Echoes of the Ancestors – Kyshona’s ‘Legacy’ Is a Soul-Stirring Triumph

Jace Media Music Album Review by Halina Wegner

From the very first note of Legacy, it’s clear that Kyshona isn’t just singing—she’s remembering, restoring, and rejoicing. Her latest studio album, releasing May 23, 2025, is a deeply personal and powerfully resonant collection that pays tribute to generations past while speaking healing and unity into the present. As its title suggests, Legacy is a monument—crafted in soul, gospel, and folk—that honours family, memory, and the enduring strength of community.

Recorded at Memphis’s Southern Grooves Studio with GRAMMY-winning producer Matt Ross-Spang and co-produced with Rachael Moore, Legacy is not only musically rich—it’s spiritually anchored. Kyshona, a licensed music therapist turned socially conscious singer-songwriter, draws on her own ancestral research and oral histories to deliver a 16-track album that’s as much documentary as it is art.

Storytelling with Soul

Opening with “Elephants,” the album immediately sets a reflective tone. The metaphor of unspoken burdens looms in Kyshona’s understated yet emotive voice, serving as the perfect entry into this intimate exploration of lineage. The follow-up, “The Echo,” is equally haunting—guitar and harmony swirl around a meditation on how the past continues to reverberate in the present.

“Waitin’ On the Lawd” takes us to church. Featuring the mighty voices of Ruthie Foster, Odessa Settles, and Chris Pierce, this track channels the resolve of those who prayed through persecution. It’s gospel not just in sound, but in spirit. Likewise, “Whispers in the Wall,” with Ellen Angelico, is one of the album’s most affecting tracks—an evocative portrait of memory living in the walls of old homes and churches, with Angelico’s pedal steel playing weeping like a long-lost voice.

“Alma Ree,” featuring the ever-soulful Nickie Conley, carries the same emotional weight. It feels like a hymn—quiet, reverent, yet empowering. A reminder that we are never truly alone, that our people are with us, in voice and spirit.

Roots, Reels, and Realness

But it’s not all solemn reverence. “Comin’ Out Swinging” is a swaggering roots-funk number featuring Kyshona’s brother Kelvin Armstrong, bursting with pride and defiance. It’s a rallying cry for resilience that adds a shot of adrenaline to the album’s middle section.

“Carolina,” featuring blues icon Keb’ Mo’, is as smooth and soothing as the Carolina breeze it evokes. With its storytelling charm and rootsy instrumentation, it perfectly balances the personal with the universal.

Then come the interludes—touching spoken-word recordings from Kyshona’s late grandfather, H.T. Armstrong. These intimate moments, like “From Grandpa’s Tapes” and “A Word,” are not throwaway skits—they are sacred interludes, grounding the record in lived history. It’s like being handed a family photo album, with the voices behind each face guiding you through the story.

“Heaven Is A Beautiful Place” feels like the emotional climax—stretching over five and a half minutes, it’s an elegant blend of gospel, harmony, and tribute. Featuring Nickie Conley and Maureen Murphy, the track soars with celestial beauty and grounded humanity.

Closing the Circle

“Covered” brings Legacy to its close with gentle reassurance. It’s a lullaby of protection and gratitude, wrapping the listener in the comfort that no matter how far we’ve come, we are still held by those who walked before us.

What elevates Legacy above so many records today is its unflinching sincerity. There’s no posturing here, no trend-chasing. Kyshona’s mission is simple but profound: to give voice to the voiceless, to honour those who’ve come before, and to unify people through the healing power of music. With co-writes from Aaron Lee Tasjan, Brittney Spencer, Caroline Spence, and Jess Nolan, the songwriting here is consistently potent and poetically rich.

Jace Media Music Final Verdict

Kyshona’s Legacy is a stunning achievement—an album that sings with purpose, anchored in truth and tradition. It’s a celebration of Black heritage, a reclamation of voice, and a call for unity in a fragmented world. From the raw intimacy of family recordings to the soaring harmonies of guest vocalists, this album is nothing short of essential listening.

Tracklist:

1. Elephants
2. The Echo
3. Waitin’ On The Lawd (feat. Ruthie Foster, Odessa Settles, Chris Pierce)
4. Whispers in the Wall (feat. Ellen Angelico)
5. Alma Ree (feat. Nickie Conley)
6. Interlude – Grandpa H.T. and the Church Elders
7. Heaven Is A Beautiful Place (feat. Nickie Conley, Maureen Murphy)
8. Always a Daughter
9. Interlude – From Grandpa’s Tapes
10. What’s In a Name
11. Where My Mind Goes
12. Comin’ Out Swinging (feat. Kelvin Armstrong)
13. Carolina (feat. Keb’ Mo’)
14. Where I Started From
15. Interlude – A Word
16. Covered

Jace Media Music Says:
Legacy is a timeless work of truth and tenderness—Kyshona’s voice is the bridge between past and present, and this album is the kind of record that stays with you long after the final note fades.