ICYMI: #WomanCrushWednesday IG Live featuring Malynda Hale

BY LAURA HARPER/WWR Staff Writer

Music is a great way to spread very important messages about social justice and change, and one female musician using her powerful voice for this purpose is Malynda Hale.

Originally from Santa Barbara, California, Hale has followed her music career from New York to Chicago to Los Angeles, where she is currently based.

“Music will always be the number one thing for me because it was my first passion,” Hale said.

In addition to being a singer-songwriter, Hale also hosts and produces a podcast called We Need To Talk. Although music will always have a special place in her heart, she says her podcast has become a passion project because it allows her to hold a platform for having discussions on topics that may make some people uncomfortable, particularly in regards to social justice.

The idea for starting a podcast originally blossomed while Hale was holding panels at her church, one of which discussed LGBTQ+ inclusion in the church. This was an important topic to her that she wanted to introduce to a broader audience.

In fact, Hale’s church has played a large role in the formation of her music career as well. After watching Whitney Houston perform the National Anthem at the Super Bowl when she was five years old, she became involved with singing at her church and musical theater at her school. She has since become the Worship Leader at her church and attended college for music.

Although she is grateful for the vocal training she received in college, it was a bit frustrating because, at the time, the program only focused on classical styles when Hale had a voice more suited for pop.

“Finding my voice and my sound has been a journey,” Hale said.

Hale started with writing mostly love songs early in her career but has since moved to songs inspired by her passion for social justice. Her most recent release called “God and His Gun” is a reflection of that, as is “We Run,” a song inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement.

When it comes to being a woman in the music industry, Hale says the biggest challenge comes with female musicians in general being over-sexualized when creating an image for themselves.

“Women are often not given enough credit for knowing what they want,” Hale said.

Hale also says she has faced additional challenges of being a black woman in the music industry, finding that others often try to pigeonhole her sound into R&B despite her comfort and preference being more in the pop and soul genres.

“The beauty of music is that you can explore and try to reach everybody,” Hale said.

Currently, Hale is working on a music video for “God and His Gun” which is on track to be released in November. Upcoming, she also plans to release a Christmas song cover in time for the holidays.

In addition to these releases, Hale is also working on organizing the yearly benefit concert she holds at her church to raise money for various charities.

For more on Malynda Hale, you can check out the entire interview on the @OfficialWomenWhoRock IGTV channel on Instagram.