Lovely Hoffman is an American recording artist, musical theater performer, record producer, musician, actress and educator. She is best known for her 2017 breakout single "My Black Is Beautiful", a song she wrote to address low self-esteem among young girls of color.[1] In 2010, Lovely established herself in the theatre arts world when she was cast to co-star alongside Broadway star Marissa Perry in a production of Hairspray the musical, which was directed by Todd Michel Smith and Judine Somerville both cast members of the original Broadway production.[2] She received notable recognition in 2007 when her debut single, "Can't Wait" peaked #10 on the urban college radio charts.[3] Lovely has also performed and shared the stage with other notable R&B artists including Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter Ne-Yo and multi-platinum recording artist and producer T-Pain.
Early life and education
Hoffman was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, a neighborhood of Boston. Her father is a pastor and she grew up singing in her father’s church.[4] Growing up, she struggled with self-esteem and credits Brandy Norwood as one of her influences and inspiration for helping overcome some of her insecurities.[5][4] Hoffman attended Boston College for both her undergraduate and graduate studies. She majored in Political Science, Communications, and minored in Music. She received her Masters in Education.[4][6]
Theatre
In September 2013, Hoffman was cast in the lead role of Celie for a New England production of The Color Purple, a role which Whoopi Goldberg originally portrayed in the Steven Spielberg directed film based on the 1982 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker. Produced by Speakeasy Stage Company, the show opened January 10, 2014 as a Boston premiere.[4] Lovely received an IRNE Award for best actress in a musical for her performance.[7] In October 2019, Lovely starred as Sister Rosetta Tharpe, who is often referred to as the "Godmother of Rock & Roll," in the Greater Boston Stage Company production of Marie and Rosetta, a play with music written by George Brant, that chronicles the legendary American gospel singer and guitarist’s time with her protegee, Marie Knight, who together, rose to become a great gospel duo.[8][9][10]
Music
As a former middle-school history teacher, Hoffman noticed that young black girls were self-conscious about their appearance and as a result lacked confidence, which correlated to their academic achievement. She wrote a song "My Black Is Beautiful," to address low self-esteem issues among teenage girls of color.[11] The song achieved wide popularity and gained significant public media attention for challenging beauty standards and empowering young school-aged girls of color with confidence in order to improve their performance in school.[11][5] Hoffman explained why she wrote the song and its cultural significance with CNN on National Teacher Day on May 9, 2017.[12] The single was released in February, 2017, and rose to #45 on the Urban Adult Contemporary radio charts, making it Hoffman’s first release to gain mainstream success.[1] The music video went viral after being featured and shared online by several publications and media outlets.[13][14][15]
