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" That's pretty much how every song of mine works - I start with gibberish and melody and phrasing. I speak it naturally first. And then I think about lyrics that fit into that. "

Kelela

First

Start

Think

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" For those of us who make music together, I think it's important to realize that generosity on both sides is actually going to produce the biggest possibility. "

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Think

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" I'm definitely seeking to challenge tropes. "

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

" Growing up, Missy Elliot and Janet Jackson were definitely major references. "

Kelela

Growing

Major

" 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. "

" 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. "

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

" I have something stupid, like, 12 credits, to graduate. "

Kelela

Stupid

Something

" 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

Growing

Everything

" I know deep down I'm a star. "

" 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. "

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

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

Kelela

Against

Music

" 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. "

" 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. "

" 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 don't care about the underground, even if that's where I'm currently residing sonically. "

" We don't want it to be obscure music. We're not trying to be indie. We want to be popular. "

" There is this feeling among black artists that you have to be really careful. We're not inclined to talk about this stuff because, if we do, we put ourselves in a position where we're not marketable or where we can't win. "

" 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. "

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

Kelela

Someone

Through

" 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. "

" 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. "

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

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

" 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. "

" I would say there is a zone of R&B that hadn't been quite innovative. "

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

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