How Actor and Singer Condola Rashad Is Using Music to Feed Her Community

Every week, Vogue will spotlight the medical workers, teachers, and Good Samaritans who are giving back to those in need during the coronavirus crisis.

In the face of the coronavirus pandemic, we’ve seen tremendous acts of generosity from people and organizations around the world. Fashion houses have donated masks and hospital beds; the LVMH factory has started making hand sanitizer. Ayesha and Steph Curry have raised more than $160,000 with their online fundraiser for children experiencing hunger. And just this past week, the Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation announced that it would donate $10 million for causes related to the coronavirus.

The contributions range in size and scope, but the impulse to give feels, at this moment, universal. This week, Tony-nominated actor and singer Condola Rashad took up the mantle, moving up the release of her first single, “Blue,” to Friday, April 3, and pledging 100% of her personal profits to the Food Bank for New York City indefinitely.

“Blue” serves as the introduction to Rashad’s forthcoming EP, Spacedaughter. The 33-year-old multi-hyphenate was originally meant to debut her song later in the month, but she was eager to find a way to help those affected by the COVID-19 crisis. Rashad maintained her positivity even in the face of fear; when asked how she was holding up on a phone call last week, Rashad—who is based in New York City, the center of the outbreak—thought for a moment before responding, “I’m alive and breathing clearly, so it’s a wonderful day.”

Rashad wanted her donation to go to those most in need. “I decided to link up with the Food Bank for New York City because I wanted to share my artwork at this time and also use it as a vehicle to facilitate funds back into the community, and I was looking for an organization that was going to be supporting those who would be hit first and hardest,” Rashad told Vogue.

“I spoke to the Food Bank’s representatives and saw how transparent they are—they provide over 61 million free meals per year normally, and now that New York has become the epicenter of the pandemic, there will likely be thousands more New Yorkers facing hunger. My main concern was public-school children who are living in poverty and getting free meals from school. The Food Bank will be helping them while also making sure their families receive what they need.”

Rashad debated releasing music into such a preoccupied world, but ultimately decided it was the right thing to do: “I have this piece I put all the light I have into, so I was like, ‘Why wait to share that?’ If there’s ever a time to share whatever you have that might bring some balance, it’s now, and my contribution happens to be all virtual—it felt weird to wait until it was a better time for me to release the song if it could potentially bring a smile to somebody, or remind them of someone, or let them groove for a second.”

Although Rashad has built an extensive acting résumé, performing everywhere from Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer Prize–winning Off-Broadway hit Ruined to the Showtime series Billions, she still thinks of herself primarily as a “musician who acts,” saying: “My first expression as an artist was music. I trained as a classical pianist, starting at age four or five, and growing up I listened to more music than I watched films; even now, music is my heartbeat. I’ve been a songwriter since I can remember, but people don’t know that about me, which gave me the opportunity to quietly build this EP the way I wanted to without having anyone expect anything from me.”

Rashad filmed the music video for the dreamy, ambient track primarily at California Institute of the Arts, her alma mater, relying on talented friends to help with everything from choreography to makeup to costuming. Rashad, who made her directing and producing debut on the video, also drew from the closet of her mother, actor Phylicia Rashad: “The main green dress I wear [in the video], that’s my mom’s Bob Mackie dress from the ’80s.”

Take an exclusive look at the full music video, below:

Originally Appeared on Vogue