Soul music is true to its name. It's music that connects to your soul, your spirit. When music resonates with people's spirit like that, when people can emotionally connect with something or it helps to heal them, transform them, that never goes out of style. People will always need something to relate to.
— Andra Day
I feel like fear is a very real thing, a very ubiquitous thing, and it can be very subtle.
I was always inundated with music, whether it be my mother's favorites like Fleetwood Mac and Carole King and the Carpenters, or my dad's jazz music.
I think fashion and artistry go hand in hand.
When I was 20, I wanted to be famous and win a Grammy and have people respect and love me.
I think gratitude is a big thing. It puts you in a place where you're humble.
My prayers are being answered for my career. These are prayers I've been praying for as a kid.
At a young age, I wanted to be a prima ballerina and had these grand ideas that I would go study at Juilliard. It's something I laugh about now.
When I heard Billie Holiday's voice, Nina Simone's and Ella Fitzgerald's - there was something about their voices to me that was such a different texture than what I was used to listening to at the time. Hearing those jazz voices were so different, and I think I just gravitated toward it.
For the record, I am not Stevie Wonder's wife, and no, I am not his child.
My style icons are Lucille Ball for her bouffant hair and all the updos, James Dean for his rockabilly style - the denim and rolled-up T-shirt thing. And I am also inspired by Dita Von Teese and Gwen Stefani. Their style is retro, but it's still very feminine at the same time.
I really like jazz and soul, but I also love so many other types of music, and I didn't want to be afraid to blend and experiment.
I play with doing a forehead bun a lot, just a bantu knot right in front of the forehead and keep it in with a clip. And I like doing real pinup styles but based on my natural hair.
As my face got cleaner, my relationships got cleaner.
I'm not going to put myself in a box.
I like things that are over the top and subtle at the same time.
When I graduated, everyone was like, 'You got to do pop and R&B to make it,' like very contemporary pop and R&B. I tried for a little while, but I just realized my voice wasn't quite fitting some of the records that I was doing.
Once you see how powerful music is and how it can affect people, then you want to use it to impact the world.
It's hard to remember my childhood without remembering music.
I actually like the sort of industrial, working-class woman like Rosie the Riveter, so I'm kind of like the sort of street style of the '50s.
I do devotion in the morning. I pray and I read the word.
No matter how dark or precarious it may seem, continue to pursue your truth.
The reach of Coke and McDonald's is undeniable, and I'm thrilled these iconic brands are joining forces to inspire local communities through messages of peace and motivation in unique ways. It's an added bonus that they are using the lyrics to 'Rise Up' as a part of those messages.
I always knew I wanted to be a performance artist.
I went to a performing arts school, and we studied musical theater, jazz vocal performance, and they kind of start you out on those things because they feel like it is a good foundation, and it was.
I decided to see how my voice sounds on different type of records. So I did Eminem and the Biggie, Florence and the Machine, and Muse covers. A couple of them just came from some jam sessions between me and my sister in her bedroom at my father's house in San Diego.
I danced for a while, and I knew I could sing, so I just began singing in a praise band at church and doing musical theater and jazz vocal performance in school. One didn't really lead to another; I was just always interested in the performance arts.
I was actually discovered by Kai Millard and Stevie Wonder.
I try to avoid hairspray, gel, and heat as much as I can - I will use a pomade or a very heavy conditioner to style it the way that I want it.
I always felt more comfortable with a full face of makeup.
I tell people all the time - I'm a very spiritual person, so I pray over everything that I do including creating music, a new song.
I gleaned different style ideas over the years. In Southern California, there is a big rockabilly sub-culture. So when I would go to car shows, I would see women dressed like this. I had a teacher in high school that always had her Bette Paige bangs.
The album 'Cheers to the Fall' is really kind of me breaking out and being like, 'Listen, I don't care about criticism, and I don't care about possibility of failure. I'm going to do it. And if I do fail, well then, here's to it.'
I established early what I was and wasn't willing to accept. People tried to say what I had to do, whether it be pop or R&B, to be successful. Even when I was in the girl group, they would try to make our voices sound very radio-friendly and fit that mold. But even before I got signed, I knew who I was and who I wanted to be.
The visuals are equally as important as the music. It's all a complete experience.
I'm very obsessed with pop culture of the mid-century and it goes hand-in-hand with the music that I studied in school.
I give credit to my team. I have dedicated people from my label, my fans, and people at these companies that believe in me.
I want people to... not be afraid of their truth.
I was heavily influenced by big voices when I was younger. People like Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, and Patti Labelle really spoke to me. When I got older, I was into Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, and Lauryn Hill, but it wasn't until I started working with a voice coach that I really dove into jazz music.
Tony Bennett is an iconic jazz legend.
I like the Victory rolls, beehive, pompadour - all of that stuff. It's just cool. And actually, with ethnic hair, oddly enough, it works so well because I don't have to tease my hair to get body.
A pompadour is actually pretty easy for me; it takes me about five minutes.
I was a dancer for about 20 years. It didn't really help me transition into music.
I use this GPB glycogen protein balancing conditioner by Aubrey Organics that I love.
I style my hair so frequently that I need a really good conditioner to keep it moisturized.
Whichever chord progressions move me, whether it's rock, jazz, doo-wop or soul, I'm going to put it together and not be worried about whether people can put it in a lane or not.
I like very, very dramatic eyeliner: I take it all the way out to my eyebrows.
As a singer, if I'm in a room that is too cold, I kind of freak out, so I actually like the humidity, and I love the heat.
