Speaking to Atwood Magazine, Batiste described We Are as 'a representation of genreless music that's just about the story' and 'a culmination of my life to this point'. The album also features Mavis Staples, Zadie Smith, PJ Morton, and Trombone Shorty. Īs part of Record Store Day 2020, Batiste released a limited edition EP titled We Are: Roots & Traditions. On June 12, 2020, he released the single 'We Are', featuring the band from his New Orleans alma mater, the St. While largely written and recorded prior to the events of 2020, the album's lyrical and thematic content reflects such events as the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and his involvement in 2020, leading Black Lives Matter protests in New York after the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Background īatiste began working on the album in late 2019, making it in his dressing room over six days in September and finishing it by mid-2020. įollowing the 64th Annual Grammy Awards, We Are reached its peak at number 25 on the US Billboard 200 with 18,000 album equivalent units.

In April 2022, the album won Album of the Year at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards it earned Batiste nine nominations in total, with five wins. It was released on Verve Records on March 19, 2021.

We Are (stylized in all caps) is the sixth studio album by Jon Batiste.