Goapele Quotes

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Goapele

Profession : Musician

Birth : July 11, 1977

Good soul music should make you feel something in your heart, in your body, and in your spirit. That's what I try to do both in the studio and on stage.

Goapele

I say that I do soul, R&B music. I have so many influences, from Billie Holiday, Nina Simone to Stevie Wonder and Prince and even Al Green and Bjork. And a lot of hip hop music has influenced me a lot - you know - De La Soul and Digital Underground and A Tribe Called Quest.

Goapele

Africa doesn't look like it's changed that much to me since I first went in '94. There is still a major economic divide, but the rights of Africans have changed and progressed.

Goapele

I'm extremely proud I was born and raised in the Bay Area and loved representing Oakland. I started recording in the Bay Area and worked with a lot of different producers. But I always wanted to collaborate with different writers and get different perspectives.

Goapele

Even if a song has shallow lyrics, there's something that you feel, regardless of what their lyrics are.

Goapele

Instagram is a personal subscription. It's like your own personal magazine. It's like doing a photo shoot for no money, which is cool.

Goapele

I believe, as artists, I do think we have a responsibility, and there's also a place for a lot of different artists. It is nice when music captures the honesty of the time but also what we're going through in that moment.

Goapele

Get a good lawyer because sometimes it's hard to understand what you might or might not be agreeing to.

Goapele

As I get older, my perspective changes, and I just see how relationships aren't always what they appear to be. It's one of those sad but true things. We can see sometimes when people are becoming distant in all the things that create breaking apart, as painful as it is, and at the same time, still appreciating that person.

Goapele

I have a lot of family in South Africa, but I grew up in California. I feel like my name keeps me connected to a long line of people that have been through a heck of a lot. It reminds me to stay grateful, and it reminds me to try and step my game up if I'm slacking.

Goapele

E-40 is another person I love working with because he is so entertaining.

Goapele

Kanye and I spoke of working together and started an idea that we didn't get to finish.

Goapele

Mos is a true artist who has a story to tell and gives back through his music. He remixed my song 'Different' in 2005, and the song we're working on now will be one of my future projects.

Goapele

I think glass has so many different forms. Sometimes it comes off as something so breakable and fragile, but it's amazingly strong. It starts as sand, and it takes on different lives, but it is breakable.

Goapele

Sometimes it's isolating, but just being in the music industry that is just dominated by men, I think it means I have to be comfortable and confident in myself and not really care that people think I'm bossy and opinionated and also try and balance that energy.

Goapele

When I first was putting out music, I was like, 'I don't want to be overly sexy or do too much with the imaging or show too much skin, and I want to make sure my lyrics are balanced.'

Goapele

I didn't want to be taken advantage of and burnt out in the industry. I worked with my family really closely, so I was able to get that respect in the industry. So now I feel that I can let my guard down. People know who I am; I can be myself. I can be more versatile, and I can wear what I want.

Goapele

'Break of Dawn,' musically, is still soulful and eclectic, but I think I opened up a little bit more vocally. It's a little more intimate. It's a little more sensual than before - and pensive.

Goapele

I want people to feel inspired. I want people to feel good. I want people to feel something. I want people to strive for what they want in their life, and I want them to heal from anything that's hurting them.

Goapele

TV is something that I've been interested in for a while. It's a new experience, but I'm excited about it.

Goapele