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" I'm coming from the zone of Faith Evans, but with weird production. "
Kelela
Production
Zone
Coming
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" 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 want to empower. "
Kelela
Want
Empower
" I'm quite scrutinous when it comes to who I put myself in the room with. "
Kelela
Quite
Room
Myself
" 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'm pushing back against the white, misogynistic, heterosexual establishment in the music industry. Like, literally, in all its forms. "
Kelela
Against
Music
Like
" I'm very into familiar things, popular things. I'm into things that no one seems to know about or be into. I'm trying to draw a line between those two things and make it clear... that it all makes sense to me. That it's not disparate. That it's all one thing inside me. "
Kelela
Trying
Two
Inside
" 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 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 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
" 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
" 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
" 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
" 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
" 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
" 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. "
Kelela
Culture
Black
Men
" 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
" 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
" 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
" I like smart rappers who aren't necessarily trying to be deeper than you, like Danny Brown. "
Kelela
Like
Trying
Smart
" There are no black women geniuses that are being named in canons. I could name a bunch, but it's not part of common knowledge. It's not how the world is taught to think about black women. "
Kelela
World
Black
Women
" 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
Like
Just
Life
" 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. "
Kelela
World
You
Women
" Popular music was this abstraction - an abstraction that I was relating to immensely but was ultimately far away. "
Kelela
Music
Popular
Far
" 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
" 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 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
" 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
" 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
" I think my worst enemy was myself. It's like I've been in my own way more than anybody else has been. "
Kelela
Think
Own
Myself
" 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