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" I am not carefree. I'm just not. I experience an immense amount of joy, a crazy amount of joy through sadness and so much struggle. There's something problematic about 'carefree black girl.' "
Kelela
Girl
I Am
Struggle
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" I want to soundtrack people's layered feelings. "
Kelela
Soundtrack
Feelings
People
" The most rewarding thing for someone like me is for someone else to find solace through my music. "
Kelela
Someone
Through
Me
" How much closer can I get to the common ear, the mainstream, and how much it can still be from this other world, this other place? That's the line I keep trying to tread but have my wings extend more on both sides. "
Kelela
Wings
Trying
Both Sides
" Anyone who understands anti-racist work, a white person specifically, understands that it is not black people's responsibility, or any person of color's responsibility, to dismantle the structures that keep white people in positions of power. We do our job to thrive, to survive. To protect ourselves, to sit together and feel better and to heal. "
Kelela
People
Job
Responsibility
" 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. "
Kelela
Politics
Moment
Life
" 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. "
Kelela
Think
Connections
Talk
" My first reaction to being pigeonholed or pushed into certain confines is to be like, 'No, I'm the opposite,' you know? Like, don't put me in a stereotypical black-girl category, because I'm not like that; I'm doing this thing over here. "
Kelela
Me
You
Over
" 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
" 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?' "
Kelela
You
God
Know
" I want to empower. "
Kelela
Want
Empower
" I have something stupid, like, 12 credits, to graduate. "
Kelela
Stupid
Like
Something
" 'Seat at the Table' has expressed real adversity, struggle, and also triumph and joy. "
Kelela
Struggle
Triumph
Real
" 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
Us
Music
" I guess the bottom line is I don't make music that is consumed en masse. "
Kelela
Bottom
Line
Make
" In the music industry, you can't create success without having to engage a white man. It's just not possible. Whether it's executives, A&Rs, and the people that hold the key to your paper, inevitably, you'll be met with whiteness. "
Kelela
Man
Create
Music
" There's definitely a push and a pull to 'legitimize' electronic music live by playing the same way that a band would play. "
Kelela
Band
Music
Play
" I spent a lot of time in college. I was just being academic and discovering myself through reason and analysis. "
Kelela
Time
Reason
Through
" 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. "
Kelela
Writing
Perfect
Focus
" I'm coming from the zone of Faith Evans, but with weird production. "
Kelela
Production
Zone
Coming
" Before I collaborate, it's important that I have a conversation about what I care about before we make anything, so that it's very clear. "
Kelela
Care
Clear
Conversation
" I just want to live in a world where I can tell a guy, 'This is the deal: I really want this. I really want you. But it's also not that deep.' "
Kelela
Want
Live
I Can
" A lot of people of color in the music industry are still more interested in embracing things that are considered white canon, and looking radical. Like when people point to punk in the indie world: If you point to the history of punk as what you see as your legacy, that's more prized and praised. "
Kelela
Music
People
History
" 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. "
Kelela
Day
I Am
Good
" 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. "
Kelela
Time
First Time
Obsession
" The assumption is simply that I hit on all the things I've hit on so far by accident, that my talent is just this raw thing that pours out of me, and then white people feel like they have to come in and contain it, refine it, and bring it to the place where it can been released. "
Kelela
People
Place
Feel
" I'm interested in bridging and filling in space that hasn't already been filled, so when it comes to making music, I've just always wanted to be able to reference things that producers in the big pop major label context do, without compromising the entire sound of the record. "
Kelela
Without
Sound
Always
" I was in school studying International Studies and Sociology. I was really into what was going on in school. I was affected by the ideas and engaged as a student, but not disciplined or motivated enough to do the work. That was a fear of mine for a while, that nothing was motivating. "
Kelela
Ideas
Enough
School
" I'm just tryna be honest about all the things that I dig in my music. It's not just this over here, it's also that over there. "
Kelela
Music
Dig
Here
" It's gratifying to hear something familiar and challenging at the same time. "
Kelela
Time
Familiar
Something
" I've grown up feeling very American but being constantly bothered by people - there's internalized racism and feeling weird about being second-generation. "
Kelela
American
Feeling
People