Home
Authors
Tags
App
Get QuoteDark Inspirational Quotes App
" I spent a lot of time in college. I was just being academic and discovering myself through reason and analysis. "
Kelela
Time
Reason
Through
Related Quotes:
" I want to soundtrack people's layered feelings. "
Kelela
Soundtrack
Feelings
People
" Music in the U.K. is not racialised in the same way as it is in the U.S. In the U.S.. it's more rigid and conservative. And white people in the U.K. have more close proximity with black people and people of colour in general. "
Kelela
Way
White
People
" At the end of the day, I would like to have the farthest reach in terms of being able to communicate to as many people as possible. So it's not that I enjoy being obscure; it's that I sonically don't want to be situated here or there. "
Kelela
End
End Of The Day
People
" When I was growing up... I'm not going to say I listened to everything, but when it comes to vocals, I was really adamant about imitating all kinds of voices. "
Kelela
Up
Growing
Everything
" 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. "
Kelela
Art
Mind
Business
" 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. "
Kelela
Mom
Wedding
Think
" I would say there is a zone of R&B that hadn't been quite innovative. "
Kelela
Quite
Would
Zone
" I'm finding out what part of punk culture or white indie culture I actually still want to hold onto - What are the values? What are the contributions that I actually like? - and it not coming from a place of desperation or wanting to be embraced or wanting approval, essentially. "
Kelela
Place
White
Values
" As it pertains to my black womanhood, there's just a lot of ground to cover. There's a lot of stuff to say. "
Kelela
Just
Say
Lot
" The goal is to blow the audience's mind. "
Kelela
Audience
Mind
Goal
" I'd like to change what people expect. I want to evoke something that's not nameable, for people to go, 'Huh?' "
Kelela
Change
Expect
Go
" 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
" Most artists are going into the studio for a fixed period of time, and they say that's their album. I can't relate, because I've never made music in that way. I come from a culture of editing and remixing. "
Kelela
Say
Culture
They Say
" I would love to do an album of standards! "
Kelela
Love
Standards
Would
" 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 don't care about the underground, even if that's where I'm currently residing sonically. "
Kelela
Underground
Where
Even
" I guess the bottom line is I don't make music that is consumed en masse. "
Kelela
Bottom
Line
Make
" 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 like to try out different methods to get to good songs. "
Kelela
Good
Different
Like
" I try to make it a sonic experience so that when you put your earbuds in or when you're in your room, it sounds like an enveloping feeling. I think that is the most important thing, that wherever you are, it is wrapping you up and making you feel safe and comfortable. "
Kelela
Think
You
Experience
" There is this feeling among black artists that you have to be really careful. We're not inclined to talk about this stuff because, if we do, we put ourselves in a position where we're not marketable or where we can't win. "
Kelela
Position
Black
Win
" When I was little, my parents would have these gatherings, and it was a common thing for me and my cousins to have to put on, like, shows. "
Kelela
Put
Cousins
Parents
" 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. "
Kelela
Time
First Time
Obsession
" Innovating something that is familiar. That's the general approach, and that's what I want to do with the melody as well. It should ring true - you should like every melody sequence without knowing what's happening next. "
Kelela
Ring
Knowing
You
" 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. "
Kelela
Opportunity
Day
Black
" I don't write lyrics. I hear the track and sing in gibberish over it, then I try and fit words into the phrasing and melody that I already have set. Everything is left to chance. "
Kelela
Words
Try
Over
" Most of my friends, growing up, were upper-middle-class white kids, so it was a different reality at home both culturally and linguistically. It created a lot of insecurities for me, but it also did a lot of amazing things that I didn't know were happening at the time. "
Kelela
Growing Up
Time
Reality
" 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
" Even on my most angry song, I'm also still saying, 'Thank you for helping me to learn.' I've always wanted to give voice to that complexity in our experience. "
Kelela
Me
Saying
Experience