Lakecia Benjamin’s latest studio project, We Dream, feels less like a standard album release and more like a necessary pivot. As the world feels increasingly heavy, Benjamin is using this record to shift her focus toward something intentional. “It felt like that story couldn’t go all the way, given the state of the world,” she says, explaining why she’s now looking for “a bright light in a dark space.”

The “Avengers” Assemble

To manifest that light, Benjamin didn’t just hire session players; she assembled a collective statement. Her self-described team of “Avengers” features a staggering lineup of artists chosen for their capacity to evolve and reshape musical language.

The core of the project centers on Benjamin’s frequent collaborators—pianists Oscar Pérez and Miki Hayama and bassist Elias Bailey—but the expanded cast is massive. Benjamin is quick to point out that these artists are not bound by the traditional confines of jazz; instead, she has gathered an “expansive cast of guest collaborators drawn from across jazz, R&B, hip-hop, and experimental music.”

• The Horns: Terence Blanchard, Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah, Sean Jones, and Chris Potter.

• The Rhythm Section: Jeff “Tain” Watts, drummer Jonathan Barber, Kassa Overall, and Hiromi.

• The Voices: The Roots’ Black Thought, Bilal, and Tarriona “Tank” Ball (Tank and the Bangas).

A Cinematic Reckoning

The album is structured as a “poem-driven journey,” blending spoken word with high-energy improvisation and groove-based writing.

• “Beyond the Dawn”: Featuring Terence Blanchard alongside Sean Jones, this track is driven by the nuanced mallet work of drummer Jonathan Barber. Benjamin describes the piece as a “spoken-word invocation” that sets the tone for the record—calling it “part meditation, part reckoning.”

• “Mi Gente”: Featuring Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah, this track centers on community and cultural exchange, grounded in rhythm and collective movement.

• “Dream Breaker” and “Flamekeeper”: Featuring Jeff “Tain” Watts, Hiromi, and Chris Potter, these tracks reflect Benjamin’s admiration for artists “who are not standing still, who are pushing forward, who are innovating.”

• “Right Now”: This serves as the dramatic peak, bringing together Bilal and Kassa Overall in a space where Benjamin says “lyric, rhythm, and improvisation converge.”

Ultimately, We Dream is an intentional artistic statement. In Benjamin’s words, it’s about the “power of sound to illuminate even the darkest spaces.” It’s an album that insists on forward motion and collective imagination at a time when things feel, as she puts it, “really dark right now—everywhere.”

We Dream is Lakecia Benjamin’s debut for Artwork Records and will be available on June 5, 2026.

Listen to the first single “Flame Keeper,” out now.