Quotes from Jidenna

Willy Wonka had his chocolate factory; I have my Fear & Fancy Parlor.

Every single place that's brushed upon me has made me the artist that I am - from Nigerian Highlife music and the vocal melodies that I grew up on when I would be sitting with my father and his fellow chiefs, to the funk and freeness of the Bay Area groove, to L.A.'s smooth G-funk legacy, Brooklyn's lyricism, and now Atlanta's trap history.

Even if the production doesn't feel African, the vocal delivery - singing through your nose. Specifically, Highlife music from Nigeria. That was the first music I ever heard as a child. So singing through my nose is something I do often, and that's directly rooted in my heritage.

It's better to do your purpose imperfectly than to do someone else's purpose perfectly.

I was raised with a father who really believed in the bridge between all Africans around the world.

For me, I wear a suit because I need to remember what's happened before me.

I thought the suit was something that would suit me.

The affinity towards suits was a functional thing for me early on because I was thrifting at secondhand shops, and it was also initially a way of grieving - my father had passed, and he used to wear suits all the time.

Most of the suits I try to wear are bespoke.

I've always been dabbling in suits, but like a lot of people in the neighborhoods I grew up in, I had my snapback; I had my v-neck. I still got them in the closet. I got my J's, my Forces; it was standard.

I think one of the things that I picked up from Nigeria is the constant pressure to be excellent. Parents drill in this responsibility towards family, but also a responsibility toward making sure your family name is heralded.

The most important thing for me is the thing I strive for. But I also hope when I play my songs for people - adult, children, mostly children - that they feel mighty, they feel noble, they feel like warriors. And they feel like they can do anything in the world because that's how I feel.

California was special. It's a place where I learned how to be adventurous, both in style and fashion, but also in terms of the way I think.

Jesus' birthday is commercialized, so of course, Black History Month is commercialized.

There are always pluses and minus to commercialization. It broadcasts something to the masses. So that's the plus. The minus is it may lose some of its meaning if you dilute it.

I myself have been scrutinized by militarized police, but I know officers who actually handle themselves in a certain way that makes me feel safe.

All across this world, especially within the African diaspora, we feel like there is a constant devaluing of our culture and our livelihood.

Nothing I'm doing is without its predecessors.

If we can believe in our own value, then we won't try to denigrate and diss and just roast women all the time.

I believe what Wondaland is doing is creating depth.

A classic man is a distinguished man. He cares about taste and his craft. He's all about the simple model that I live by - eat, drink, be swanky, and have fun getting the job done. He makes sure that he's excellent in all things and that he cares about his neighborhood immensely.

I describe myself as a big kid with an old soul, I'm very playful whimsical, but I definitely have that old soul as well.

People thought 'Classic Man' was processed. But then they realized, 'Oh, this guy actually is that man, and he actually dresses like that.'

My name is Jidenna, which means 'to hold or embrace the father' in Igbo. It was my father who gave me this name and who taught me countless parables, proverbs, and principles that made me the man I am today.