Music is a good thing; and after all that soul-butter and hogwash, I never see it freshen up things so, and sound so honest and bully.
I think you can soften people's hearts, even if they have a lot of hate. Music can do that if it's beautiful and honest. If I can do that - soften just one person's heart - I consider myself successful already.
I try to make music with emotion and integrity. And authenticity. You can feel when something's authentic, and you can feel when it's not: you know when someone's trying to make the club record, or trying to make the girl record, or trying to make the thug record. It's none of that. It's just my emotions.
Music's supposed to be real. When it really touches you, it's supposed to be real.
When I write songs I write for myself...I'm writing it as a form of expression, and hoping to find an audience, an audience that responds to music that is honest and lyrical and tells stories.
I would describe my music as very honest. I just rap about myself, and not in a narcissistic way. I feel like I have a story to tell.
For me, I can only do that from my own experience with people I've known and things that I've lived and experienced. That's what good pop music is all about, pop music that does reach out to people. It's very personalized and very real, honest and sincere.
I've always been real honest in my music and real honest when I play live.
A stadium tour would be amazing - that's definitely one of my goals. Just to keep putting out real, honest music that people can really relate to and connect with.
I think the best music is honest music.
I sense people respond more to the honest approach to making music instead of the manufactured approach.
I believe in reflecting honesty and reflecting reality in my music and making music that touches people emotionally - music that can bring us together.
Very similar experience happened last year when we released this album, North. It was on Deutsche Grammophon, it was very, very honest. It was the most honest record I've ever written.
I think that the best music and the music that people relate to the most is the honest music that people feel themselves in it.
It's meant to reaffirm the validity of that music - clean, minimalist, honest, classic music.
My music is some of the most honest music that's been released and I think that's why people buy it.
My aim is always catchy songs, or songs with meaning and I want to write music people can relate to, about things anyone could go through, just real, honest music... songs that mean something, songs that are inspired by true life events.
I stumbled into soul music at a very young age. It had something that really spoke to me. Nowadays it's not only American gospel or soul music, it's whenever somebody decides to do music in a way that's honest and passionate. I got into the Motown songs. It had to do with where I come from - we don't really have that where I come from, the sense of mystery and the pain. Sweden has been a wealthy and happy country for some time now. I think I got really drawn to that.
I think that what is important is that the music be honest and direct and that it is relevant to today. I think music needs to be of its time and speak to that time.
I look at the film without any music or sound. I try to grasp the story from the screenplay. I try to write to the novel or book if there is one. I try to create music that's honest and true to my heart for the story.
If you write songs and if you write music that's very sincere and very honest, it's pop music, but it is pop music with a lot of honesty and a lot of heart.
I guess my favorite artists are The White Stripes or Tom Waits. The more theatrical the music is, the more I get into it. I also like the quieter folk music, that kind of old-school rockabilly or country. I'm not really picky when it comes to music, as long as it's honest.
My music is pretty honest. I can't rap on science fiction. Punk is from the street.
