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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
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" 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
" 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 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
" 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
" The goal is to blow the audience's mind. "
Kelela
Audience
Mind
Goal
" 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
" 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
" I think I'm taking risks and putting myself out there. "
Kelela
Out
Risks
Myself
" 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
" 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
" Sometimes I learn by someone giving me warnings and giving me advice about what to do next. And other times, a lot of times, I have to put my hand into the fire. "
Kelela
Learn
Giving
Fire
" 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
" 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 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
" I don't care about the underground, even if that's where I'm currently residing sonically. "
Kelela
Underground
Where
Even
" 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
" I spent a lot of time in college. I was just being academic and discovering myself through reason and analysis. "
Kelela
Time
Reason
Through
" 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 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
" 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'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 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
" Popular music was this abstraction - an abstraction that I was relating to immensely but was ultimately far away. "
Kelela
Music
Popular
Far
" 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
" I guess the bottom line is I don't make music that is consumed en masse. "
Kelela
Bottom
Line
Make
" 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
" 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
" 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 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
" 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