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" 'Seat at the Table' has expressed real adversity, struggle, and also triumph and joy. "

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" I've grown up feeling very American but being constantly bothered by people - there's internalized racism and feeling weird about being second-generation. "

" I think I'm taking risks and putting myself out there. "

" 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. "

" Innovating something that is familiar. That's the general approach, and that's what I want to do with the melody as well. It should ring true - you should like every melody sequence without knowing what's happening next. "

" I'm quite scrutinous when it comes to who I put myself in the room with. "

" The most rewarding thing for someone like me is for someone else to find solace through my music. "

" 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. "

" I want to soundtrack people's layered feelings. "

" I am not carefree. I'm just not. I experience an immense amount of joy, a crazy amount of joy through sadness and so much struggle. There's something problematic about 'carefree black girl.' "

" Popular music was this abstraction - an abstraction that I was relating to immensely but was ultimately far away. "

" My music sounds like one synergised thing, one message. "

" 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. "

" It's gratifying to hear something familiar and challenging at the same time. "

" 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. "

" I'm pushing back against the white, misogynistic, heterosexual establishment in the music industry. Like, literally, in all its forms. "

" 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. "

" There's definitely a push and a pull to 'legitimize' electronic music live by playing the same way that a band would play. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" I spent a lot of time in college. I was just being academic and discovering myself through reason and analysis. "

" Anyone who understands anti-racist work, a white person specifically, understands that it is not black people's responsibility, or any person of color's responsibility, to dismantle the structures that keep white people in positions of power. We do our job to thrive, to survive. To protect ourselves, to sit together and feel better and to heal. "

" I think my worst enemy was myself. It's like I've been in my own way more than anybody else has been. "

" 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. "

" My queer black women peers are the ones who make me not feel crazy. The way we act is so instinctive. "

" 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. "

" It's been hard for me to nail visual language and personal style because I like so many different things. "

" Growing up in an Ethiopian household allowed me to feel like I had an audience before I had an audience. "

" I really do like Solange, sincerely. I'm down for her, and I trust her judgment. "

" 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. "

" I guess the bottom line is I don't make music that is consumed en masse. "