But I think I did my best.
Its hard, she says of the pressure to stick to a single lane.
I definitely have a relationship with a wide range of sounds, which is a blessing and a curse.
Photo: Dervon Dixon
Kelela:Well, I think there were several things.
Amel Larrieux was one of them.
I feel like she was a blueprint for how I might be able to exist in this world.
And at that time, I was also a secret singer.
I was singing in the shower, not actually performingI still felt like I had so much to learn.
I was going back and forth asking, Do I go to music school?
I think that was a big crossroads for me.
I was an Amel Larrieux groupie.
I was just going to every show on the East Coast that I could go to.
So that was kind of how I came to the Blue Note.
Youve always seemed to enjoy playing around with songs in different genres and formats.
When I was growing up, it was the time of Dilla.
So it almost seemed like everybody had to have this kind of range.
It was also the time that The Streets came out.
It was all happening at the same time.
Youre releasing it worldwide today, and everybody knows about it today, wherever they are.
Tell me a little more about how your Blue Note residency actually came about.
I was like, Oh, my God.
I had a visceral reaction to it.
So that was one of the moments that made me feel really proud of the song.
And I was like, Oh, this cant just be a Tiny Desk.
We need to make this a moment!
And so I thought, how can we figure out a Blue Note moment for this?
So that was kind of how it came about.
It feels like it could have been written in any era, in any genre, in any context.
Was that versatility something you were always striving for in your songwriting?
One version of a song is only so diverse, is only so varied.
It only has so many functions.
The ultimate goal isnt to arrive at a certain place.
The ultimate goal is to just be like, Wow.
I remember Amel at the Blue Note doing Holes Celebrity Skin, and slowing it all the way down.
It was just this jazzy bass moment.
What is this song?
Is she singing Hole?It took me and my friends out.
It was so crazy.
Throughout the residency and making this recording, were there any songs that were especially challenging to reinterpret?
Or that revealed new aspects of themselves to you in that process?
I would say a lot of them.
I, myself, will be like, Damn, did I say that?
Is that what I said?
It feels completely different, and I think thats such an amazing thing.
There are lyrics that I would just pass through and not really sit with.
Youre like, Damn.
And the damn factor is a big factor.
There has to be a sense of discovery, and a reason to listen to this version.
Ultimately, Im not trying to sell you something that you already have.
Choosing the track list and choosing the songs was very hard, I will say.
I had a hard time narrowing it down.
I was like, I want to do all the songs!
My hope and wish is that I could do more shows, but its not the most viable thing.
So there was a lot of pressure.
I need you to know that its real.
Clearly this was an important project for you, and something youve wanted to do for a long time.
How does it feel now to put a line under it?
It really is a labor of love.
And I want my audience to know this about me.
I want to help encourage this culture of remixing, and keep bringing that to the surface.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
