Dawn Flores
multidisciplinary artist & educator
HAROLD LILLY/ THANKUGOODSIR
Harold Lilly’s innate ability to tap into relatable themes has defined his 20-year career as a songwriter and producer. He worked with Beyoncé, Alicia Keys, Janet Jackson, Jamie Foxx, Zayn Malik, Brandy, and many more multi-platinum musicians. In 2005, Lilly earned his first GRAMMY award in the category of Best R&B Song for writing “You Don’t Know My Name” for Alicia Keys. Four years later, he followed up with another GRAMMY nomination for writing “Ego” for Beyoncé.
Crafting timeless music for prominent musicians has decorated his discography with accolades. Yet, Harold Lilly’s personal brand’s profile elevates through his cultivation of new talent signed to his record label, HARDCOVER.
Harold Lilly launched HARDCOVER Records and since founding the label, has introduced the world to a palette of vibrant voices. HARDCOVER’s partnerships with major record labels spans Leikeli47’s three albums through RCA Records/Sony Music Entertainment, and three EPs for JAMESDAVIS via Motown/Capitol Records. The latest release from HARDCOVER, is Funeral of a Nation, a musical essay produced independently under Harold Lilly’s alias, thankugoodsir.
Funeral of a Nation is a 31-minute audio-visual project, featuring seven tracks that pay tribute to the Black experience in America. He teamed up with director Keith Nixon Jr., his life-long friend, who directed Funeral of a Nation’s montage of videos displaying scenes from the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and ‘60s. The title is inspired by a sermon delivered by Bishop Annie B. Chamblin in the early 1970s, at the Jerusalem Holy Church in Richmond, Virginia. Thankugoodsir prefaces the track “All My Friends” by recalling his connection to the original Funeral of a Nation because it was recorded as an album that featured Harold Lilly’s mother singing when she was just a teenage member of the church’s choir. The personal connection to this recent project shows the important role history plays in Harold’s work.
There is no secret to Harold Lilly’s songwriting success. It is more than a profession as he describes writing as a ritual. The place where he pens deep sentiments is a small church-like sanctuary inside of his studio. Thinking beyond a formulaic, cookie-cutter approach, Harold Lilly uses his life experience inside his dedicated writing space, to create real messages that touch real people.