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"Lift Me Up"
The Disability Pride Anthem "Lift Me Up" with award winning artist Lachi, Broadway composer Gaelynn Lea, and acclaimed songwriters April Rose (BMG), James Ian, engineer Kulick (SONY) and producer Michael Herrick released through RAMPD Records/United Masters July 2023, premiered on MTV.com, aired on BET Soul and peaked at #29 on Adult Contemporary Radio! The Music Video, directed by Day Al Mohamed (PBS) and Catriona Rubenis-Stevens (Oscar nominated short film) features Deaf ASL artists Otis Jones, Amber Galloway and Nell Russell, with Tony-winner Ali Stroker narrating the audio description. This SHORTY Award honored, Diversity at Cannes screened video, garnered major support from Coldplay, and access-features by Google, Lift Me Up hit Millions of streams across platforms within days. |
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'LIFE ME UP' MERCH
Visit the "Lift Me Up" Swag Store!
Support the Song and Video by purchasing swag to rock and support the Impact Movement!
Support the Song and Video by purchasing swag to rock and support the Impact Movement!
Support Music Creators and Professionals with Disabilities
Want to see more amazing high-quality art like this, with disabled creators in front of and behind the camera?
SUPPORT RAMPD
HERE
Want to see more amazing high-quality art like this, with disabled creators in front of and behind the camera?
SUPPORT RAMPD
HERE
The Artists
Lachi is a recording and performing artist, songwriter, award winning community leader of RAMPD, and host of PBS American Masters segment Renegades, working to amplify cultural perspectives within the Disability community to the mainstream public. Her cultural activism has landed her spots in national ads, discussions with the White House and UN, keynotes at fortune 100 firms and non-profits, and appearances on the GRAMMYs and Barbie Movie red carpets. Legally blind, Lachi uses her platform in music, storytelling and fashion to amplify identity pride and Disability narratives. Lachi has worked with some of the biggest names in Dance and Pop Music, with music debuting on national charts, TV, radio, film and editorial lists..
James Ian is a singer, songwriter, actor and a passionate advocate for authentic representation of disabled actors in music, TV, and film. James recently sang at the Closing Ceremony of the Special Olympics. His song "SPACES", which disability, has won over twenty-five industry and music awards.
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Gaelynn Lea won NPR's Tiny Desk Contest in 2016. Since then, she's captivated audiences globally with her haunting original songs and traditional fiddle. Gaelynn's opened for Wilco, The Decemberists and LOW, Most recently, she composed the music for Macbeth on Broadway,
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April is a touring artist, producer and engineer with BMG, and is co-founder of THE PEAR ENT. Her music and productions have been heard on US and UK radio, Vevo’s “Incoming Pop,” and MTV’s 'Brand Spankin New'. Her single "Do You?" won “Best Music Video” at the 2021 Female Voices Rock Film Festival.
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Kulick is a singer, songwriter, producer and engineer, who was born hard of hearing. He' is co-founder of The Pear Ent. Press mentions and radio play include BBCR1 Rock Show, Sirius XM, American Songwriter, Kerrang! and Rock Sound and over 8 million streams worldwide. Jacob also produces music for TV, film & media.
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Music Video Cast and Crew
Community Support
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"This song just gives me goosebumps and tears. Everyone who worked on it should be incredibly proud."
- Jim LeBrecht / Oscar-nominated Director "I'm thrilled this is happening. Having fully accessible performances is extremely rare. So you taking the time...is setting a huge role-model for the entire [music] industry. - Haben Girma / Best-Selling Author |
The arts matter to everyone but rarely are they inclusive and accessible. This song shows how it’s done:
- Jenny Lay Flurris / Cheif Accessibility Officer, Microsoft "Thank you for doing this for Judy. I'm sure she is, as I am, very proud of this work." - Wawa Snipe / Deaf Artist, Performed at Superbowl "Thank you for continuing to push for more inclusive art." - Mandy Harvey / America's Got Talent Finalist |
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'Lift Me Up' A CULTURAL MOVEMENT
“Lift Me Up”–a track and music video tribute to recently passed disability rights icon Judy Heumann–quickly became the global Disability Pride anthem of 2023 elevating the movement to celebrate 50 years of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act (the first law to address equity for disabled Americans as a human right). The song offers a positive message of community, empathy and collective liberation, with its accompanying video educating the mainstream public on stories of intersectional disabilities and high-quality, fully accessible art.
Acclaimed cultural activist and charting artist Lachi (blind) is joined by artist/actor James Ian (spinal atrophy), Broadway musician Gaelynn Lea (wheelchair user), BMG songwriter April Rose Gabrielli (epilepsy) and SONY mix/master engineer Kulick (partially deaf) to create the Pop/AC track. The music video—directed by PBS director Day Al Mohamad (blind) and Oscar nominated Catriona Rubenis-Stevens—opens with Audio Description for blind viewers voiced by Tony winner Ali Stroker (wheelchair user) and showcases ASL performance front and center by viral Deaf artists Otis Jones, Amber G and Nell Russell. With cover art displaying ASL and the Disability Pride flag colors created by artist Genevieve Ramos (cerebral palsy). |
The Cultural and Social Impact of 'Lift Me Up'
Released in July 2023 by RAMPD Records (a black-disabled independently owned entity), the song debuted to massive community support. Within 24 hours the song received over 600,000 Instagram views, with 100,000 views on YouTube and 1 million on Tiktok within its first few days. Coinciding with Disability Pride month, Google, Android, MTV.com, Coldplay, Broadway World and a host of influencers, brands and Spotify AC and Christian editorial lists offered stark release day support, followed by features on Hollywood Reporter, PIX11 New York Living, BET Soul, and viral discussions on Judy Heumann’s legacy throughout an energized disability communities from LinkedIn to Facebook. Google stepped in to sponsor several live performances of the song across the nation. And In its first week on radio the song debuted at #44 on the Mediabase Adult Contemporary U.S. charts and also found notable airplay in Christian formats.
“Lift Me Up” found support from larger national and cross-disability organizations like Diversability, RespectAbility, the Easterseals Disability Challenge, the Association of Higher Education and Disability, the 1IN4 Coalition, and the Association for American People with Disabilities, to regional accessibility and ADA entities like Chicago’s Center for Access Living, to disability-specific support from Deaf communities, blind communities, neurodivergent communities, learning disability communities and communities living with other physical disabilities or chronic conditions.
International disability leaders and Influencers like Oscar-nominated director Jim Lebrecht, Emmy-winning artist Keith Jones, viral creators Imani Barbarin and Molly Burke, and fellow artists Mandy Harvey and Wawa Snipe all lended vocal support to the tribute, its elevation of Judy Heumann’s legacy, and its disability awareness impact.
Disability rights leader Haben Girma, the first Deafblind person to graduate Harvard Law, went as far as to call on the music industry to use “Lift Me Up” as an example of how to be accessible and disability-inclusive, saying, “Having fully accessible performances is still extremely rare. So you taking the time to make sure there's ASL, captioning, audio descriptions, and even transcripts is setting a huge role model for the entire industry”. Renowned Deaf artist Mandy Harvey said of the work, “There will never be a tribute that is enough to really encapsulate everything [Judy]'s done, but I think this is about as close as you can get.” On the way ASL performance and dialects were on display, another leading Deaf musician Wawa Snipe said via sign, “The ASL that was involved…just beautiful. I loved every second and I am going to be obsessed with this music video.” Rick Heumann, Judy’s brother, reacted saying, “I just wanted to thank you guys…I look forward to playing it many times. Thank you very much from the family.”
The White House caught wind of the track’s impact and invited the artists to an October performance of the song in celebration of 50 years of the Rehabilitation Act—in honor of Judy Heumann and her message of peace, dignity and humanity for all people, to elevate artful accessibility, and to amplify the rich stories of Disability Culture and what the disability community truly has to offer when we all come together to lift each other up.
“Lift Me Up” found support from larger national and cross-disability organizations like Diversability, RespectAbility, the Easterseals Disability Challenge, the Association of Higher Education and Disability, the 1IN4 Coalition, and the Association for American People with Disabilities, to regional accessibility and ADA entities like Chicago’s Center for Access Living, to disability-specific support from Deaf communities, blind communities, neurodivergent communities, learning disability communities and communities living with other physical disabilities or chronic conditions.
International disability leaders and Influencers like Oscar-nominated director Jim Lebrecht, Emmy-winning artist Keith Jones, viral creators Imani Barbarin and Molly Burke, and fellow artists Mandy Harvey and Wawa Snipe all lended vocal support to the tribute, its elevation of Judy Heumann’s legacy, and its disability awareness impact.
Disability rights leader Haben Girma, the first Deafblind person to graduate Harvard Law, went as far as to call on the music industry to use “Lift Me Up” as an example of how to be accessible and disability-inclusive, saying, “Having fully accessible performances is still extremely rare. So you taking the time to make sure there's ASL, captioning, audio descriptions, and even transcripts is setting a huge role model for the entire industry”. Renowned Deaf artist Mandy Harvey said of the work, “There will never be a tribute that is enough to really encapsulate everything [Judy]'s done, but I think this is about as close as you can get.” On the way ASL performance and dialects were on display, another leading Deaf musician Wawa Snipe said via sign, “The ASL that was involved…just beautiful. I loved every second and I am going to be obsessed with this music video.” Rick Heumann, Judy’s brother, reacted saying, “I just wanted to thank you guys…I look forward to playing it many times. Thank you very much from the family.”
The White House caught wind of the track’s impact and invited the artists to an October performance of the song in celebration of 50 years of the Rehabilitation Act—in honor of Judy Heumann and her message of peace, dignity and humanity for all people, to elevate artful accessibility, and to amplify the rich stories of Disability Culture and what the disability community truly has to offer when we all come together to lift each other up.
