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" The whole thing about 'progressive R&B' blows my mind. Black music has always been progressive. "

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" I like smart rappers who aren't necessarily trying to be deeper than you, like Danny Brown. "

" 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. "

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

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

" 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. "

" 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.' "

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

" As it pertains to my black womanhood, there's just a lot of ground to cover. There's a lot of stuff to say. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" Even on my most angry song, I'm also still saying, 'Thank you for helping me to learn.' I've always wanted to give voice to that complexity in our experience. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" 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've always had this commitment to not being in one thing. "

" 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. "

" I'd like to change what people expect. I want to evoke something that's not nameable, for people to go, 'Huh?' "

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

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

" 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. "

" 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 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. "

" Sounding like I have agency in a song is important to me. I want to feel empowered by the music. "

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

" Music in the U.K. is not racialised in the same way as it is in the U.S. In the U.S.. it's more rigid and conservative. And white people in the U.K. have more close proximity with black people and people of colour in general. "

" 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. "

" 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. "

" When I started making songs, some of them read as mixtape-y, and some of them read as album-y. "