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" It means so much to be able to share myself with the world. "
Kelela
Myself
World
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" 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. "
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" I remember the day I first heard what Timbaland and Aaliyah did - that intersection of her pretty voice and his weird, resonant production. I remember where I was and what I was doing. It was a major situation. We're trying to continue that legacy. "
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" 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. "
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" 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. "
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" I'm pushing back against the white, misogynistic, heterosexual establishment in the music industry. Like, literally, in all its forms. "
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" My music sounds like one synergised thing, one message. "
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" I guess the bottom line is I don't make music that is consumed en masse. "
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" 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. "
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" 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. "
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" 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. "
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" 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. "
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You
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" I've always had this commitment to not being in one thing. "
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" I think I'm taking risks and putting myself out there. "
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" 'Seat at the Table' has expressed real adversity, struggle, and also triumph and joy. "
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" 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. "
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" 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. "
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" 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. "
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" Popular music was this abstraction - an abstraction that I was relating to immensely but was ultimately far away. "
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Music
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" I'd like to change what people expect. I want to evoke something that's not nameable, for people to go, 'Huh?' "
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Change
Expect
Go
" I've grown up feeling very American but being constantly bothered by people - there's internalized racism and feeling weird about being second-generation. "
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" I want to soundtrack people's layered feelings. "
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" It's gratifying to hear something familiar and challenging at the same time. "
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" In Maryland, I didn't grow up around poor white people. Where I grew up, the white people were middle class or upper-middle class. It's interesting how screwed up it is in reality, because most people who receive assistance from the government are white, but not in my head or in my experience. "
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Reality
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" 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. "
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" '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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" I just want to live in a world where I can tell a guy, 'This is the deal: I really want this. I really want you. But it's also not that deep.' "
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" I'm just trying to soundtrack your real life. I'm just trying to give you a place to feel safe in all the parts of your experience. "
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" 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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" 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. "
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" 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. "
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