Amani Lillian Stuns with Acoustic Version of “Take Up Everything (Oblivious)”
All photography by Pearl Creative.
Imagine it- a Friday morning, the first day of Women’s History Month, and the sun is shining so bright above Woods Theater that you realize the day cannot get any better than this. But no, you stand corrected as Blue Hawk Records' very own Amani Lillian rocks your world with an acoustic version of “Take Up Everything (Oblivious)”, and suddenly it's the only song that the Bluetooth in your car knows how to play.
After hearing the acoustic version for the first time, my obsession for the song (as well as Amani’s talent) reignited and I knew I’d be running to our Blue Hawk member to get the low-down on all things “Take Up Everything”.
“Max [Wolf] and I had both tossed the idea around of making an acoustic version after seeing people’s reaction to the original,” Lillian said. “It was overwhelmingly positive, and was humbling to receive such support towards me which is all I could’ve ever asked for.” This inspired her to create a larger musical presence, and that meant stepping into the studio with Wolf, and with a new vision.
“My initial idea for this version was to recreate the live acoustic run of “Take Up Everything” that Max and I performed at the Light of Day festival back in January at The Break.
I watched the videos back and was obsessed with the different chord voicings that Max chose to play that night. I remember walking into his studio and saying ‘Let’s just do Light of Day again,’” she said. She proceeded to mention that the recording was done in one take. After the new recording was created, Lillian was able to add new elements to the new version- a few “pops of color” she called them, including some background vocals and embellishments.
“There are so many things I can say about this song,” said freshman Kylensky Miracle. “Amani’s soulful R&B sound really drives the audience into a state of oblivion.” Miracle is one of the many Blue Hawk members that’s become a fan of Lillian’s, and is looking forward to see what else she has up her sleeves.
And for all you loyal Blue Hawk members and fans, I’m sure you want the tell-all on the original version as well. It hasn’t been long since the first time Lillian had our jaws on the floor over her song.
“The original version of ‘Take Up Everything’ was written and produced for Blue Hawk Records’ Chapter XXIII. I wrote it with the intent to audition for this record. I usually save melody ideas in my voice memos and try and record them with just enough context to fully develop the idea later on. That’s exactly how this process went,” she said.
Lillian had been carrying around the original voice memo since the summertime, but it wasn’t until mid-September when she was inspired to finish it. “In about two days, I wrote and rewrote it, altered keys and melody lines and eventually I had a finished-enough song.”
“Amani is beyond talented and we knew she needed to be on the album, and to now have an acoustic version of the song is really awesome,” said Jill Bernstein, senior Music Industry major and General Manager of the Record Label Strategies course (that holds auditions for Blue Hawk Records’ compilation albums). Bernstein worked closely with Lillian during the creation of Chapter XXIII, and found herself constantly in awe of the artist’s abilities.
And Lillian is just as talented as she is thankful for Blue Hawk Records. “Blue Hawk has inspired me to honestly have more confidence and stand strong on my identity, and has shown me that I am stronger than I think and more capable than I give myself credit for.”
Lillian hopes to release more music as well as continuing to perform locally and on social media. As for the rest of us, we’ll be waiting on the edge of our seats, with our Bose headphones on, and blasting Amani Lillian on repeat.
Written by Sam Jordan.
Check out Amani’s studio session for “Take Up Everything (Oblivious)” on Blue Hawk’s 23rd compilation album, Chapter XXIII.