Lydia Caesar took a leap of faith when she moved from New York City to St. Louis with her husband. She left behind a tight-knit church community, lots of family and the city’s music scene, but she quickly made a home for herself in the Midwest.
“I'm just like a go-getter. I have the type of personality where I'm going to make myself fit,” Caesar said. “Like, I'm going to squeeze in whether St. Louis is ready or not. I'm here.”
Nearly a decade ago, Caesar wrote “St. Louis,” about her then-boyfriend. She said the two had only been on a few dates when she wrote it.
“I was so infatuated. You know, we were just dating. And he was different from anybody that I ever met. And he was the first person I ever met from St. Louis in New York,” Caesar said. “And so I was just inspired, and I was like, ‘If nothing else, I'm gonna get a song out of this relationship.’”
Caesar got much more than a song. That man became her husband, and they recently had a child together. Their daughter was born toward the beginning of the pandemic. Caesar said while lockdown was a chaotic time, it was a good time to have a baby.
“After you have a baby you have to sit down and take a break, and that's hard for somebody like me because I have really bad FOMO — fear of missing out — and I want to be at events,” Caesar said. “But I didn't have to worry about missing any events, because there were none.”
In addition to raising her two daughters and stepson, Caesar has released a new EP, “Legendary Love.” Its first single, “The Ones We Love,” is now in regular rotation on BET Soul and the music video plays multiple times a week on the channel.
Caesar’s new EP delves into healthy relationships, which she said aren’t represented enough in the current music scene. She said she wants everyone to know that they are worthy of legendary love.
“I think that everyone deserves legendary love, especially if you're giving yourself in the right way, you're doing the self work,” she said. “I don't think that we need to, like, have mental trauma because of our relationships. I think that we can do better if we dig deep.”
Now, Caesar is bringing the songs from her new EP, and some old hits, to the House of Soul. She’ll be performing tonight alongside other women in St. Louis, Drea Vocals, Queen Aloha and Alysha. It’s her first big indoor show since the beginning of the pandemic, and she said she’s excited about the group she’ll be sharing the stage with.
“I purposely booked all women for this concert,” Caesar said. “I really wanted to put women — and specifically Black women — to work because the industry can be really tough for us, you know? And so I'm just happy to be able to give other artists platforms too.”
While she’ll always be a New Yorker in some ways, Caesar is excited to share her new EP in the city where she’s grown roots.
“I developed a mantra when I got here. I saw it somewhere, like on a wall in somebody's office, and it said ‘Bloom where you're planted.’ And I just carried that with me every day, like ‘I'm here. So I'm going to shine bright here.’”
Related Event
What: Lydia Caesar’s “Legendary Love” EP debut concert
When: Dec. 9 (7 p.m. doors; 8 p.m. show)
Where: House of Soul
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is hosted by Sarah Fenske and produced by Alex Heuer, Emily Woodbury, Evie Hemphill and Lara Hamdan. Jane Mather-Glass is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
