By Amy Song, Loomis Chaffee '23
Tonality 2021.
Next time you hear “A Change is Gonna Come,” take note of what comes to mind. You might be thinking about how much you love this song— but this immediate reaction may just be taking away from its message.
“I don't think we ever actually listen to the lyrics,” said Tehillah Alphonso, the 24-year old musician who was nominated in the 2022 GRAMMY Awards for her A Cappella arrangement of the song.
Alphonso only started arranging when she got to college, after growing up singing pop music in Nebraska. Even before graduating from the University of Southern California in 2020, she was working with her professors to send out vocal reels, landing several positions in recording projects. But when COVID-19 hit, Alphonso credited social media for making her way into Los Angeles’s music scene.
“I just started posting a cappella videos on there. That’s how the Olivia Rodrigo gig came about.” The news came to her casually: her Ariana Grande acapella cover on Instagram prompted a DM from Rodrigo’s management, offering a position in the background vocals for “Favorite Crime” ’s live music video. Alphonso consented, but it wasn’t until the day before recording that she found out who she would be singing with.
Besides Rodrigo, Alphonso has sung with Rihanna, Björk, Pentatonix, Billie Eilish, and most recently Chloe Bailey. She emphasized that her thriving career in the music industry is a result of her enthusiasm: always reaching out, and always saying yes. It was simple things like attending people’s shows and taking them out for coffee, she said, that showed people her dedication to learn about their work and be open to anything they could offer.
Alphonso wrote the arrangement of “A Change is Gonna Come” for social justice Acapella group Tonality in 2020. She recalled that it was a particularly emotional year for her in the aftermath of several publicized deaths-by-police within the black community.
“Seeing [George Floyd] die on the street with a knee on his neck… I think it exposed a lot more than I was expecting it to that year,” Alphonso said. “I couldn't help this nagging feeling that I can't make this like another ‘everything's going to be OK’ and kind of erase all of the hurt that we have felt this year.”
Black composer and activist Sam Cooke introduced “A Change is Gonna Come” to America in the height of the 60s Civil Rights Movement. The song made its legacy as a voice of protest that united thousands of citizens in their fight for black rights. But it seems the song has since exceeded its own expectations. The captivating melody has become so familiar to Americans, it could be argued that few pay attention to the lyrics after the opening: I was born by the river.
“I think after the first verse I had no idea what the rest of the song had said,” said Alphonso, commenting on her own relationship with the song before being asked to arrange it. When listening to Tonality’s cover, Alphonso wanted people to pay attention to every word instead of jumping to the conclusion that they know and “love the song.” So she aimed for an original sound: new instrumentation involving strings; a 4/4 meter in contrast to the previous 3/4; D♭ and D major key additions to support multiple voice parts on the solo—signifying that this is a change everyone needs.
“I wanted people to say OK, I want to be a part of the change that’s happening, by the time the [cover] was over.”
Alphonso also spoke on the change that needs to happen in the music industry. For one, she addressed the difficulty independent female artists face in entering male-dominated Grammy categories. Although Alphonso was grateful that her work was recognized by the Recording Academy, she revealed that she could think of “dozens and dozens of female arrangers” who demonstrate the same caliber as those who become Grammy-nominees.
Divided into ‘Instrumental or A Capella’ and ‘Instruments and Vocals’ categories, The Grammy Best Arrangement Awards have a rich 60-year old history. “That's technically over 130 opportunities for women to win, and only five spots have gone to women,” said Alphonso. Excluding Pentatonix member Kirstin Maldonado, that number is four. Many talented female producers and writers around her also remain vastly unrecognized, Alphonso said.
Alphonso believes it is “up to the men who are in those fields to be able to uplift those women,” as they have the power to open doors for musicians who they see as talented as themselves.
“It doesn’t have to be a competition,” she said. “The music industry is so big and it’s changing all of the time... And there are people who are coming up in the industry in every aspect, whether it be producers or songwriters or arrangers or engineers. Whatever that may be, there are so many people who are more than capable but just don’t have the tools needed to get their foot in the door.”
On top of gender disparities still present today, music remains one of the various aspects of society “colored” by race. Growing up in Nebraska, Alphonso developed her voice in the pop genre that she was exposed to. She soon realized that she didn’t fit in to the racial divide present even in musical genres. “A part of why I was really hesitant for the longest time of pursuing any artist career is that [it seemed] the only thing I could be successful in was gospel, or soul, or R&B,” Alphonso said.
Alphonso saw the presumptions about her artistry that she faced in Nebraska being reflected all the way in Los Angeles, in the Grammy categories; and throughout the nation, in varied award show categories every year. She noticed that such stereotypes are not deliberate but rather lack consciousness. For example, she mentioned that Justin Bieber “puts out very much an R&B album and gets nominated in the pop category.”
Alphonso’s not the only one who has noticed these conundrums: musicians across the industry are actively starting to discuss and re-define genres that still have stereotypes attached to them today. They’re asking questions like, What is pop music? What is R&B music? “Because even pop music now, it's very R&B influenced and very hip hop influenced.”
“[We’re] really trying to figure out what are the qualities that really put everything in that category without putting color into it,” Alphonso concluded. “Because it's not about color anymore. “
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