Growing up in a musically-inclined family in New Orleans, Ledisi Young always had aspirations of becoming a professional singer. She began her career by performing with the New Orleans Symphony Orchestra but after deciding that the Big Easy was inhibiting her from achieving her goal of becoming a professional singer, Ledisi moved out west to Oakland, California. After performing in various stage programs including a production of The Wiz and the well-known San Francisco caberet troupe, Beach Blanket Babylon, Ledisi's prominence and her vocal confidence started to grow. In 2000, she released her debut album, Soulsinger: The Revival, an album of soul and R&B songs, and it was met with general acclaim. Since then, Ledisi has been busy with a fairly ardent touring schedule as well as releasing consecutive albums.