Blind LGBTQ Arist is Leading Music’s Accessibility Movement
Nigerian-American artist Lachi is reshaping how disability is represented across music, fashion media and pop culture: not through inspiring narratives but through power, humor, style and unapologetic visibility.
Born legally blind due to coloboma, Lachi was independently navigating New York City while balancing side gigs and a day job in the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers as her vision declined. After founding UNC Chapel Hill’s a cappella group Cadence, she earned a Master’s in Music Technology from NYU and built her music career on her own terms.
But early in her career, Lachi was faced with executives in the music industry framing her blindness as a “charity story”. But instead of playing into this trope, Lachi rejected it by redefining disability as culture, identity and creativity, not a limitation.
Since then Lachi has operated at the intersection of music and systemic change. She has collaborated with the likes of Snoop Dogg and Armin van Buuren, co-produced the Grammy-nominated album The Colors in My Mind by Chris Redding, becoming entertainment’s most visible accessibility advocates.
Lachi is also the founder of the U.N.-recognized RAMPD (Recording Artists and Music Professionals with Disabilities) and a Recording Academy National Trustee, making her one of the biggest advocates to push accessibility into the mainstream of live music and awards culture, from ASL interpretation, audio descriptions and accessible backstage protocols.
And since being named a USA Today Woman of the Year, Lachi has appeared on global stages from the White House to the United Nations.
As she continues on to push for conversation around accessibility and inclusion, Lachi continues to define herself as one of the most influential accessibility voices in music.