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" I want to soundtrack people's layered feelings. "
Kelela
Soundtrack
Feelings
People
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" 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. "
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" I want to empower. "
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Want
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" 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
" No one is making extraordinary things alone. They might be alone in their bedroom while they're recording or writing, but they didn't actually conjure that thing out of nothing - without influence - without assistance - without anything. "
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Out
Nothing
" 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. "
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Time
People
Music
" 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. "
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Music
Dig
Here
" I guess the bottom line is I don't make music that is consumed en masse. "
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Bottom
Line
Make
" 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
" 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
" 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
" As a black woman, there's so much pride and communication through hair. It's naturally something that you are excited to embellish on and be creative about. "
Kelela
Black
Communication
Hair
" I don't care about the underground, even if that's where I'm currently residing sonically. "
Kelela
Underground
Where
Even
" The act of me just being robust in the world is so radical - it's so radical for a black woman to think she's going to be a star, because it takes so much to get there. It's still a battle every day, but I feel happy because I feel like I cracked the code and figured out how to work through it. Now I want to give the map to other women. "
Kelela
Think
Day
Happy
" It means so much to be able to share myself with the world. "
Kelela
Myself
World
Share
" 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
" I do like things the way that I like them. But I'm trying not to be - I don't wanna be that way. I'm not a control freak; I wanna protect my agency. It's a weird question as a black woman. "
Kelela
Black
Control
Trying
" The most rewarding thing for someone like me is for someone else to find solace through my music. "
Kelela
Someone
Through
Me
" 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
" 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
" To me, the best writing points to something literal or common but is also nuanced: The moment when somebody is telling you they love you while simultaneously disappointing you. Everybody's experienced that. "
Kelela
Love
Best
Moment
" 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. "
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Without
Sound
Always
" Growing up in an Ethiopian household allowed me to feel like I had an audience before I had an audience. "
Kelela
Feel
Me
Growing Up
" I'm coming from the zone of Faith Evans, but with weird production. "
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Production
Zone
Coming
" A lot of white men in the music industry are promoting and participating in black culture in a way that is pretty careless. They want the currency of blackness, but they don't want the brunt that comes along with that. "
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Culture
Black
Men
" Popular music was this abstraction - an abstraction that I was relating to immensely but was ultimately far away. "
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Music
Popular
Far
" It's gratifying to hear something familiar and challenging at the same time. "
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Time
Familiar
Something
" '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. "
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Me
You
Way
" It's such a challenging time, and in my small way, I will make it so that other younger women, and maybe older women, will be able to do the things they want to do, and accept themselves and their experience. "
Kelela
Small
Accept
Time
" I know my ticket is vulnerability. Most people point to some emotional experience, some hardship, some high or low when they talk about my music... a time when they need to feel those feelings more. "
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Know
Experience
Time
" I want to speak in the tradition of rhythm and blues and soul music, but also push how it's dressed and how it's delivered to the audience. And hopefully that gets embraced by as many people as possible, but the goal isn't necessarily to speak to everyone. The goal is to get it out as exact as it is in my head. "
Kelela
Goal
Soul
Speak