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" I would say there is a zone of R&B that hadn't been quite innovative. "
Kelela
Quite
Would
Zone
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" I'm pushing back against the white, misogynistic, heterosexual establishment in the music industry. Like, literally, in all its forms. "
Kelela
Against
Music
Like
" 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
" 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
" I know deep down I'm a star. "
Kelela
Down
Deep Down
Know
" 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
" It's gratifying to hear something familiar and challenging at the same time. "
Kelela
Time
Familiar
Something
" 'Seat at the Table' has expressed real adversity, struggle, and also triumph and joy. "
Kelela
Struggle
Triumph
Real
" 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 want you to feel defeated, like, 'Oh boy, why do you do this to me?' We have too many of those songs. "
Kelela
Want
Feel
Boy
" 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
" My music sounds like one synergised thing, one message. "
Kelela
Sounds
Music
Message
" I guess the bottom line is I don't make music that is consumed en masse. "
Kelela
Bottom
Line
Make
" My queer black women peers are the ones who make me not feel crazy. The way we act is so instinctive. "
Kelela
Crazy
Women
Way
" 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
" Sounding like I have agency in a song is important to me. I want to feel empowered by the music. "
Kelela
Important
Feel
Me
" 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 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. "
Kelela
Know
Experience
Time
" 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 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
" 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
" 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
" Growing up, Missy Elliot and Janet Jackson were definitely major references. "
Kelela
Growing
Major
Up
" 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
" It's been hard for me to nail visual language and personal style because I like so many different things. "
Kelela
Personal
Language
Me
" 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
" 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've always had this commitment to not being in one thing. "
Kelela
Being
Always
One Thing
" 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. "
Kelela
Time
People
Music
" The whole thing about 'progressive R&B' blows my mind. Black music has always been progressive. "
Kelela
Always
Black
Mind
" I like smart rappers who aren't necessarily trying to be deeper than you, like Danny Brown. "
Kelela
Like
Trying
Smart