When I make my socially conscious songs, I go hard with the lyrical content; I go hard with the imagery.
— Raheem DeVaughn
No matter what road I take, I can never get too far away from the conscious lyric and the socially conscious content.
When things happen socially in our community, as artists, we've got the right to exercise our voices if we choose to, use our powers for good.
I want to be that guy who gives you an album every 12 months.
A lot of people put out an album, and you never hear from them again. They're working a day job or doing whatever to survive through life.
All of my songs were about my firsthand experiences. Pretty much, I've learned how to become my own muse and take situations from my own life and wear them on my sleeve.
I think I am the type of artist that, time and time again, either people love or don't know about.
I never walk into a room and assume everyone knows who Raheem DeVaughn is.
Love is the highest frequency we can operate on.
I stay in the studio diligently. I'm always trying to create.
I always been inspired and aspire to inspire through the music. I feel like I've always made the soundtrack to a movement.
I just feel like there's a lot of great R&B songs out there with nobody to sing them.
I have songs - even from my first album, I've always been on some socially conscience/love whatever music, you know?
In every video that I have done, I have tried to have lead actresses of different variations from size and color to nationality.
Being an entertainer, my path to inner peace is engulfed in the music that I create. While it is therapeutic for those who hear it, it is equally therapeutic for me to create.
We all have friends that we confide in and talk to about our relationships. At times, we do not recognize the effect that this has on our relationship. We take a lot of what other people have to say to heart, and rightly or wrongly, it makes our way into our relationships.
If you are going to believe in the fairy tale of 'Mr. Right,' then you need to keep everything in perspective. Know the things that make you happy. Know the things that enable and/or hinder your growth.
The music that I write, I have to actually own it and live by it, which is cool. It's no problem.
I don't make records just for the ladies. I make it for the fellas, too.
When you go pick out my album, the money actually comes to me and my company directly.
I think I've nurtured the following that I have to the point where I can consistently do a certain type of numbers when I put a project out.
Even in a lot of hip-hop music, they tell you don't give your heart to a woman. But many of the most successful rappers are head-over-heels in love.
I'm a modern-day hippie.
I broke out of my shell once I graduated from high school and got into college in my first year.
My mom and my grandmother are probably two of the strongest women that I know.
Music is a frequency, and my frequency, when I put it out there, is on the love vibes. It's not always sappy. Like, 'Bulletproof' is a love song. It's a black love song. I made it for my people. I made it for the world, but I made it for my people in particular.
I think we live in a constant state of emergency.
I was frustrated in the past, like, 'Wow, why do they have to throw me in the R&B urban adult contemporary lane?' 'Woman' was a no. 1 hit at Urban AC, so there's no disrespect to that lane. But did it get a fair shot at urban radio? No, I don't think so.
There's a difference between making the music for a check vs. what you think you should be doing artistically and creatively.
Every flaw, scar, or mark you may have adds to your beauty.
When it comes to beauty, women are nothing short of amazing. They come in variations of shapes, colors, and sizes. Each part of their character and personality adds an element to their beauty.
In this life, we are in a constant search for inner peace. We long for it in all aspects of our lives, both personally and professionally. The truth is that we cannot have inner peace without balance. It seems that having too much or too little of anything completely throws off our balance, therefore limiting our inner peace.
Being in the public eye, I struggle to create and maintain romantic relationships. I am constantly faced with assumptions about who my significant other is, and it seems that there is always some speculation about my relationship status.
Truth be told, in determining what you want and who you want to be with, you will be compromising in certain areas. It can be in the area of appearance or occupation or maybe even certain personality characteristics, but no one person can have everything.
I went to college to find myself. That's where I really realized I wanted to be a recording artist and started on the process of figuring out how to do that.
I walked away from the Jive Records situation, but I still have a great relationship with a lot of the workers and a lot of people who were in that system that have moved on to other places. I felt like being there; it totally wasn't understood what the Raheem DeVaughn movement was about.
You can't abandon an audience you created, because people will find someone else.
I try to stay away from yes-men in my crew of immediate friends and peers. You got people that will tell you you're the greatest ever, but I need people that can tell me where I need to improve. I can respect the honest opinion.
I like to think that everything I do is tastefully done and doesn't come off necessarily like ratchet or something that tears women down. I like to make tasteful, seductive music.
At the end of the day, I just like to make the best music that I can make and put it out to the world and see how they respond to it.
I was a pretty sheltered kid, a slow starter. I was pretty secretive with my passion for music and, I guess, my talent and what-not.
Once you step foot on the Supreme Court steps, you lose your first-amendment rights. I don't see how, as an American citizen, you can't go to the Supreme Court steps and speak your mind or speak your piece peacefully.
Being independent isn't as flashy as a lot of people may think. It's a lot of hard work; its a lot of investing your own money. And to creatively time to make your day work - it's on you to make it work, and no one else.
If I'm not representing the people with my music for the goodwill of the Creator, it's all in vain at the end of the day.
In some cases, if you are not happy with a certain scenario, you have to give it a makeover, you know?
Like, music and songs, what we do, we can capture history as artists, so that's what I really try to do.
I believe in highlighting the 'greatness' that I see in every single woman that I come across. There is such beauty in variety. It may not always be evident, when you look at a woman, where her greatness lies. But the truth is that the greatness of women is reflected in the very essence of who we are.
We are all on a journey to mastering our inner peace.
Whenever I am faced with someone spreading negativity in my relationship, I remember the old saying, 'Misery loves company.' I am also reminded to be mindful of the company you keep. Sometimes you cannot see a hater until you are happy. It is then that they demonstrate their negativity.
Relationships are amazing parts of our lives, but they are not always easy. They become even harder when we allow others to interfere in them with their questions and opinions.
