Ninety-nine percent of the music that was of any interest to me when I was growing up came out of the black community.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I don't think I'm really so unique. If every black person looked at their life they would quickly discover that they have been influenced by every type of music prevalent in America.
Since the age of 12, all my musical thinking has been influenced by Afro-American music.
As a youngster, my parents made me aware that all that was from the African Diaspora belonged to me. So I came in with Caribbean music, African music, Latin music, gospel music and blues.
I think music is one of the hero/sheroes of the African-American existence.
There was a certain feeling I developed as a young person for black people. Somehow they were able to get pleasure out of things that I couldn't see them enjoying. I heard them sing a lot, and I didn't hear white folks going down the cotton rows singing that much.
My music is really fun music, with some pan-African and pan-American influences.
The roots of my music start from the ghetto.
There was certainly, like, a rebellious, like, youthful rage in me. And there was also the fact of no getting away from fact that I am white, and you know, this is predominantly black music, you know.
Society wants to categorize everything, but to me it's all African-American music.
I grew up with a wide range of music.