Get QuoteDark Inspirational Quotes App

" As a black person on the outside, because there's so much black art and so much of black people's work circulating, so many people imitating what black people do, you would think that there'd be more black people on the business side. It didn't cross my mind that every label head, for the most part, is a white guy. "

Related Quotes:

" After it became clear that I was not going to graduate, I had this moment where I was like, 'I need to not sulk. I need to pursue - at least try - to pursue music. But if I don't try, I'm going to be a really bitter middle-aged lady working in a cubicle.' "

Kelela

Lady

Working

Try

" I have something stupid, like, 12 credits, to graduate. "

Kelela

Stupid

Something

" We are - as artists, we are racialized through genre and called black - without being called black - through genre. "

" As it pertains to my black womanhood, there's just a lot of ground to cover. There's a lot of stuff to say. "

" It definitely feels different to perform to people who know your music. Because people's feedback is not just, 'Oh my God, that was amazing. Who are you?' "

" 'Take Me Apart' doesn't feel cohesive in a singular way but in a varied way. You can fixate on individual songs, and there are references from all over the place: Anita Baker to Bjork. I wanted to show all the facets of myself. "

Kelela

You

Way

" It means so much to be able to share myself with the world. "

Kelela

Myself

World

" 'Seat at the Table' has expressed real adversity, struggle, and also triumph and joy. "

" Often, I write to feel better and to heal - to cope with things that I'm dealing with. I'm either writing to get out of a feeling or to get into the feeling, to feel it more. Usually it's the perfect remedy, but if it isn't, I focus on other parts of what I'm making that don't involve writing. If neither are working, I simply forfeit the day. "

" You can never have enough reinforcements, resources for black women to thrive in the world. The topic has been addressed a million times before, but it will never end because what we're up against keeps morphing, and we have to figure out how to beat it. "

" Sometimes I learn by someone giving me warnings and giving me advice about what to do next. And other times, a lot of times, I have to put my hand into the fire. "

" Fog and one blue light is all I need in life at the club. Just a dark room and loud music. I'm into that. "

" I'm just trying to soundtrack your real life. I'm just trying to give you a place to feel safe in all the parts of your experience. "

" I don't want you to feel defeated, like, 'Oh boy, why do you do this to me?' We have too many of those songs. "

" Self-care is a requirement. "

Kelela

Requirement

" I would say Tracy Chapman was the first time I obsessed over an entire record. I knew every song; I knew the exact amount of seconds between each song. That's the level of obsession that I had. "

" I just want to shed light, illuminate and turn the spotlight over to all of the black people who have been being futuristic and innovative since instruments were plugged into a wall. With computers, machines, and music, black people have been contributing to that a great deal for a long time. "

" I spent a lot of time in college. I was just being academic and discovering myself through reason and analysis. "

" A black woman's handbook in this industry is, 'Whoa.' The chapter on 'Don't go there.' The chapter on 'How to say that nicely,' how to express that you don't like something so that you don't lose the opportunity - which is what we're doing all day long. "

" We don't want it to be obscure music. We're not trying to be indie. We want to be popular. "

" As much as we like to pretend we're just getting on stage and whatever, it's like, no, I practiced in front of the mirror my whole life. "

Kelela

Just

Life

" I would love to do an album of standards! "

" I think the Internet is more layered and complex than just hating it or liking it. I find it to be more purposeful to talk about the way that it's conducive for relationships and making connections. "

" My queer black women peers are the ones who make me not feel crazy. The way we act is so instinctive. "

" I've talked about that with friends, about what genre makes sense to choose for each record and the strategy around that... Sometimes it's more about the moment of time, and other times it's more about the sound of the song. Sometimes it's about what's going on in larger life, in politics. "

" I am your homegirl, at the end of the day, but I also feel very... outside. So if you're finding solace in feeling outside with me, then we're good to go. "

" For those of us who make music together, I think it's important to realize that generosity on both sides is actually going to produce the biggest possibility. "

Kelela

Think

Music

" The most rewarding thing for someone like me is for someone else to find solace through my music. "

Kelela

Someone

Through

" Something that I think extends to a lot of African cultures is that the line between performer and audience is blurry. My mom would lead the wedding song regularly, and she isn't a professional singer. Even as an audience member, you're expected to clap and sing the response to the lead. "

" When it comes to melodies, production, and sound in pop music, people try to be formulaic and solely concerned with what's resonant in a way that is so cheap and ugly. It actually just devolves culture, ultimately. "