Grace VanderWaal Quotes

There are a lot of people who can now see me as an artist for the first time.

The only thing I want to be defined by is my music and personality.

The most important thing for me as an artist is having an identity.

My sound is Solange. It's definitely not Destiny's Child.

I think the artists are really the face of the music they make. It's no longer the genre that dictates it.

People don't get through to the essence of you right away - it's always the famous 'girl' or the famous 'girlfriend'. I'd rather be known for myself.

I can be Erykah the human being more than the celebrity.

I know who I am by now. And I am my own brand.

I hardly ever get asked about music. I do, however, get asked about the 'Addicted to Love' video and my suits on a daily basis.

I enjoy just being me. I don't need to be Queen Latifah, the brand, 24 hours a day.

I've been this voice of a lot of upbeat dance tracks, but people don't really know me.

Part of the reason that I moved to Los Angeles is that even though my mom introduced me to all kinds of music, I really wanted to work on having my own identify, on being who I am and doing what I do, and seeing how people responded.

For some reason I've been labeled that and it's fine, but there are a lot of other artists that sing real traditional stuff, so I don't know why they picked me. That's what I've always done.

I'm not gonna say that I hate it, because I really respect Usher and I was influenced by him. But so many people compare me to him, and I don't think it'll ever stop. I just want to be my own artist.

I keep getting compared to Marina and the Diamonds because she's kind of in the same place as me at the moment. It's quite annoying being compared, actually, because it almost downgrades your work and makes you feel like you're just another female artist.

It's silly to call me the new Ed Sheeran. He can fill stadiums as a solo artist, but I'm not like that.

I'm always kind of surprised how much I'm associated with country music.

I would love for the time to come where somebody can talk about me and not have to talk about Britney and Christina in the same sentence.

The press Yazoo were receiving were focused on the voice, This obviously was about trends.

The thing with me and The Strokes and talking about stuff is I hate reading about it. I wish they just didn't write about me. I mean, I'm putting out a new record, and it's like, 'The Strokes are getting back together!' If they wanted to do that, why don't they just write an article on The Strokes? I don't like being the spokesperson for the band.

You develop a voice and a process that's unique to yourself.

My whole life is not defined by what Hollywood does.

I don't think I've changed anything in the country format whatsoever. But I'm not worried about it. I've found my place in it.

Just understand that the type of music that I make is something special.

I'm not just a hip-hop artist; I feel like I'm a rock star.