It's cool to be recognised by your peers.
— Frank Ocean
In art, at a certain level, there is no 'better than.' It's just about trying to operate for yourself on the most supreme level, artistically, that you can and hoping that people get it.
A friend of mine jokes that I have a painstaking royalty complex. Like maybe I was a duke in a past life.
Some people focus more on sonics. Some people focus more on story. I focus on both sonics and story.
People are just afraid of things too much. Afraid of things that don't necessarily merit fear.
I enjoy singing my songs in front of people. I enjoy being involved in making the artwork for albums and stupid stuff like that.
Some people focus more on sonics. Some people focus more on story. I focus on both sonics and story, but music sometimes, just music itself, can turn into more of a maths problem. I guess everything in life is a math problem, but it can be more about an empirical route to getting the symmetry that you want, and this vibe, sonically.
I booked my first studio at like 12 or 13. Somewhere in that season of my life, singing along with the radio became me wanting to be on radio, you know. And writing Langston Hughes replica poems became me wanting to write like Stevie Wonder.
As a lifestyle you always being the focal point is innately unhealthy.
I don't have any secrets I need kept any more.
There's just some magic in truth and honesty and openness.
I enjoy being involved in making the artwork for albums and stupid stuff like that.
I don't intend to stop making music.
I'm about being the best.
I booked my first studio at like 12 or 13. Somewhere in that season of my life, singing along with the radio became me wanting to be on radio, you know.
I make pop culture.
I don't fear anybody... at all.
I won't touch on risky, because that's subjective. People are just afraid of things too much. Afraid of things that don't necessarily merit fear.
In art, at a certain level, there is no 'better than.' It's just about trying to operate for yourself on the most supreme level, artistically, that you can and hoping that people get it. Trusting that, just because of the way people are built and how interconnected we are, greatness will translate and symmetry will be recognised.
We were poor. But my mom never accepted that. She worked hard to become a residential contractor - got her master's with honors at the University of New Orleans. I used to go to every class with her. Her father was my paternal figure.
I'm extremely compassionate, loving, all of those warm fuzzy things, but the outer shell doesn't project that all the time.
We all know we have a finite period of time. I just feel if I'm going to be alive, I want to be challenged - to be as immortal as possible. The path to that isn't an easy way, but it's a rewarding way.
Whenever I think about movies, I always look at that art process as having the best of a lot of worlds. Because if you watch a great film, you have a musical element to it, not just on the scoring, but in the way that the shots are edited - that has music and rhythm and time.
I've always wanted to make a career in the arts, and I think that my only hope at doing that is to make it more about the work.
The idea of recognising your strengths and using them in as versatile a way as you can is cool to me.
Of course awards matter.
My grandfather was smart and had a whole lot of pride. He didn't speak a terrible amount, but you could tell there was a ton on his mind - like a quiet acceptance of how life had turned out.
I enjoy singing my songs in front of people.
It's about the stories. If I write 14 stories that I love, then the next step is to get the environment of music around it to best envelop the story, and all kinds of sonic goodness - sonic goodies.
I might just write a novel next. I don't know!
As a writer, as a creator, I'm giving you my experiences. But just take what I give you. You ain't got to pry beyond that.
I feel like I was writing as I was learning to talk. Writing was always a go-to form of communication. And I knew I could sing from being in tune with the radio.
I've written some great things. That's a gift, but there's consequences. Yeah, you get this great work, but you suffer. You really, really suffer.
The first four and a half years was me in the studio every day, writing songs for other people. I had jobs, too - eleven jobs. I worked at Kinko's, Fatburger, Subway - I was a sandwich artist - and I was a claims processor at Allstate Insurance.
As long as your intentions are solid and about growth and progression and being productive and not being idle, then you're doing good in my book.
