Quotes from Kelela

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

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.

I'm definitely seeking to challenge tropes.

I know my ticket is vulnerability. Most people point to some emotional experience, some hardship, some high or low when they talk about my music... a time when they need to feel those feelings more.

The goal is to blow the audience's mind.

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 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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

I've talked about that with friends, about what genre makes sense to choose for each record and the strategy around that... Sometimes it's more about the moment of time, and other times it's more about the sound of the song. Sometimes it's about what's going on in larger life, in politics.

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.

I know deep down I'm a star.

I don't want you to feel defeated, like, 'Oh boy, why do you do this to me?' We have too many of those songs.

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.

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.'

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

A lot of white men in the music industry are promoting and participating in black culture in a way that is pretty careless. They want the currency of blackness, but they don't want the brunt that comes along with that.