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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.
Kelela Mizanekristos -
Popular music was this abstraction - an abstraction that I was relating to immensely but was ultimately far away.
Kelela Mizanekristos
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There's definitely a push and a pull to 'legitimize' electronic music live by playing the same way that a band would play.
Kelela Mizanekristos -
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.
Kelela Mizanekristos -
I'm definitely seeking to challenge tropes.
Kelela Mizanekristos -
As it pertains to my black womanhood, there's just a lot of ground to cover. There's a lot of stuff to say.
Kelela Mizanekristos -
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.
Kelela Mizanekristos -
It's gratifying to hear something familiar and challenging at the same time.
Kelela Mizanekristos
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My queer black women peers are the ones who make me not feel crazy. The way we act is so instinctive.
Kelela Mizanekristos -
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.
Kelela Mizanekristos -
As a black person on the outside, because there's so much black art and so much of black people's work circulating, so many people imitating what black people do, you would think that there'd be more black people on the business side. It didn't cross my mind that every label head, for the most part, is a white guy.
Kelela Mizanekristos -
A black woman's handbook in this industry is, 'Whoa.' The chapter on 'Don't go there.' The chapter on 'How to say that nicely,' how to express that you don't like something so that you don't lose the opportunity - which is what we're doing all day long.
Kelela Mizanekristos -
I guess the bottom line is I don't make music that is consumed en masse.
Kelela Mizanekristos -
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.
Kelela Mizanekristos
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It is very rare that I am just coming up with melodies off the top of my head. I usually am responding to something - it could be chains dragging on the floor - but I am usually responding to something.
Kelela Mizanekristos -
I like smart rappers who aren't necessarily trying to be deeper than you, like Danny Brown.
Kelela Mizanekristos -
Most artists are going into the studio for a fixed period of time, and they say that's their album. I can't relate, because I've never made music in that way. I come from a culture of editing and remixing.
Kelela Mizanekristos -
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.
Kelela Mizanekristos -
I've always had this commitment to not being in one thing.
Kelela Mizanekristos -
'Take Me Apart' doesn't feel cohesive in a singular way but in a varied way. You can fixate on individual songs, and there are references from all over the place: Anita Baker to Bjork. I wanted to show all the facets of myself.
Kelela Mizanekristos
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My music sounds like one synergised thing, one message.
Kelela Mizanekristos -
When it comes to melodies, production, and sound in pop music, people try to be formulaic and solely concerned with what's resonant in a way that is so cheap and ugly. It actually just devolves culture, ultimately.
Kelela Mizanekristos -
I was in school studying International Studies and Sociology. I was really into what was going on in school. I was affected by the ideas and engaged as a student, but not disciplined or motivated enough to do the work. That was a fear of mine for a while, that nothing was motivating.
Kelela Mizanekristos -
I want to empower.
Kelela Mizanekristos