“Sometimes I throw my hat in the ring just because I know it’s the right ring to fight in,” Aloe Blacc says, with a beatific smile. The R&B and soul icon has done just that over his decades-long career, not only through the blissful positivity his music brings the world but also through his all-encompassing philanthropic support. And in the face of an increasingly conflicted world, Blacc decided he had the responsibility to fight even harder. “I should use the visibility, the megaphone I have to amplify the organizations, causes, and people who are doing the most amazing work in the community,” he says. On his new album Stand Together, Blacc pairs each of 12 lovingly crafted, life-affirming tracks with powerful non-profit organizations, delivering compellingly uplifting music and raising crucial awareness in equal measure.

The inspiration for Stand Together came in the midst of Blacc’s jampacked 2024—a year that yet again reaffirmed the California native’s commitment to positive change. In addition to celebrating the 10th anniversary edition of his landmark album Lift Your Spirit, Blacc released a pair of Rock My Soul EPs featuring covers of classic alt rock hits, reinvigorated in his unique style. That complex yet immediately resonant voice first began taking shape as far back as his earliest hip-hop projects (including three records with producer Exile as Emanon), but came more into focus as he expanded into soulful fare like a take on Sam Cooke's "Change Is Gonna Come" and beloved early solo hits like "I Need a Dollar" and "The Man". From that moment, he knew he was speaking for far more than himself. “When I first signed a record deal, I promised myself that I would use my voice for positive social transformation,” Blacc says. 

On his cover EPs, that kaleidoscopic blend of soul, rock, funk, R&B, and more reinvigorated covers of the likes of Nirvana, No Doubt, and Green Day, bringing them into a vibrant present. While Stand Together features Blacc’s own impeccable songwriting, it also taps into a deep well of historical inspiration and a supernova sonic palette. “The idea came from great songs in the past that have ultimately stood the test of time and represented something positive,” he says. “I think of Dionne Warwick’s ‘That's What Friends Are For’, Bob Marley's ‘Buffalo Soldiers’. These songs meant something.”

Lead single “Don’t Go Alone” immediately sets that tone, a spring-loaded bit of joy based on an African proverb of togetherness: If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. In this case, Blacc uses the saying and the song as a reminder for the power of The Phoenix, an organization which emphasizes the role of community building to address addiction recovery. Oak Felder’s clever production turns saxophone trills into dubstep-esque flourishes, as Blacc leads a joyful choir over African polyrhythms. “There is no joy in reaching the finish line by yourself,” Blacc says. “Together is better and much more sustainable.” 

That unifying perspective puts Blacc in good company, including with fellow musical philanthropists Bono and The Edge—and a chance encounter with the U2 stars helped inspire Stand Together single “One Good Thing”. Blacc and his wife dropped by a lounge to shoot pool after seeing the Irish rockers at the Sphere in Las Vegas one evening in 2024, only to find Bono and the Edge walking into the room not long later. Blacc and Bono quickly connected over their shared love of the late legend Harry Belafonte; when Bono shared a story of Belafonte’s suggestion to Martin Luther King Jr. to find “one good thing” about politician Bobby Kennedy as a way to earn his support for the civil rights movement. In this remarkably divided moment, that call for unity sounds blissfully right in Blacc’s golden voice: “Do you believe in what you see/ Or do you dream of what could be/ Cause I believe in you and me/ And we could be the one good thing.”

Throughout Stand Together, Blacc deftly navigates the darker parts of life, creating radiant bridges out of radiant beams of musical light. “You can take a story and make a story be a happy story, a sad story, a celebratory, motivational, inspiring story, but ultimately what you do with the music dictates the mood,” he says. On the stomp-clap “Breakthrough”, that means acknowledging faults while also looking to build a new, better life. The track was inspired by the anti-recidivism organization Breakthrough, co-founded by Jenn and Jason Mendelson, the latter of whom a noted musician and producer who served as executive producer for the record. “I’ve done things I can’t take back/ Barreling down a one-way track/ And it feels like everything’s breaking down/ It’s time for a breakthrough,” Blacc soars, as burnished chimes and staccato strings let the sun shine through.

Listening through Stand Together with a guide to the 12 organizations that inspired the tracks is a powerful experience—a sort of primer to the world of altruism—but listening for the inspiring messages within the music itself is no less transformative. Take, for example, the limber funk of “My World”; the track passes for a deeply rooted relationship, but was also inspired by urban farming organizations like Bonton Farms and their ability to help bring communities together and build them up. Elsewhere, “Daddy Told Me So” honors Blacc’s retired US Marine father, complete with drum line snare and majestic horns, the vocalist recounting the many lessons his dad imparted—a surefire addition to the pantheon of odes to a loving parent. “My dad was a scholar, a carpenter, a builder, a plumber, a mechanic, a soldier, an officer, a gentleman. And he was my teacher, my mentor,” Blacc says. “I hope that everyone who hears it can apply the ideas and the concepts to something in their lives.” 

And in a move that unifies Stand Together with Blacc’s powerful Rock My Soul EPs, the new album features a cover of “What’s Going On”—Marvin Gaye’s classic yet another of the socially transformative songs that Blacc feels indebted to. Here, the track gets updated with a bit of smoldering reggae and funk intensity, all skittering percussion, rubbery bass, and epic choir. “It offers us a chance to reflect on the changes made since Gaye’s original and the effort required of us all to create more,” Blacc says. “I think it’s the perfect combination of the ideas of Bob Marley and Marvin Gaye, the rebellion against the status quo, war, globalization, and the total disregard of capitalism for the consciousness and compassion it could have.” Not only does the song faithfully honor those grand legacies, the entirety of Stand Together steps powerfully into the inspiring rapids of that musical tradition.