Benjamin Clementine Quotes

Benjamin Clementine

Profession : Artist

Birth : December 7, 1988

People want a beautiful story. Hopefully my life story is still beautiful, but that metro stuff doesn't make it much more pitiful.

Benjamin Clementine

I didn't blend well with my classmates or my teachers.

Benjamin Clementine

I wanted to find people who were like me, and I did, in the people I was reading.

Benjamin Clementine

Where you're from shapes you, but you can actually do whatever you want.

Benjamin Clementine

Now I'm standing in front of a thousand people. They're all looking at me, but they're sitting down. They're surrendered, so I have to keep on proving myself to them and giving them all my passion.

Benjamin Clementine

I personally don't know what nerves are. I don't get scared when I'm going to play music. But I think something, maybe my fears, are buried into my songs. Because I'm singing them.

Benjamin Clementine

When I was a kid, I remember seeing Michael Jackson. I thought he was an alien. You don't grow up to be like Michael Jackson. I'm not saying I'm Michael Jackson, but Mercury Prizes are for aliens, basically. So I was very chuffed that I got nominated, and then I won.

Benjamin Clementine

There are things that need to be said... and I think it's my obligation to say them.

Benjamin Clementine

I clearly remember my father cutting our jumpers and our sports clothes with scissors - because he didn't want us to wear jogging bottoms and hoodies. He thought that would somehow set the police on us.

Benjamin Clementine

The meaning of love is obviously huge - but for me, it means be nice to people, and people will be nice to you back. Love is a selfless place to be. There is no safer place to be than under the canopy of love.

Benjamin Clementine

If you have parents who can't show you love, a kid can grow up to look arrogant. Because they need to create a fake self. Or they think they're more powerful than they really are.

Benjamin Clementine

Music is the reason I started talking to people. When I started singing in bars and trains, I began to learn the behaviour of people. Music was the bait that helped me get something from them and give myself to them.

Benjamin Clementine

The fact is, it wasn't enjoyable being in secondary school. I was a weird kid.

Benjamin Clementine

I've learned my lessons, but I'm also still learning them.

Benjamin Clementine

With this sort of career, you need determination. You've got to sacrifice a lot of things: family, friends - not that I had any - but you sacrifice everything.

Benjamin Clementine

I dedicate all my time to music. And I'm glad that it's paying off in some ways.

Benjamin Clementine

When I was very young, my brother and I, we used to go into charity shops to buy suits. The thing about clothes is that people judge you by what you wear, unfortunately. So when we wore suits, people gave us respect - we were very young, and it made them think we were older.

Benjamin Clementine

When I lived in Paris, I would shop at antique shops and buy these huge coats because I was very cold. And then I started performing in them because I felt safe. I never stopped doing that.

Benjamin Clementine

I like black a lot because I can't really see colors - so I wear a lot of dark-colored clothes. You've got to be aware of what you're wearing because you might become that.

Benjamin Clementine

People don't always realize that as a performer, you've got to relive those moments. Memories crash through your brains, and you've got to think about your past and the reason why you wrote the song. All that emotion comes back.

Benjamin Clementine