Music is the way I talk to people.
— Bibi Bourelly
Think about how many dreams die with people - if you don't believe in yourself, whatever you're doing is for no reason.
School, for me, was a really, genuinely hard thing. It was hard because l am an artist. You can't send an artist to a place where we learn at a mad slow pace sitting in a class.
At the end of the day, l just want to be myself. I don't set out to be like anyone else.
My talent before singing is being able to interpret and understand my emotions. I've felt pain and felt it intensely, so every time I sing, I revisit it.
I got to meet Kanye West because we were shopping my artist deal, and I was interested in his label. When I met him, I played him all the records I had. He introduced me to Rihanna, and she recorded and cut some of those records.
'Sally' is just a song that I wrote talking to my alter ego. When I write, I don't really consciously say, 'This is what I've been going through in my life, and I'm gonna put this into words.' It's just a song that I kinda went in and did. Then, listening back to it, I realized, 'I'm talking to myself.'
My music comes from heartbreak - from feeling what it's like to lose everything and not being able to express it through words because it doesn't make sense.
A lot of senior artists say that they support women, but they have a machine of people behind them telling them to be that way. l don't think it's always true and genuine.
What people think of you doesn't matter, because I believe anything's possible. No one's going to convince me I'm not capable of living up to my full potential, because I've obsessed over that idea. The universe wants me to be great for me.
I started writing songs before I could talk - at three or four. It was in me, and I had to get it out. It was all freestyle, which is how I write anyway. I don't write the words down; I scat and come up with the melody, then the lyrics.
To the outside world, I was pretty bad at everything my whole life. People didn't credit me for my musicianship.
Authenticity can't be replicated or faked. You're either real or you're not.
People who are their own entity and aren't afraid to be who they are can move a nation. I believe the height of my career is going to be during the start of a revolution.
I can still feel unsure in myself, and l'm still insecure about certain things, but my desire to be happy and my desire to be free is very strong.
A writer is an artist. They're creating things out of thin air.
The music industry is hard work, especially for women. A lot of people pit us against each other, comparing two body types or two women that are completely different. It's a lot of pressure.
All of my songwriting success happened within a four month time span, and my record label deal happened within the next three months.
