I try to steal something from the great singers. Of course, I don't want to imitate their sound, but I try to do a sort of compromise.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I just sing the stuff that makes me smile, makes me feel like I didn't sell myself out.
I get to study and I got to mimic and what I basically did was I stole from every person that I could steal from. I was an imitator. That's what I was. It was years before I could take all of these things that I loved about all of these different artists and put them together and find my voice.
A lot of what I have always done is do other singers.
I think in a lot of situations I had got songs stolen from me, or treated badly.
I spend all my time right now trying to combat music retail and copyright.
And the thing that I always tried to do with important singers when I met them was to sit down and record everything they knew, give them a first real run-through of their art.
I played with so many musicians and some of the musicians would have something I want. I steal a lot of them, and I mash it up, I mash it up into my chords.
Own every note I sing and sell it. Make a connection to the audience. That's what it comes down to, you know?
It's nice to sometimes get things out of life, rather than stealing from other artists. I'm trying to steal from the real people.
I was determined to carve out a music of my own. I didn't want to copy anybody.