Leslie Odom Jr. Quotes

I just claim to do what I do, which is to sing old songs and try to make them cool.

It had a very good arrangement by Herbie Hancock, but it used existing pieces.

I still love to do the old songs. I know some people don't.

When I play live in restaurants and cafes, I don't play my own stuff. I play jazz and 'American Songbook' standards, and I'll fuse it with top 40.

After playing so many songs in churches for eight or nine years, I've learned what songs people react to. Then I just had fun with the arrangements. That's how this album came together.

One of the songs we recorded for 'The Long Run' was called 'You're Really High, Aren't You?' Which never really made it onto a record, but later on, it became 'Heavy Metal.' I took that track that wasn't used, and when I was invited to write a song for that movie, I took that track and recorded that song for that movie.

I've always tried to stay away from doing remixes to songs that were popular, because too many people do that. But that's something the fans want to hear, me over those type of beats. So I do it for them.

Remixed songs in a way are helping the legendary songs revive their charm and reach out to the newer generations.

The reason we see more recreations is because people want to re-introduce some iconic songs to the younger generation. I support recreations too, as long as they're done well and respectfully. I have done a couple myself too, but when I recreate a song, I do it like a tribute to the makers of the original song.

So the Madonna thing, I wrote a song with Diplo, she liked it, tweaked it and then made it her own and it became 'Hold Tight.'

On our Web site, we have people complaining about us not playing new stuff. But there's so many classic Lynyrd Skynyrd songs, you can't go out and just do a bunch of new things.

The meaning of the word 'remake' has changed so much over the years that from being a channel through which the younger generation heard classic melodies, it has now become a formula, a business model.

It's weird being a DJ and you have a playlist of your own songs that you could hold it down for an hour.

'Trouble Maker' was a project that worked whenever a song that fit the concept came in.

I've always been a big fan of taking old songs and completely turning them on their head. Having no adherence to the fine tradition of the original version. Rearranging them and taking a different approach to them.

Nat King Cole - I listen to him a lot.

When you make timeless music - and I like to think that's what I'm doing - the fun part is picking the songs. You can clip and flop and mix and match, and when the record is timeless and it feels good, you know it's going to have the same appeal whether you put it out now or 10 years from now. That's what I'm about.

I'd like to do a complete album of covers with no songs written after 1937.

I'm one of the culprits who keeps turning stuff around, shaking up original tunes and trying to stand the canon on its ear. But sometimes, you just need to sing the song.

My father had lived in the States in the 1960s for a while and came to love American Songbook material. Even today, he sometimes recognizes singers that I never even heard of, which is beautiful and inspiring.

It is a pleasure for me when 'Rise,' which many people loved, was covered by a famous group like IZ'ONE.

When you put a new show out, you always have a few kinks that you need to iron out, and you need to dial your show in. You figure out over a couple of weeks what songs work well together and what songs may not have the impact you thought they would at that spot in the show.

I kind of tend to write a lot of songs, so it's never too hard for me to finish an album; it's more about just getting enough songs that I really love.

The first project, I made 16 songs and put 12 of them on the mixtape.

I've always tried to avoid electronic music in India because whatever songs I got in the genre I didn't really enjoy singing them - I didn't like the arrangements.