For me, pop melodies are their own thing that have their own emotion, but they don't necessarily belong exclusively in a pop song.
I'm inspired by artists like Robyn, just because she writes amazing pop songs, and they're not throwaway. When I listen to a Robyn pop song, I don't feel like she's just kind of saying something and not thinking; I feel like it's really emotional.
To look for some kind of insight or meaning in pop songs is not really - well there's plenty of other places where you should probably look first before you start looking for it in a pop song. I guess it was just because I was really into music as a child, and I wanted it to say more. It was the thing, wasn't it? And now it isn't.
'Time after Time' is one of the best pop songs ever written, in my opinion. It's an incredible, beautiful, timeless song.
In my head, I actually think my songs are pop songs. I think, 'Damn, that's a pop song!' I can practice in front of the mirror with my hairbrush for as long as I want to. But when it finally comes out, it sounds avant-garde to people.
I rap on 'Front Porch Junkies' and 'Whatcha Got in that Cup.' I try to channel my inner Lil Wayne and Drake. It's fun to be able to freestyle over a country melody and say country words over a rap song.
I learn stuff from making music every time I go in the studio. I'm continuing to try to find new ways to play in a song or be in a song and have a positive impact on a song.
Any post I do on social media, any song, anything in general - I just try to promote positivity, because I felt like there's not enough positivity going around in the world.
When I was 13, I posted a video of myself singing a Bruno Mars song on YouTube.
The measure of success was writing a song, recording it and for it being in the hit parade in England. Success was about the postman walking up the garden whistling my song. I wasn't trying to conquer the world.
It's a powerful thing to be able to write a song. Even the least powerful feeling - like insecurity - that makes you feel weak when you experience it, when you write about it, you are powerful.
Music is a powerful tool in galvanizing people around an issue. There's no better way to get your point across than to put it in a beautiful song.
'Oh, Daddy,' was a remake of the Ritchie Valens' song 'Oh Donna,' and I really like that one because it's a story of a pregnant woman who was dumped by her baby daddy, but she was always waiting for him. It's a sweet-and-sour situation.
There are pretty girls all over the place. But there are still a lot of people standing strong, doing their thing in loving relationships, actually staying true. I wanted to write an honest love song from that point of view.
I just love pretty things, whether it is art, a song or a pair of shoes.
'Prima Donna' is my kind of love song to opera but it's not the full experience.
An artist is made to entertain. That's their primary goal, to entertain you. But some artists record the moments of time. You wouldn't know what was happening in the '20s and '30s; you got to check the song or art.
There's something about prime time television and the way the song is going to come off on the air. I'm very concerned, very self-conscious about that.
I heard Q-Tip on the Jungle Brothers' song 'The Promo.' It was very exciting. It was very new. The music and the culture around hip-hop was evolving. I think there's an emotional quality to their music and there's a vulnerability to the music. For me, A Tribe Called Quest was my Beatles.
Even if it was a difficult operation to copy a song, it only takes one person to do it. After that the spread of the song via the Internet or other means of propagation is only limited by the honesty of the users.
