Just before Ledisi recorded her ‘Lost & Found” album, which has earned her a nomination for Best New Artist as well as Best R&B album, she felt she was floundering.

Although Ledisi had released two critically acclaimed albums independently and worked on Broadway, she still was unable to garner much mainstream attention.

She recalls being told consistently that she didn’t have the “look” necessary to be a star. In addition, while her music could be classified as R&B, she also sang with jazz inflections that left some industry people confused about how to categorize her, or to market her.

Fed up, Ledisi was about to quit the business until she met a friend and producer who encouraged her to give her recording career one more try. So she took a leap of faith and was rewarded.