the melodica. But when Jon Batiste We Are took home Album of the Year, it wasn't just a win for him. It was a massive, seismic shift in what we think a "pop" album can actually be.
It's a weird record. I mean that in the best way possible. It’s a gumbo. You’ve got New Orleans jazz sitting right next to 80s synth-pop, gospel choirs, and field recordings of children. It’s messy, it’s loud, and it’s incredibly human.
The Dressing Room Blueprint
You might think an Album of the Year winner would be recorded in some sprawling, multi-million dollar studio in Malibu. Nope. Batiste actually laid down the "blueprint" for the record in about six days. Where? His dressing room at the Ed Sullivan Theater.
Between filming segments for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and scoring the Pixar film Soul, Batiste turned his tiny backstage space into a 24/7 creative hub. He brought in producers like Kizzo and songwriters like Autumn Rowe. They had food deliveries flying in and out, instruments crammed into corners, and a rotating door of collaborators.
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He didn't just want it to sound "studio perfect." He wanted it to sound alive.
Why Jon Batiste We Are Still Matters
There’s a lot of talk about "protest music." Usually, that means angry lyrics or somber acoustic guitars. Batiste took a different route. He recorded this during a time of immense social unrest—specifically the 2020 protests following the death of George Floyd.
Instead of writing an album that just pointed out what was wrong, he wrote an album about the people who were trying to make it right. He literally led "love riots" through the streets of New York, playing music to keep spirits up.
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- The Title Track: It features his father, his grandfather, and the St. Augustine High School Marching 100. It's a family reunion on wax.
- Freedom: This song is basically a shot of pure dopamine. It’s got that Pharrell-esque groove but with a much deeper, ancestral soul.
- Cry: This is where the mask slips. It's a soulful, Americana-tinged track that acknowledges the "subconscious inheritance" of pain.
The Critics and the "Safe Bet" Myth
After the Grammys, some critics got salty. They called him a "safe" choice for the Recording Academy—a way for older voters to acknowledge Black music without having to engage with the grittier, more controversial side of modern hip-hop.
But if you actually listen to the tracks, there’s nothing "safe" about the technicality. Batiste is a Juilliard-trained virtuoso. In "I Need You," he plays a 12-bar blues that feels like it’s accelerating because of how he manipulates the turnaround. On "Tell the Truth," he lets out a literal scream that would make James Brown proud. This isn't background music for a dinner party. It’s a high-level masterclass in Black American Music (or BAM, as he calls it).
Breaking Down the Gumbo
The album is structured like a movie or a novel. Batiste has been vocal about how he wants people to listen to it from top to bottom. It’s meant to be "cycled."
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- The Heritage: Songs like "Until" use field recordings of New Orleans Indians singing. It's raw. It's real.
- The Modernity: Tracks like "Whatchutalkinbout" dive into 8-bit synths and rapid-fire vocals.
- The Spiritual: Everything is underpinned by a sense of "spiritual practice." For Batiste, music isn't just a product. It's a way to reconnect with shared humanity.
What Most People Get Wrong
People often pigeonhole Batiste as "just a jazz guy." That's a mistake. While his 2018 project Hollywood Africans was definitely more traditional, We Are is an art-pop record. It’s as much influenced by Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson as it is by Duke Ellington.
The biggest misconception is that the album was a "Grammy bait" project. In reality, Batiste was making this music long before he became the awards-season darling. He was just finally given the platform where the rest of the world could hear what he'd been doing in New Orleans and New York for years.
How to Truly Experience the Record
If you’re just getting into it now, don't just put it on shuffle.
Start with the title track. Listen to the way the marching band kicks in. It’s supposed to feel like a parade. Then, move to "Cry" to see the range. If you want to understand the technical side, pay attention to the piano solos in "I Need You." The man’s fingers move faster than most people can think.
Your Next Steps
- Watch the "Freedom" Music Video: It was filmed in New Orleans and captures the literal "vibe" of the city better than any travel documentary could.
- Listen to the Deluxe Edition: It includes a remix by Big Freedia and features from Tori Kelly, which adds even more layers to the "gumbo" concept.
- Check out "American Symphony": If you want to see where this journey led him, his documentary on Netflix shows the grueling process of composing a symphony while his wife, Suleika Jaouad, was battling leukemia. It puts the joy of We Are into a much more profound context.
The legacy of this album isn't the trophy on the shelf. It's the fact that in a world that feels increasingly digital and isolated, Jon Batiste managed to make something that sounds like a backyard BBQ where everyone is invited.